At the start of this New Year 2021, the cartoon from my favourite theologian @nakedpastor caught my attention, in which he has drawn the setting of the garden of Gethsemane, where the Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus, and impulsively Peter chops the ear of a soldier in his anger for the arrest. Jesus then fixes that ear on to the soldier and says to him “Happy New Ear.” These words, “happy new ear” sets the tone for our wish for this year as we greet “happy new year.” In other words, if we are anticipating a “happy new year,” we need “happy new ears,” so that our ears are open to hear the fresh voice of God that comes wondrously and surprisingly from unexpected quarters of life and life situations.
The season of Epiphany, where God in Jesus reached out to the “outsiders” is an occasion to celebrate the freedom of God in revealing the light of God to anyone and everyone, defying the norms that God is only available to the chosen and that God’s revelation happens only in the known unidirectional ways. It is also a season where we are called to recognise the voice of God that comes distinctly from means and ways which we never anticipate. The voice of God came to king Herod from the magi, when they have enquired about the saviour being born, which caused a great distress and disturbance to him and to his city. The voice of God came to the magi in a dream, after presenting their gifts to baby Jesus, and asked them to return in ‘another way.’ The gospel lesson for the first Sunday after Epiphany from Mark 1: 4-11, is a recording of Jesus’ baptism, where the voice of God came out as the heavens tore open saying, “you are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (11v).
The prescribed Psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 29 is a poem of David on the ‘voice of God.’ Psalm 29 is one of the three Psalms on creation along with Psalm 8 and 19. We recognise the public theological engagement of David as he weaves the creation imagery into this psalm recalling the ancient near eastern battle songs, singing victory in praise of God the sovereign ruler of the world. This is a Psalm with predominant usage of the name of Yahweh and also the voice of God. In the 11 verses the name Yahweh occurs 18 times in this psalm and the voice of God repeats 7 times, allowing the readers to decipher the meaning and message of the voice of God. Here are the seven understandings that the psalmist presents about the voice of God. The voice of the Lord is over the waters(3v), is powerful (4a), is full of majesty (4b), breaks the cedars (5v), flashes forth flames of fire (7v), shakes the wilderness (8v), causes the oaks to whirl (9v), The seven usages of the voice of God in this Psalm offers a rainbow of understanding about the voice of God, explaining the depth and heights in the voice of God. Allow me to share three things from this psalm about the voice of God.
1. The Voice of God is Distinct:
When describing a voice, the psalmist is not speaking about the sound of the voice, but was describing the voice of God as distinct, definitive and dynamic, with various characteristics. The psalmist was reflecting on the creation account where the Spirit of God was brooding over waters and it was the voice of God that brought order to chaos. Therefore, he was emphasising that the voice of God was over waters, calling the readers to recognise the voice of God over the situations of chaos, for the voice of God can come as a thunder, as lightening. The community around these Psalms were also afraid of seas and waters because of the leviathans residing over them. Into that context, the psalmist emphasises that the voice of God is over the waters, for it is this voice of the Yahweh that is over the sea monsters offering hope and consolation through thunders. The voice of God’s distinctiveness was further explained that when the psalmist says that the voice of God is powerful and is full of majesty. The Psalm begins by ascribing the ‘heavenly beings,’ which is translated as ‘sons of God’ to know that the voice of God is all powerful over the powers of the world and above, and is full of grace and majesty.
When the listeners have ‘happy ears’, they listen to the voice of God, finding hope over the powers, finding grace and majesty in God’s voice. God’s voice thunders, burns, shakes, strips, challenges and offers hope, and in such characteristics the distinctiveness of the voice of God is exhibited. One not only listens the voice of God, but also experiences it.
2. The Voice of God is Diverse:
Why does the psalmist explain the voice of God in at least seven flavours? By mentioning the seven colours and flavours of the voice of God, the psalmist was explaining that the voice of God is not monotonous, rather it is diverse and, in that diversity, lies the richness of the voice of God. In the history of the Scriptures, one can recognise that the voice of God came to people of different contexts in various different ways. The voice of God does not have one template, one pattern or one paradigm. The voice of God comes in diversity and the seven flavours are a mere representative of how the voice of God appears. The voice of God at one context is majestic, at another context flashes flames, at another context shakes, at another context strips and whirls, at another context thunders, at another context comes in silence, at another context comes in a small shrill voice and at another context awakes, comforts and consoles. There is no one tone suits all people in the voice of God. The diversity of the voice of God also explains the distinctiveness of God, for God is dynamic and shares God’s voice according to the time and context, for God holds the time and the context in Godself.
The listeners to the voice of God are called to be humble in acknowledging that God’s voice appears differently to each person, for God’s voice is God’s prerogative and not driven according to the faith of the listener.
3. The Voice of God is Disruptive:
Out of the seven flavours of the voice of God in this Psalm, we notice that three of them are with a disruptive character. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness and the voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl. Cedars are mentioned as the grandest forest trees, and those grown at Lebanon as the loftiest of their species. The cedars in the scripture are referred to as remarkable for their size and grandeur. The voice of God breaks the cedars, even the cedars from Lebanon, disrupting the pride and powers of the world. There isn’t a place or a person to whom the voice of God cannot penetrate. They might be the mightiest, yet the voice of God penetrates like a thunder and affirms in humility in the presence and the voice of God. The voice of the Lord also disrupts the wilderness by shaking it, again to explain that there is no place that the voice of God cannot penetrate into. Oaks symbolised strength, and the voice of God spins the strength of the mighty and bring them down. No power can stand against the voice of God. In all of this, we recognise that the voice of God disrupts the mighty, the powerful, the grandest, the loftiest and can bring them down to teach humility and to wait on the power of God than on their individual self-seeking strength and power.
The listeners to this voice of God are called to recognise that the voice of God not always comes to sooth and comfort, but also comes to disrupt and challenge, for it on the voice of God we are called to wait upon and not on powers and principalities of the world.
Reminding the listeners that the voice of God is distinct, diverse and disruptive, the psalmist concludes this Psalm 29 by emphasising that Yahweh is the Lord over the creation and is a king forever. He sends out his listeners, who recognises the strength in the voice of God with a prayer in verse 11, “may the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!”
In the context when there is a surge in the cases of the new variant of the virus in the UK, and with a national lockdown in place, how do we understand the voice of God today? The voice of God during this third lockdown is “love God and love your neighbour, be thankful for the vaccine, act responsible, stay at home, be compassionate to others.” The dynamism of the voice of God reminds us that God has been a speaking God who continuously offers God’s voice to this creation for the cause of justice and peace. Those of us who hear God’s voice are called to be channels of God’s voice of love, peace and justice to this world. The second learning from this Psalm 29 is to celebrate the diversity of the voice of God, for there is no one template suits all kind of God’s voice. God speaks to us through the Word, through prayers, through friends, through families, through films, through books, through songs, you name it and you have it, for God speaks in that many diverse ways to us. God speaks to us in the church, outside the church, in the community, on our streets, and everywhere. God doesn’t stop speaking. God is a speaking God. Each experience of listening to the voice of God is unique and different, and we are called to learn humility in celebrating each other’s experience of the voice of God. The voice of God calls for humility in us and also calls us to overcome the exclusivistic claims and attitudes with regards to the voice of God. God speaks in God’s graciousness to the entire creation in God’s own diverse ways. Thirdly, the voice of God disrupts and unsettles us from our pride, strength, self-righteousness, prejudices, and calls us to love, share, care, offer hope, strive for peace and justice, and work for the Kingdom of God here on earth. Let those that have new ears, hear the voice of God in our midst and in our times today.
Allow me to conclude this reflection quoting the lines from one of my favourite hymns, “Have you heard God’s voice; has your heart been stirred” by Jaquie G. Jones, hymn no. 662 in Singing the Faith.
Have you heard God’s voice; has your heart been stirred?
Are you still prepared to follow?
Have you made a choice to remain and serve,
Though the way be rough and narrow?
Will you walk the path that will cost you much,
And embrace the pain and sorrow?
Will you trust in One who entrusts to you
The disciples of tomorrow?
In your city streets will you be God’s heart?
Will you listen to the voiceless?
Will you stop and eat and when friendship starts,
Will you share your faith with the faithless?
Raj Bharat Patta,
7th January 2021
Pic credit: https://www.stormgeo.com/weather/articles/thunderstorm-and-lightning-questions/
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