Making Changes

Texts: Psalm 4 & The Gospel of John 20:30 – 21:14

It's been two weeks since the resurrection. The shock of Jesus being alive is still rippling through the various groups of his followers. Jesus is still making appearances. This is a time of transition for the disciples. They are shifting from being with him in person to being with him in spirit. Jesus helps them out by showing up periodically.

This has to be an incredibly stressful time for them. I bet it's easy for them to think that maybe they are making this up. And then there he is again, making them breakfast, eating with them or showing up as they walk down the road.

Remember that the torture and execution of Jesus was traumatic for his followers. They had put all their hope in this man to overturn their political and religious systems. All their hopes were dashed by when he was murdered. They were confused about how this could happen to him and scared for their own lives.

The resurrection was a trauma in its own way, too. Sure it was a relief, but it was also a shock. Jesus was resurrected; that on its own is pretty weird. Along with being resurrected, he wasn't exactly as he was before. Over and over as he appeared to them, they had a hard time recognizing him.

There were so many changes all at once.

Jesus encouraged them and admonished them. He reminded them of what they were supposed to do and he gave them the skills to do it. It seems to me that Jesus kept appearing in order to help his followers become stronger and more sure of what they knew to be true. Jesus didn't want his followers to be quivering before him.

We are not to quiver before God. We are not to quiver in fear in the presence of Jesus. Quivering in excitement is a different thing altogether. Quivering in joy ... I'm in favor of, but not quivering in fear. When we come before the One Who Loves Us, we are to be confident of that love. We see this confidence in Psalm 4. The psalmist is not only confident, he is bold.

"Answer me when I call." There's nothing quivering about that as an opening line to a prayer. "Answer me when I call." The psalmist follows this opening with why they can be confident and bold. "You gave room to me when I was in distress." According to one commentator this can be understood to mean, "You widened the path for me when things got narrow."

After Jesus' execution, the disciples were in a narrow place. Jesus gave them room. There are times that we are in a narrow place. Jesus gives us room. Jesus broadens our understanding of what's possible. Jesus broadens our strength. Jesus gives us room to hope. We don't have to beg. When the psalmist says, "Be gracious to me and hear my prayer," this is not begging. This psalmist does not mumble. They know what their relationship is with God. They are confident to come before God. In that confidence, they state what they need, thank God for what has been given, and encourage those listening to be put their trust in God as well.

The psalm ends with praise and a declaration of the psalmist being able to relax. "I will lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety."

My experience is that this is easier said than done ... to say your prayer in confidence and then let it go and relax. Am I alone in this being hard? Can everyone else just do that?

Being confident in our relationship with our Divine Beloved, I think, is incredibly important, especially when we are going through changes. The psalmist instructs us that when we are disturbed we are to not sin, but we should ponder what disturbs us on our beds and be silent. The instruction to "not sin" is countered with the instruction to ponder and be silent. This makes it sound like in this instance of being disturbed, that being busy and doing a lot of talking is sin. Instead we are to ponder and be silent; to offer right sacrifices and trust God. So we aren't to be entirely idle, but we also should not be in a flurry of activity.

This reminds me of Psalm 46:10 which says, "Be still and know that I am God."

It also reminds me of the story of Elijah in 2 Kings, chapter 19:9 – 13:

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." The voice said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

The "sound of sheer silence." Some translations say, "after the fire there was a still small voice." It takes trust and confidence to be still and to listen for the sound of sheer silence, especially when we are in the midst of changes.

In the middle of being still and listening for the silence that is the voice of our Divine Beloved, often other voices break through - voices from our past or our own voice - which tell us to get busy figuring things out or that God is not going to answer. They tell us that we are not good enough, smart enough, discerning enough. They remind us of our past mistakes. But, we need to remind ourselves that God widens the path when things get narrow.

I am not saying that we should let everything be done by miracles and that we have no responsibility. Jesus commissioned his disciples to do things - to heal and to preach hope and love; to feed the hungry; to clothe the naked; and so on. We are to work to see the Realm of Heaven realized on earth. But for those times of change when nothing makes sense and everything is chaotic, sometimes the best thing to do is call out to God with confidence saying, "Answer me when I call" and then to listen for that answer.

Cultivate a confidence in your relationship with God. It's hard to be still, state your request, be silent and to hear God in the silence if you aren't sure that God will show up. But, it's difficult to experience God showing up if you don't stop. Sometimes I find it helps to read Psalm 4 verse 1 aloud. Read it over and over if you want to. Read it aloud and then shut up and listen. Build up your confidence that you have the kind of relationship with God where you can say what you need and then rest.

I believe when we do this we will need our rest because often the answer we get is to do something. Rest when you can.

The psalmist, the disciples and Elijah all had to believe in their God and in their relationship to their God. They had to trust that they were loved and that they knew how to love. They had to take risks ... some of those risks involved doing something and some of those risks involved believing deeply and listening. We are no different. When we are in the midst of change, as they were, we must dig deep into our souls and remember what we know to be true. We must stop and believe deeply. We must listen. Then the silence will carry the voice of the One Who Loves Us. Jesus said something similar. He said, "Let you who have ears, hear what the spirit of God is saying."

The disciples had to make the change from following Jesus in person to following him in spirit. That was a hard change to make. It had to feel chaotic and unnerving. But they did it. They learned how to hear the resurrected voice of Jesus.

When the chaos is twirling around you and change is inevitable, be still ... ponder these things on your bed ... fear not. Remember that you can come boldly before God and say, "Answer me when I call." And then listen and rest.