Voices and Visions

5 Easter, May 19, 2019

Emmanuel Church, West Roxbury, Massachusetts

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

I am not much of a media person. I prefer reading books to watching television. When I am in my car, I rarely turn on the radio. At home, I relish the sound of silence. And so I tend to be particular in my choices about what I watch and to whom I listen. Occasionally, I have enjoyed the T.V. series called The Voice when various people compete vocally to become the latest season’s winner. I also love singing hymns.

This past week I learned about a relatively new media company called Vox, which translated from Latin into English means “Voice.” According to their website, “Vox's mission is to ‘explain the news.’ It strives to make sure its readers ‘understand what just happened,’ by providing ‘contextual information that traditional news stories aren't designed to carry.’ Vox creates ‘card stacks’ in bright ‘canary yellow’ that provide context and define terms within an article.” So Vox uses words and pictures to convey their message.

Now, Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, has a vision and hears a

Voice, not once but three times. In his daydream on the rooftop, he sees something like a sheet coming down from heaven, and sees four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. He hears a Voice telling him to “Get up, kill and eat.” At first, he resists. “No,” Peter says to the Voice, “That’s not kosher. I’ve obeyed our religious laws and have never eaten anything profane or unclean. No, I can’t do this.”

Have you ever known anyone who has visions and hears voices? I have. And I know that these voices can be the Voice “of God” as well as the voice “of the devil.”  Visions and voices can be signs of mental illness, uncontrolled by medication, or they can be evidence of a spiritual world that remains unknown and untapped to us mere mortals. Visions and voices break into our world and our consciousness routinely, while we are awake in our daydreams, and while we are sleeping at night. How are we to know if they are the way, the truth, and leading to life? How are we to know if they are from God or from the devil?

In the news some people claim that they have a vision of a new world order. Indeed, many of our political leaders promise to create social and economic systems that will benefit more people. Many voices tell you how you can live longer if you only eat this and avoid that. In Mongolia two people recently died of a plague after they ate a rodent’s raw organs, believing that it was “very good for their health.”

We hear stories of people who follow certain religious leaders, and have been told to get up and kill. These are terrorists who murder others through their sacrificial “acts of love” in the name of God. Some believe they will be rewarded in heaven for obeying this voice, and have visions of heavenly bliss. How are we to know if the voices and visions we hear or have been taught are the way, the truth, and leading to life?

 In the Boston Globe this week, Robert Pape wrote, “The immense power of social media has many advantages for civil society.” For instance, social media warned others about the man named “Sovereign” who recently killed one person and injured another on the Appalachian Trail. Social media is intended to be a vehicle for connecting people throughout our world, spreading news quickly to others who seek life-giving relationships and greater knowledge. “At the same time,” Pape wrote, “it provides opportunities for individuals to go beyond disseminating hateful messages to broadcasting murderous acts in real-time, in order to glorify themselves and inspire future terrorists.” We all know about “copy cat” violence, don’t we?

God’s vision for us is a civil society, where we live in peaceful co-existence and communicate through voices of love that build up rather than destroy. The Revelation to John, which is the last book in our New Testament, is social media. It was written by someone who saw visions and heard voices. Writing in a secret language, during a time of persecution and terrorism, John encouraged the followers of Jesus to keep their faith. He offered people visions of hope and a future redeemed by God through the love of Jesus.

In his vision, John sees a new heaven and a new earth coming down from heaven. He sees a new Jerusalem, not torn apart by religious polarization and violent attacks, or divided by walls and checkpoints. Rather it is a new city, built on a hill, which is united by love, and prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. "See, I am making all things new,” the Voice from heaven proclaims. "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true,” he said to John. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water from the spring of life."

Like Peter, who is reporting live from Jerusalem in the Act of the Apostles, John hears a loud voice from heaven saying, “"See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; and they will be his people. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Today, we call this a vision of heaven, and we call this the voice of Jesus. Today, we call this the way, the truth, and resurrection life.

Discernment of the spirits is complicated. We will hear voices that whisper in our ears that we are no good, that we are not loved, and we are not worthy. Voices of guilt will remind us that “if only” we had done this, if only we had said that, then our loved ones would not have died, or this terrible thing would not have happened. If we had kept our eyes and ears open, we would not have been betrayed, our media would not have been hacked, and we would not have been harmed. We hear threats of war, and we despair that our world will come to a violent end, and we begin to believe that death is our final act.

So there Jesus was in that upper room, a vision that we all have from our gospel stories. We see him sitting there at his last supper, knowing that Judas will betray him, and that he is about to be crucified. And yet, speaking in a voice of triumph and victory, Jesus claims that the Son of Man has been glorified, and that God has been glorified in him. In both his life and in his death, Jesus glorified God, not for himself, but for us. “I give you a new commandment,” the voice of Jesus said. “Love others as I have loved you.”

The vision and the voice of Jesus is all about love, which you and I both know is complicated. Although the message is simple, it is not easy. Jesus met Judas’ betrayal with acceptance and then forgiveness. “Do what you have to do,” Jesus said, knowing that God would be glorified in the end. God’s vision of a crucified king became our Christian rallying cry and an icon for generations to come. Justice and mercy have kissed on the cross, like a bride and groom on their wedding day. “Death will be no more” that Voice proclaimed from heaven; for God’s mission in Jesus had been accomplished. And today, we celebrate Easter joy.

 God makes God’s home among us even now. Since God has given us the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, then “who are we to hinder the works of God?” We are the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement, claims our Presiding Bishop, and people will know that we are Christians by our love. “If it’s not about love, then it’s not about God,” our Presiding Bishop frequently reminds us.

We can hinder the work of God’s Spirit with our own denial, resistance, and silence. Or we can keep it alive with voices raised in protest against injustice, hate, and violence. We can keep the Spirit alive with voices raised in songs of praise, words that offer the peace of Christ, and by simple and small acts of sacrificial love.

The visions that we see and the voices that we hear in scripture show us both the realities of our human lives and the dream of God for our future. All people, all creation, and all creatures great and small, will be redeemed, and the garden of Eden will be restored. Unified, we shall no longer fight with one another. Sick and tired of being sick and tired, we shall be healthy and whole. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and put an end to all pain, mourning and grief. Adorned with white robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb, we will be saved by the grace of our life-giving, liberating, and loving God. In perfect harmony, our voices will sing together, “In Christ there is no east or west, in Him no south or north, but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”

We have God’s Vision for our future. May we always listen to God’s Voice; for this is the Way of Love that will lead us to eternal Life.

Acts 11:1-18

Revelation 21:1-6

John 13:31-35

Psalm 148