Elijah and the Still Small Voice

When I was in high school I was chosen to go to Leadership camp. Two youth from each high school in our part of the state went and spent a week together learning leadership skills. And while I am sure there are things I learned from the camp that I don’t consciously think about, the only thing I vividly remember is the day we had to spend in silence. We were told the night before that we were not to say a word to anyone the entire following day and we were to have as little interaction with other people as possible. We were each given an activity sheet of things we were to do during the day to keep us busy, but they were mostly individual type activities. All our meals were given to us in brown bags and we were to eat by ourselves. It was an experience I will never forget. It was hard. But what it forced you to do was to spend the day with yourself! Many of the activities we were to do were self reflective type practices but there were some of the activities which actually brought us into groups where we had to sit by one another, in silence. What this exercise did was teach us that every moment doesn’t have to be spent in noise; and that it was OK to be with other people and not have to talk. It taught us how to live with those awkward silences - you know those times when you are in the presence of other people and you feel compelled to say something….. And we learned it was OK not to have to say anything….
I have been to oodles of retreats and seminars and different type of church related trainings and every one of them has had a component of silence. So what does that teach me? That in our relationship with God, one of the most important aspects is silence.
Can you imagine silence? We are not good at silence. Silence makes us nervous; especially when we are around others; silence makes us uncomfortable. But you know one of the first lessons they teach you in counseling class - the therapeutic nature of silence; of presence. Often times people would tell me they couldn’t go visit someone who was experiencing a loss or a tragedy because they didn’t know what to say. And the answer is you truly don’t have to say anything. Just your presence is all someone may need. No words; just go and sit with that person in silence.
Silence. We have times of silence built into our worship. The hope is that we can really be silent, that we can silence our minds for just a little while because what we learn from silence is that is when we can hear the voice of God. It is only in the silence, in the listening, that we can hear God speak to us. And unless we are silent, we aren’t able to hear. And if we never hear, how do we know the guidance and direction God offers us?
We know that we read in scripture that we are to pray to God with our needs; we are to pray to God when we need direction; we pray when we are looking for answers. That is what we are suppose to do. But how do you get your answer? How do you know where God is directing you or how do you know what God’s desire for you is or how do you know how God is going to meet your needs? Prayer is great but we can’t talk our way through it - there needs to be some times of silence.
Tell me if this is what you do? Dear God, please help me cause I need such and such. Please help me God. Amen. and then you go on your way. And then you say, “Well, why didn’t God answer me? Why didn’t I hear from God?” But how do you expect to hear form God if you don’t stop and listen? How do you expect God to talk to you if you never spend some time in silence so that you can hear? Listening for God’s answer requires silence. How do you have a conversation with someone else? You talk, and then you listen when they talk. Otherwise it is a monologue and not a conversation. Prayer is conversation with God which implies times of talking and times of listening.
That is what Elijah learned. We have spent all summer with Elijah. We have seen him perform miracles, we have seen him as he proves his great faith in God, we have seen him exhausted, we have seen him experiencing God’s protection and God’s provision. But just like us, Elijah had to learn how to hear God.
Elijah has been busy. Elijah has worked for God. Elijah has been all over the countryside doing what God needed him to do. And now Elijah has ended up on the mountain of God. This is the same mountain where Moses climbed to receive the 10 commandments - it is a mountain where the Hebrew people all knew that God could be found. And this is where Elijah has gone for direction for his life.
And while he is on that mountain he figures God is going to do something grandiose. He figures God is going to do something spectacular. After all, God is almighty and powerful and huge so you gotta figure anything God is going to do is going to be big and amazing! But God has another lesson to teach Elijah.
So comes this great thunderstorm - loud and booming and Elijah figures he is going to hear God’s voice in this….. and he doesn’t. Then there is a giant earthquake with all the loud grating of the earth and rocks tumbling and Elijah thinks he will hear God now is all of this chaos but not to be. Then there is a great roaring fire and Elijah is sure that this is the voice of God and he waits for the message, but this is not how God is


speaking to him either. And Elijah is confused.
And after all of that noise there is silence…. and it is then that Elijah hears God.
Silence…….
Part of our issue with silence is we need a true understanding of who we are. We are children of God. But even more than that we are the ones chosen by God to be part of God’s church - not our church but God’s church. This is a great gift God has given us.
God has chosen us, imperfect sinners that we are; people not worthy to be chosen; but in spite of all that chosen we are. We can’t dwell on why we just have to accept it and believe it. God saw something in us that we can’t see in ourselves. And while this is a great gift we have been given by God, there is also an element of responsibility associated with this gift - with our chosenness. That responsibility is to first of all simply recognize who we are - those chosen by the grace of Jesus Christ. We have been set apart by God.
The responsibility then is to listen for God’s direction - as a church and as a people. So that brings in the silence. We cannot hear God’s direction until we listen.
So in a practical sense how do we do that? So here are some steps:

1. Find out what time of day works for you. Some of us are morning people, some of us are afternoon people, some of us are night people. What works for you? Get up with that morning cup of coffee and go somewhere by yourself for a few minutes. I use to drive an hour to work and that became my time. Before you go to bed….. All of us have 5 - 10 min each day sometime to be by ourselves. Before you collapse in your chair for your evening of TV; while you are brushing your teeth getting ready for bed. In the shower…….
2. Then you just have to listen. Now this is probably harder than carving out the 5 - 10 min each day. How do we empty our minds of all the to do lists and all the things we