When God Breaks In (Part II)

So many of the Bible's stories are stories of commissioning, of God's people being sent.  So much of our lives, as disciples of this Sending God, are characterized by how well we listen and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Jolted By Address

Walter Brueggemann

From: Prayers of a Privileged People

We are surrounded by a din of demanding voices:

                                Selling,

                                Recruiting,

                                Seducing,

                                Coercing.

We screen them out in order to maintain our sanity,

                                                                To secure our rest.

And then, in the night, you address us,

                                                You call us by name,

                                                You entrust to us risky words,

                                                You empower us with authority.

But your voice is on first hearing not distinctive.

We confuse your voice with that of an old friend

                                                                Or a deep hope

                                                                Or a powerful fear

                                                                Or an ancient bias.

We hear, but we do not listen –

                Jolted, bewildered, resistant.

But your voice sneaks up on us:

                You address us,

                You call us by name,

                You entrust us with risky words,

                You empower us with authority.

Sometimes . . . Occasionally . . . boldly . . . we answer:

                                “Speak, I am listening.”

                                Then we say, “Here am I”

And listening, we are made new and sent dangerously

                                                By your address.