God’s Heard Word
Preacher: The Rev. Andrew Van Kirk
Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-5, 10-13
Reflection Questions
Hearing is a sense while reading is a skill — and scripture was meant to be heard more than read. Think about your own habits of engaging God's word. When was the last time you actually heard scripture read aloud outside of Sunday morning, and how did it land differently than reading it silently to yourself?
Rain accomplishes so much more than just wetting the ground -- deserts to bloom and animals to come out. When has God's word rained into one part of your life (say, a struggle at work, a decision about retirement, a moment with your kids) and then unexpectedly transformed something adjacent that you weren't even praying about?
For those of you in professional roles, most of your day is spent processing written words — emails, reports, screens, slides. For retirees, much of your reading may be news, novels, or scripture on the page. Given all that saturation in written text, what would it take to build a rhythm of heard words from God into your week?
God's heard word enriches not just our religious lives but "our marriages, our parents, our studies, our travels, our sicknesses, our professions, our retirement, our love of self." Pick one of those — the one that feels driest right now — and talk about what it might mean for God's word to actually rain into that specific area of your life.
The sermon ends with the claim that our response to hearing is meant to be heard too — that we're called to shout, sing, and speak back, not just ponder silently. For many of us formed by professional decorum or a lifetime of Episcopal restraint, audible response can feel uncomfortable. Where in your life do you actually give God an audible response, and what holds you back from doing so more?
