The Voice of God
“If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.”Too often we miss the point of the Psalm Response following the proclamation of the Hebrew Testament. More often than not there is, in that Psalm, a thematic link to the other Scriptures, especially the Gospel. Today’s Psalm is a particular case in point.The Psalm reminds us of God’s presence even in the most trying of times. It recalls the Israelites suffering of thirst in desert, the place given the name Massah and Meribah (literally the place of “testing” and “quarreling”). It was there that they railed against Moses because of the struggles they experienced and found his leadership and counsel lacking, even though he was chosen by Yahweh, as is attested in today’s passage from Deuteronomy. So often on their journey they allowed their suffering to drown out the Voice of God which says:For he is our God,and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.So in the Gospel, Jesus speaks God’s word with such authority that the people are in awe. His preaching is intimately bound up in his identifying and embracing the brokenness of the human condition. In today’s Gospel it’s in the context of casting out demons—those elements in the human condition that distort or silence God’s voice of compassion. In the most trying times the Voice of God is heard and the Voice of God heals. God’s voice in the Hebrew tradition and in the Gospels finds its locus in the human enterprise. God’s mercy, God’s unconditional love, God’s infinite justice always finds expression within the human experience, especially in its most fractured state. Where do we find the Voice of God today? Does it still have the power to heal?In December 1983, eleven-year-old Trevor Farrell saw a television report about the increasing homeless population of Philadelphia who risked freezing to death through the cold winter. He went to his room, picked up his blanket and pillow from his bed and asked
his parents to take him to the homeless. His parents protested but eventually gave in to their adamant son. As they drove him through the streets of Philadelphia they
saw a homeless man lying on a steam grate, curled up in ball.
Trevor got out of the car and approached the man. The man
looked up as Trevor handed him the blanket and pillow.
The look of gratitude on that man’s face made such an impact on young Trevor that over the coming weeks he enlisted the
help of family, classmates and neighbors. The media soon
got hold of the story and it wasn’t long before “Trevor’s Campaign,”
a foundation for helping the homeless of Philadelphia, was started. In the suffering of the homeless Trevor heard the Voice of God. And perhaps even more remarkable, in Trevor’s response an entire city heard the Voice of God. We sometimes think that the Voice of God is heard only in those who have the “authority” to do so. Though he was a respected teacher, Jesus was not part of the established religious establishment. In fact the religious establishment considered him a radical; he was clearly an outsider. So they felt justified in wondering just where his authority came from. What amazed the people in Jesus’ day was that his authority was so powerful. His resonance with the suffering of others gave his words their real power. His authority flowed from his compassion.There are people of compassion throughout history who have given expression to the Voice of God. We have our canonized saints who give such testimony. But we also have ordinary people in our communities, like Trevor Farrell who hear the Voice of God in the suffering of those around them, and whose attitudes and actions toward the suffering represent in turn the Voice of God to others. Like them we all have the opportunity to give witness to the compassion, the mercy, the unconditional love of God in what we do and say each day in our families, our community, our church and our nation. “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.”
