There is a voice in my life which I trust almost completely. When I am unsure of how to get to my destination, this voice guides me on how to proceed. When I am lost, the voice gently gets me back on track. Sometimes I will miss what the voice has told me and make a wrong turn; other times, I admit that I will ignore the voice, thinking I know the way better. And each time, without anger or frustration, the voice patiently shows me the way back.

The voice is my GPS – Global Positioning System – which my husband gave me for Christmas. Apparently, Peter thinks I need a little help navigating the highways and byways, and the GPS is a neat little device that can keep me from losing my way. All I do is program it with the address I am heading to, whether it’s 5 minutes or 500 miles away. The GPS, guided by satellites and computers, then maps out a route for me, and the voice coming from the box tells me when to go straight and where to make a turn. Every once in a while, I miss the turn; or sometimes, I think I’m smarter than the GPS and go a different way; or, I decide to make an unplanned stop on the way. And each time, the voice in the box gets neither irritated nor impatient; it just does some recalculations and reroutes me to my final destination.

Since Advent, our lessons from the Gospel of Matthew have been full of voices. John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the wilderness, heralding the coming Messiah and calling people to repentance [3:1-6]. At Jesus’ baptism, which we celebrated last month, a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” [3:17]. That was the voice of benediction, of divine blessing, of ordination, for after his baptism, Jesus began his earthly ministry. And just as the voice of God called Jesus at his baptism, today the voice of Jesus calls little Madison and Abigail to discipleship, and I pray it is a call they live out many times and in many ways throughout their lives.

Jesus heard God’s voice again at his Transfiguration, which we observed last Sunday, when God repeated this affirmation: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” [17:5].

In this morning’s Gospel lesson from Matthew, Jesus hears a different voice. On this first Sunday of Lent, we go with Jesus into the wilderness. He spends 40 days in that wilderness, and on our Lenten journeys, we spend 40 days following Jesus through the last days of his earthly life. In Scripture, the number forty is code for a period of time that is theologically and spiritually significant. Forty represents a period of trial, introspection, and preparation for something new to be born – a new attitude, a new hope, a new relationship with God. The term “Lent,” which comes from the old English word for spring, is an apt description for this season before Easter, for it is a holy springtime of the soul in which we nurture and grow our faith in God.

But on this first Sunday in Lent, God’s Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness, where he hears a voice testing and tempting him. It is a voice which forces Jesus to wrestle with his own humanity. It is a voice which pushes every button of human weakness: hunger, power, pride, and a desire for security. But Jesus knows it is the voice of the devil, and he resists it, remaining faithful to God.

We hear a lot of voices, too, telling us where to go, what to buy, how to vote, what to believe. As one jaded theologian¹ put it, “…the sophistication of today’s advertising has tricked us into thinking that their sales pitches do not affect us. Educators tell us to make up our minds, all the while influencing us to think just like they do. Journalists are accepted as experts, telling us ‘the facts,’ while we blindly accept their points of view.”

Yes, our lives are so full of voices, we struggle to hear God’s, which can be hard to recognize above the din. It would be so much easier if God spoke from a black box on the dashboard, like my GPS speaks to me. But God rarely speaks to us in an audible voice. Rather, God’s voice is softer, subtler, and we must work at discerning it above all the others.

The word discern comes from the Latin word meaning to separate, to distinguish, to sort out. In the same way, to be able to discern that we are hearing God’s voice, we must sift through all the noise, sort through our interior feelings and exterior experiences to distinguish which are truly of God.

To hear God’s voice, we must first open our hearts to it, open our hearts to willingly be called and led by God, to be open to the moving and working of the Holy Spirit. To use an analogy, we know that God’s “radio signal,” is out there, but if the power switch of our hearts is not in the “on” position, we’re not going to get any reception, and if our channel knob is not tuned to God, we might hear other voices on other stations.

We can best filter out other voices and tune in to God’s voice when we learn to recognize it. To use another analogy, imagine that you get a telephone call but the line quality is bad. Even if you cannot hear clearly what the person at the other end of the line is saying, you might be able to recognize the voice by inflection or tone. And, just as we learn the subtleties of one’s speech by getting to know the person behind the voice, we come to know God’s voice by coming to better know God.

We will never fully comprehend God’s mind or God’s will, but we can become more attuned to God’s Spirit if we are intentionally nurturing a relationship with God through prayer, scripture, and worship. We will better be better able to discern God’s voice if we come to God in humility, being honest about who we are and our limitations in relation to God, and if we are willing to let go of our preconceived notions and personal desires.

How do we know we’re hearing God’s voice? The presence of God’s Holy Spirit can be discerned when we receive the same persistent message in different ways from different places, or when a certain decision brings a sense of peace to our being. Perhaps we have been struggling about something and have asked God for guidance; if we are following God’s voice, our inner turmoil will give way to a sense of serenity and well-being and feelings of joy and renewed energy.

The voice of God is hidden in a whole chorus of worldly voices which beckon us. Other would-be shepherds seek to tempt us away from the Jesus, Good Shepherd, away from the joy of his forgiveness and the security of his love. We are especially tempted by those other voices when, like Jesus in this morning’s Gospel lesson, we are out in the wilderness. The Biblical image of the wilderness is a metaphor for separation and estrangement from God, and we call that sin. And when we are sick with sin, when become weak and confused, when our lives are in chaos and disorder, when we are yearning and searching for something – anything – to fill our emptiness, it is then that our sin-sick souls may unwittingly follow other beckoning voices.

There is a story of an American tourist who was traveling in the Middle East. He came upon several shepherds whose flocks had intermingled while drinking water from a brook. After an exchange of greetings, one of the shepherds turned toward the sheep and called out, "Manah. Manah. Manah." Manah means, "follow me" in Arabic. Immediately his sheep separated themselves from the rest and followed him.

Then one of the two remaining shepherds called out, "Manah. Manah," and his sheep left the common flock to follow him. The traveler then said to the third shepherd, "I would like to try that. Let me put on your cloak and turban and see if I can get the rest of the sheep to follow me."

The shepherd smiled knowingly as the traveler wrapped himself in the cloak, put the turban on his head and called out, "Manah. Manah." The sheep did not respond to the stranger's voice; not one of them moved toward him.

"Will the sheep ever follow someone other than you?" the traveler asked.

"Oh yes," the shepherd replied, "sometimes a sheep gets sick, and then it will follow anyone."

No matter what might be going on around us or in our lives, no matter how sin-sick we might be, when we repent and we turn back to God, when we nurture our relationship with God, when we open our hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit, then we will be activating our GPS -- God’s positioning system – which will, in the words of this morning’s lesson from Proverbs, help us avoid blind alleys, wrong turns, and Wicked Bypass and guide us in finding Wisdom Way and Righteous Road.

There is a Voice in my life which I trust almost completely. When I am unsure of how to get to my destination, this Voice guides me on how to proceed. When I am lost, the Voice gently gets me back on track. Sometimes I will miss what the Voice has told me and take a wrong turn; other times, I admit that I will ignore the Voice, thinking I know the way better. And each time, without anger or frustration, the Voice patiently shows me the way back. The Voice is God, who helps me navigate the highways and byways of life, and keeps me from losing my way.

May these 40 days of Lent be a time for you to grow in closer relationship with God. May this season be a time for you to listen for and recognize God’s voice above the cacophony. And may Lent be a holy springtime for your soul which leads you ever closer to the heart of God. Amen.

¹ Alan Gilman, “Discerning Truth,” http://www.torahbytes.org/58-40.htm

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