Signs And Silence

I've been rewatching the first series of 'Jam and Jerusalem' this evening whilst I've been doing some work.

 

It's a comedy set in a small Devonshire town and centres around the Women's Guild.

 

In one episode, the vicar is struggling to hear God's voice.  Whenever he tries to find some space to sit in silence and listen to God, someone interrupts him or he keeps hearing loud announcements on the tannoy from a local event.

 

He is desperate for a sign from God, but he never seems to get what he wants.

 

The episode is full of people looking for different signs from God (including a potato with the face of Jesus - worth a watch if you haven't seen it), and the characters struggle to interpret them.

 

Instead of signs, most of them are met with deafening silence.

 

In the same way, the people of Israel were waiting for a sign from God for hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, but they were met with silence.  They knew that God had promised to rescue them from their exile and life of slavery, but they didn't know when this would happen.

 

What made it harder was that they knew exactly what the sign was and what they were waiting for and they were eagerly expecting it.

 

God had promised them a Saviour through His prophet Isaiah:

 

      "For to us a child is born,
      to us a son is given,
      and the government will be on his shoulders.
      And he will be called
      Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
      Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
      Of the increase of his government and peace
      there will be no end.
      He will reign on David’s throne
      and over his kingdom,
      establishing and upholding it
      with justice and righteousness
      from that time on and forever.
      The zeal of the Lord Almighty
      will accomplish this."

 

      [Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV]

 

They knew that God had promised to send a child - His own Son - who would come to bring peace and restoration to the world.  And that is what they eagerly anticipated.

 

In the same way, as we eagerly look forward to Christmas, let's remind ourselves of the sign that God has already given us through His Son and of the peace and restoration that He offers us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Strangeness of Silence

I don't like silence. 

No, that's not quite true - I like (and sometimes demand) silence when I'm talking - especially to a class.  But I don't like to be in silence.  I don't like to be surrounded by it.

If I'm at home, I'll often have the TV on in the background, even if I'm not really watching it.  Or I'll put some music or the radio on, just so that I'm not in silence.

I had the very odd experience of being in a room of 300 people yesterday which was silenced by someone.  It felt unnatural and uncomfortable. 

We don't like to be silenced.

I think our modern understanding of silence has negative connotations of punishment or poverty: punishment for bad or antisocial behaviour - we make people work in silence and take away their right to speak; or poverty if people can't afford, or don't have, TVs or MP3 players to fill their silences.

We don't see silence as a privilege.

We don't see it as a privilege and most of us are scared of what we might find in the silence.

If we strip away the competing voices and distractions, if we silence the noises which surrounds us, we are left with ourselves.  With our own hearts and our own thoughts and our own voices. 

And sometimes we don't want to hear those things.

Sometimes we'd rather hide in the noise than deal with the deep longings and desires and dissatisfactions we find in our own hearts.

But the Bible tells us that sometimes we need silence.

       "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

       'In repentance and rest is your salvation,
       in quietness and trust is your strength.'"

       [Isaiah 30:15 NIV, emphasis mine]


        "I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.
        Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,
        my soul is a baby content.

           Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope.
        Hope now; hope always!"

 

        [Psalm 131:2-3 MSG]

Sometimes we need to mute the world, in order for us to hear the true longings of our hearts and to listen for God's voice.   

And it is in the silence that we will hear the still, small voice of God.