The Still, Small Voice

'At Horeb, the mount of God, Elijah came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

God said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but theLord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus."'

--I Kings 19: 9-15a

Where do you find God?  One of the earliest places I can remember finding God was at the National Cathedral in DC for the acolyte convention when I was nine.  I still remember that massive sanctuary, the sun shining through the stained glass windows like God was saying hi, and the thunderous sound of all of us singing Lift High the Cross as we exited.  God was there!  I knew it.  So where have you found God?  In a knock-your-socks-off church service like that one?  Or a powerful lightning and thunderstorm?  Or a miraculous story of someone beating cancer?  I suspect many of us would say we most find God in these kinds of spectacular moments because these are the places where God seems most alive.

The prophet Elijah thought he knew where God was most alive.  We pick up the story of this great prophet whom folks called the Man of God in the 19th chapter of the 1st Book of Kings. He's running, trying to escape Queen Jezebel, who had had all the other prophets in the land killed. He finds his way to a cave on Mount Horeb--also called Mount Sinai--where God centuries earlier had appeared to Moses. Elijah is scared and does not know what to do next. "I alone am left!" he cries out desperately.  He's at the end of his rope, and he needs to know God is alive.  

So God tells him to go outside the cave and wait, for God will pass by and make the Divine presence known.  One chapter earlier in this text God was revealed to Elijah and a group of people in a pillar of great fire from heaven. Elijah is expecting something like that, something spectacular, and in a way, he gets it.  First comes a mighty wind, but God is not in the wind.  Next comes a thunderous earthquake, but God is not in the earthquake.  Then comes fire, the same fire that announced God’s presence  before. Surely God will be found in the fire.  No.  Where then is God found?  As our New Revised Standard Version puts it:  "in a sound of sheer silence." Some of you may know the King James Version better:  "in a still, small voice."  That’s where the prophet finds God in his distress.  It isn't in the powerful spectacles of wind, earthquake, and fire, but rather in the silence, in a voice so still and small that we don't even know what it says!  This is a relatively unspectacular moment, yet this is where God is found.  When Elijah realizes he is in the presence of God he, like Moses before him, covers his face to meet the Most High, and is then reminded of who he is what what he is called to be.

A grieving Elijah meets God in the silence in this work by Julian Poon called Elijah Hears God.

Elijah learned something that evening on the mountain that is Good News for us even now:  God is not locked into any one mode of appearing.  This means God can show up anywhere, in any circumstance and among any kind of people.  Thus, God is alive in a roaring cathedral, but also on a silent beach. God is alive in a miraculous healing but also in a heart-wrenching death.  God is alive in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Chris but also in the teachings of the Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, the prophet Mohammad, or the Law of Moses.  God is not limited to the spectacular moments, nor is God limited to our own means and methods.  God can be found in all places because God is alive everywhere!  Sometimes the places we find God are unspectacular, unexpected, and maybe it even takes us a while to realize God was there.  Nevertheless, these thin places are where God dwells.  I'll share with you two such places where I found God this past week.  

A husband and wife came to the church early last week in need of groceries.  I took them to the store and saw God in a moment that was not spectacular or extraordinary, but still very holy.  The wife, a 30-something African American woman with visible tattoos, cornrows in her hair, and a bubbly personality, struck up a conversation with one of the workers, a 17-year old, seemingly shy, home-schooled white girl.  For almost 15 minutes they talked about everything from food to jobs, to places the older woman lived and places the young girl wanted to live. I looked around and saw people's faces.  There were those whose visages clearly said, "What's up with these two black folks and this white minister?  And what's going on with that black woman and that white girl?!" Even in the silence of their stares, I could hear the still, small voice of God telling me what a holy and beautiful moment this was, especially since the North Carolina county in which I live still has a very real problem with racism and how to even have a conversation around the topic.  God was speaking in that moment in the grocery store aisle!  

I'm glad I had that moment in the grocery store because, as it turned out, I needed it.  On Friday I saw, as many of you did, the news coming out of Charlottesville, Virginia.  A number of white supremacist groups, which included neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and other so-called "alt-right" groups, assembled on the campus of the University of Virginia to march in protest of a confederate memorial being taken down and for the cause of "white pride."  In response the people of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Charlottesville assembled to pray together and stand against the hate-filled protestors.  The protestors were scheduled to rally Saturday morning, but instead they marched to Saint Paul's and surrounded the church with torches in-hand, shouting terror-filled things like "Blood and soil!" (an actual Nazi Germany slogan) and "White lives matter!"  Meanwhile, inside the church, an assembly of layfolk and clergy--including the Bishop of Virginia--as well as folks from every culture and religion throughout Charlottesville, continued to pray as they heard the shouts and saw the flames outside.  The still, small voice of God was speaking to those folks gathered in Saint Paul's that night.  As the images have poured in over the weekend, I know that I have seen God.  I've seen God in the actions of those who stand against hatred, even if those actions are as unspectacular as folks gathering in a church to pray.  Charlottesville serves as a reminder that God is always present, even in the midst of racism and our moments of sheer terror.  

Neo-Nazis and other white supremacists assemble in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend

The events of this past week have filled many of us with fear.  However, the Good News of this story from I Kings is that God is present, even in the fear Elijah felt, even in the fear we feel. God is present in the silence, even when Elijah could hear nothing, even when folks glare in judgement at two black folks and a white minister together in the grocery store.  And the still, small voice of God is still heard, even when shouts of terror ring through the night sky as folks assemble for prayer.  It is in these moments when we, like Elijah, meet the Holy One and are reminded of who we are--beloved of God--and what we are called to be--healers, pray-ers, lovers, workers, seekers, and servers.  Take heart this week, brothers and sisters, and know that even in the unspectacular, fearful, and altogether disorienting moments of life--especially right now in our country--God is still speaking, still moving all of us toward the plan of salvation as we stand against evil and work for a world transformed by God's love.  May you find God this week.  May you hear the still, small voice and behold God in the sound of sheer silence.