Heeding God’s Promptings

Acts 8: 26-40

Roger Lynn

April 17, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

In J.R.R.Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”, Bilbo reflects on the precarious nature of living when he says, “It’s a dangerous thing . . . going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you’ll be swept off to.” That is something like what it means to be a person of faith. Once you start down the path of faith, there’s just no telling where it will take you. 

While that is true, however, God seldom grabs us by the arm and drags us to where God thinks we need to be. The guidance and direction we get from God is usually more subtle than that. Nudges, whispers, promptings are more often the means by which God intersects with our lives. We have to pay attention to notice. And when we do notice we need to be willing to take a step down the path, even when it isn’t entirely clear what’s coming next. “Step onto the path and the path will appear” is the way the Sufi poet Rumi put it.

In our reading from the book of Acts, Philip receives guidance from an angel and from God’s Spirit. We aren’t told exactly what form that guidance took – perhaps it was a hunch, or an urge, or maybe the voice of a friend. We are told that it did not come all at once. First he went down to the road, then he saw the Ethiopian, then he engaged in the conversation which led eventually to the man wanting to be baptized. Philip was heeding God’s promptings as he came to understand them – one step at a time.

“The Alchemist”, by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, is a fable about following your dream. In the story the shepherd boy, Santiago, learns over and over again that the secret to realizing your true destiny is learning to recognize the omens, and then following them. In this story to speak of omens is really another way of talking about the subtle promptings of God. The other truth which Santiago discovers over and over again is that when you are seeking your destiny, “all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” That sounds a lot like the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. When we are open, when we are willing to listen, when we are willing to step out and follow, amazing and surprising things begin to take shape. 

In reflecting back over my life, I can see evidence of this truth time and time again. On those occasions when I’ve managed to both discern the promptings of God and act on them, I have found myself swept along into a life I could not have imagined. Sitting in the balcony of my home church while visiting from college one weekend, a friend asks me if I’m going to be a minister. I hear the voice of God, and the trajectory of my life is forever altered. 

One evening just before a board meeting was scheduled to begin, a young woman walks in the front doors of the church and asks if there is someone she could talk to. I could have said, “I’m busy right now. Can you come back in an hour, or make an appointment for tomorrow?” But instead I feel just enough of a nudge from God to excuse myself from the board meeting so I can sit and listen to the young woman’s story. I have no idea what the next step will be, but because I have dared to take the first step, I have an experience of being filled with a wisdom beyond my own. Words, and insights, and illustrations from scripture are coming out of my mouth in a way that can only be described as a gift from God. 

Sometimes paying attention to the promptings from God requires patience and perseverance. It took several years of praying and walking the labyrinth and talking with family and friends and asking questions and then praying some more before I was convinced that God was nudging me towards the decision to leave my congregation in Moscow. And then summoning up the courage to heed the promptings took more time still. 

Watching for the omens means listening all along the way. Sometimes we start down a path which eventually turns out to be a dead-end. But there isn’t really any way to figure that out until we start down the path. There was a time about twenty years ago when I thought I was being called to a different ministry in another town. I had filled out the relocation papers, talked on the phone with the search committee, and scheduled a time to fly down for an interview. It was only as I started to make the plane reservations that I was able to pay attention to the promptings of God – this was not the right time and this was not the right situation. 

Several years ago in Moscow it was my turn to write the “Faith Matters” article for the local newspaper. It was December and in the week leading up to my deadline I was bombarded by stories in the news about Christmas being put forth in a variety of ways which seemed extremely insensitive to those who are not Christian. I heard in those stories a prompting from God. My article took shape as a call for sensitivity and respect. One thing led to another and that article found its way into the hands of people I could never have imagined – the Muslim community in Portland and a Jewish teacher in Missoula. In both cases it was received with gratitude and appreciation. I later had the opportunity to meet the teacher from Missoula, who expressed again how moved she was knowing that there were Christians who respected her faith journey. 

When we begin to get into the habit of watching and listening and expecting the promptings from God, we discover that they are all around us all the time. Who can say what the voice of an angel sounds like? But after a while it really is possible to recognize such voices. And when we learn to trust those promptings and step onto the paths where they lead us, we discover that life unfolds before us in ways we can never anticipate. All the universe really does conspire to help us live into our destiny.

Who is God prompting you to share a conversation with? Where is God leading you to go? What is God urging you to do? Are you listening? Are you willing to respond? What will God accomplish through your living? Life really is an amazing adventure, if we are willing to participate.