Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.
Call to Worship
Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!
This is the day our God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
Today we come to you Holy One – listening. Listening. Listening…. Amen.
Lessons
CLICK HERE for Readings from Diogenes and Stephen R. Covey
From the wisdom of Diogenes
"We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less."
From the Wisdom of Steven R. Covey
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.
CLICK HERE for the Reading from 1 Samuel
Hear These Words of Scripture (1 Samuel 3.1-11a, 19)
Little Samuel was assisting Eli. Heavenly messages were rare in those days, but one night after Eli had gone to bed (he was almost blind with age by now), and Samuel was sleeping in the Temple near the Ark, the Holy One called out, “Samuel! Samuel!”
“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” He jumped up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. What do you want?” he asked.
“I didn’t call you,” Eli said. “Go on back to bed.” So he did.
Then the Eternal called again, “Samuel!” And again Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli.
“Yes?” he asked. “What do you need?”
“No, I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go on back to bed.”
(Samuel had never had a divine message before.) So now the Voice called a third time, and once more Samuel jumped up and ran to Eli.
“Yes?” he asked. “What do you need?”
Then Eli realized it was the Holy One who had spoken to the child. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if you are called again, say, ‘Yes, I am listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.
And again Samuel heard, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Yes, I’m listening.”
Then the Eternal spoke to Samuel…
As Samuel grew, God was with him and people listened carefully to his advice.
Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher
CLICK HERE for Audio of Sermon "Deeper Listening"
Today we consider the role listening plays in our relationships with others and in our relationship with God. In our world filled with media coming from multiple electronic devices simultaneously it’s difficult to focus our attention on really listening to anything. Most of us do our best to keep our phone down and out of sight when we’re dining with people we love, but if that crazy weather alert goes off or multiple news alerts come through in quick succession we can’t resist picking it up and looking at it even when someone we love is speaking to us.
But it is important for us all to remember that perhaps the one most important thing we can ever do in a relationship is to listen… really listen to what our loved one is saying. Listening is the greatest gift we can give to another human being. Giving our attention to what someone is saying is the ultimate form of respect and a genuine action of caring.
And it’s important to remember that when listening to someone our goal ought to be hearing and understanding them, not spending our time formulating an answer while they are speaking. Listening is not something we do between spurts of speaking. Listening is how we learn, how we grow, how we participate in relationships.
It’s important that we do our best to listen to God as well. In my experience, God speaks to me in two important ways. Most of the time I hear God’s voice in the words of those I love. When I talk over a problem with someone I love God often speaks through them to sooth my soul, to comfort me in fear or grief, and to guide me in sharing their experiences and wisdom.
But there is another way that I “hear” God when I listen to what is often referred to as the “still small voice” within us. One example of this phenomenon is recorded in our reading from 1 Samuel. Another is recorded in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah was being pursued and was in danger of being killed. Beginning at verse 3 the text says –
3 Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
The voice of God was not in the ferocious wind, the voice of God was not in the earthquake, the voice of God was not in the crackling and hissing of the fire. The voice of God was in a whisper that Elijah heard in his heart and it gave him courage.
It is difficult with all the noise that bombards us to hear that still small voice within us, that voice of knowing from the heart, the voice of wisdom placed in us by God. We have a frequency within us that is not explained by modern science. But if we turn our listening to the frequency we can hear the wisdom of the ages, we can hear God speaking to us.
Let me caution here that it is very easy for us to mistake our own inner wants with the voice of God. So it is important that when we think we’ve heard God speaking to us that we talk with a trusted spiritual advisor or friend. If God is indeed speaking to us trusted and faithful travelers on our spiritual journey will affirm what we believe we hear. But keeping what we think we hear to ourselves can lead to some false assumptions. We must constantly interrogate what we think we hear and compare it to the great principles of our faith asking –
- Is what I’m hearing based in compassion?
- Is what I’m hearing motivating kindness?
- Is what I’m hearing loving and generous?
If what we think we are hearing does not conform to these tenets of our faith we may be listening to our own ego. This is why it’s important to check out what we think we hear with someone we trust.
The divine spark is in all of us. Each and every human on earth is made in the image of the Creator. Every one of us has this special frequency that, if we take the time to tune our heart to it, will allow us to hear God speaking in that still small voice, calling us to love one another and treat everyone as we would like to be treated.
Let us pray, Holy One teach us to listen. Quiet our minds. Cause us to focus on the quiet within us. Remind us that your love is implanted in our hearts, that your wisdom comes to us in the silence of serenity. These things we ask in your many names, Amen.
For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below.
"There is Greatness in Us" Sunday, October 24, 2021, Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life
Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.
Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!
This is the day our God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Opening Prayer
[Holy One of Blessing],
[We] pray for all the souls on this planet that feel like they are not accepted and loved by others. May they feel your love, comfort, and peace all around them. [We] pray for all the souls that feel like they are alone and they have nobody else in this world.
May they feel your almighty and unconditional love. For all the people out there who struggle with self-acceptance, allow them to feel your loving presence, your comfort, and your peace. [In your many names we pray.] Amen.
https://prayerist.com/prayer/acceptanceofothers
The Lessons
CLICK HERE for Audio of First Reading
Wisdom of a Scottish Proverb
Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat.
CLICK HERE for Audio of Final Reading
A Reading from First Samuel (1 Samuel 16.1-13)
Finally God said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul, for I have rejected him as king... Now take a vial of olive oil and go to Bethlehem and find a man named Jesse, for I have selected one of his sons to rule.”
But Samuel asked, “How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
“Take a heifer with you,” God answered, “and say that you have come to make a sacred sacrifice. Then call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint.”
So Samuel did as he was told. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the city came trembling to meet him.
“What is wrong?” they asked. “Why have you come?”
Samuel replied, “All is well. I have come to sacrifice to our God. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”
And he performed the purification rite on Jesse and his sons, and invited them too.
When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the chosen one!”
But God said to Samuel, “Don’t judge someone by their looks, for this is not the one. I don’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but I look at a person’s heart and intentions.”
Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But God said, “This is not the one either.”
Next Jesse summoned Shammah, but God said, “No, not this one.”
In the same way all seven of his sons presented themselves to Samuel and were rejected.
“God has not chosen any of them,” Samuel told Jesse. “Are these all there are?”
“Well, there is the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep.”
“Send for him at once,” Samuel said, “for we will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”
So Jesse sent for him. He was a fine looking boy, ruddy-faced, and with pleasant eyes. And God said, “This is the one; anoint him.”
So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it upon David’s head; and the Spirit of God came upon him and gave him great power from that day onward.
Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher
CLICK HERE for Audio of "There is Greatness Inside Us"
Our story today from 1 Samuel is a pivotal story in our sacred texts. We enter the house of Jesse with Samuel sent to them to anoint the new king. Jesse presents his grown sons to Samuel but neither of them are the one that God has chosen to be anointed. And so Samuel, confused that none of these strapping young men is to be the anointed one asks, “Are these all there are?” David is just a lad in the fields watching the sheep. And when he is sent for and arrives, Samuel is confident that God wants him to anoint David.
Now perhaps the most important part of this story is Samuel’s reaction when he is presented the first son, Eliab. Samuel says to himself, “Surely this is the chosen one!”I imagine Eliab to be a strong, good looking young man with a confident regal air about him. Samuel sizes up Eliab and based on his outward appearance he assumes this is the one God has chosen, the first, probably the oldest, Jesse’s favorite perhaps.
The text of our reading says, “But God said to Samuel, ‘Don’t judge someone by their looks, for this is not the one. I don’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but I look at a person’s heart and intentions.’” In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover. We must look inside a book to know what it is all about. And we must learn something about a person, we must try to know what is in their heart, before we can begin to make judgements about their worth and worthiness.
Now let’s get real, we size people up all the time. We do this first and foremost to determine if we are be in danger. This is an evolutionary process that is baked into us but we take an instinct that without informed exercise, can become bigotry, racism, and hate. If I’m walking to my car in a parking lot at night with no one else around and a man walks toward me, am I going to remind myself that I should not judge people on their outsides? Not likely. I’m going to yell, “Do not come any closer to me!” and if he persists in walking toward me, if I feel threatened I’m going to set off my car alarm and start trying to figure out how I can escape! Now this is an extreme example but this has happened to me and I very much doubt if I would or even could do anything different presented with the same circumstance again.
There are hundreds of circumstances that I can make a different decision every single day. When someone cuts me off in traffic or is driving the speed limit (heaven forbid) in the left lane on a highway I often jump to conclusions about who they are and why they are doing what they are doing. When I see a person who is dirty begging for money, my heart aches that I can’t “fix” their lives and still I wonder in my heart why they do not have a job when there are so many companies looking for workers. It’s only the NEXT thought that reminds me no one is going to hire someone who has no place to shower and make themselves presentable, someone who has no place to sleep but on the ground, someone who has no address, no documents to prove who they are.
Change in any society starts at the personal level. I may think that working on my own assumptions and attitudes cannot possibly have an effect on society. But that is not true. I have a sphere of influence. When I work on my on interior process, when my attitudes begin to change, when I keep trying to see the divinity in each and every human being, that will naturally flow out of me and influence those around me.
The other side of the coin is also important. I think Oprah Winfrey quoting Maya Angelou said it best, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. ~Maya Angelou
Remember this because it will happen many times in your life. When people show you who they are the first time believe them. Not the 29th. time. When a man doesn't call you back the first time, when you are mistreated the first time, when someone shows you lack of integrity or dishonesty the first time, know that this will be followed many, many other times, that will some point in life come back to haunt or hurt you. Live your life in truth. Don't pretend to be someone you're not. You will survive anything if you live your life from the point of view of truth.”
So the lesson embedded in our lesson today is to refrain from making assumptions based on someone’s outer appearance and instead try to discern what is in a person’s heart. Remember that Samuel anointed David based on God choosing David because God knew his heart. But David disappointed God, himself, and his people many times. He sent a friend into battle to be killed so that he could have his wife, he failed and failed and failed, but David continued to try to be a better man, a better king, a better follower of God.
This business of discerning is not easy. But it is necessary if we are to grow spiritually and avoid the trap of bigotry, racism, and hate. Today we try again. Tomorrow we try again. We continue to open our minds to the teaching of the spirit of holiness. Micah 6:8 is our guide, “… And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Amen.
For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below.
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