Devotion: “Voice Recognition” January 31, 2012
John 10:11-18
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
It is Christmas day. Ten adults ages 24 to 91 and one 3-month-old infant are gathered in the family room with everyone, including the baby, talking at once. The baby’s mother, my daughter, says something across the room and the baby’s head instantly swivels in her mother’s direction. It is a voice she knows well. She has lived with that voice for her whole life, a total of 12 months. It was her constant companion for 9 months, during which time her mother, a teacher, talked a lot, to her class, to her husband, to her baby. And now, outside the womb, she knows that this voice belongs to the one who supplies her needs. She would recognize this voice anywhere.
Jesus tells us that he and his sheep know each other well, and that the sheep listen to his voice. In fact, they would know his voice anywhere. Sheep are like that – they know their shepherd’s voice and can easily distinguish it from other voices. Would we know the voice of Jesus if we heard it? Would it be as distinguishable to us as the shepherd’s to the sheep, or the mother’s to the baby? Sometimes we think our prayers aren’t heard, let alone answered. But would we know it if they were? Would we know the voice of Jesus if we heard it?
Piper may not have known Megan’s voice the first time she heard it, but she grow to know it over time. If we listen closely for Jesus’ voice, we will grow to recognize it, and when he speaks to us we will know his voice. In fact, we will recognize it anywhere, in the middle of a busy day, in the throes of doubt and confusion, through the fear of illness and misery. Listen right now. Ask Jesus, “What would you like to say to me?” What did he say? Something like “I love you” or “I am with you”? Remember that voice; you might hear it anywhere.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, you know us and care for us as the shepherd does his sheep. Teach us to listen for your voice, to recognize it, and to know it anywhere. Amen.
Written by Alice Woodard Cummings, Associate in Ministry, Director of Worship
Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 7401 County Road 101, Maple Grove, MN 55311, 763-420-5015, alicec@lordoflife.org.
Scripture quotation is from The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.