Can You Hear Me Now?

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 19 Issue 21 July 19, 2009

John 20:10-18 Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, Woman, why are you crying? They have taken my Lord away, she said, and I don't know where they have put him. At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. Woman, he said, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? Thinking he was the gardener, she said, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, Rabboni! (which means Teacher). Jesus said, Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: I have seen the Lord!
Today, as we talk about sensible faith, we are going to talk about how Mary heard and believed.

If you have a cell phone, then you’ve probably heard the phrase, “Can you hear me now?” I wonder how many times God has asked that of us, “Can you hear me now?”

I believe that God is always speaking into our lives in different ways — at different times — for different reasons.

W. Tozer, (author and preacher) in his book, “The Pursuit of God” described God as an articulate God. Tozer was saying that God cannot not communicate.

Perhaps like me, you have gone through periods of your life when you were not able to hear what God was trying to say to you. Could be we’ve all been there, perhaps to some degree you are there today.

Although there are times the heavens are quiet, God is always speaking. He is a very persistent communicator.

Let us go to the empty tomb in John 20. Mary is the one who saw that the stone was rolled away. She went and told Peter and John that the tomb was empty, and she is the one that remained behind when the others left. Mary peers into the empty tomb and sees two angels sitting there. They ask, “Woman, why are you crying?”

Have you ever looked back and said, “I knew God was speaking to me but I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t understand.”

I think that was where Mary was at. God spoke to her through two angels, “Woman, why are you crying?”

She was so focused on the fact that Jesus’ body was gone. Look what she says, “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

As she turns to leave the tomb, she sees someone standing there. And John tells us that it is Jesus Himself, Mary however thinks it’s the gardener. So preoccupied with her problem she doesn’t even recognize the Lord she is looking for.

Jesus asks the same thing, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it that you are looking for?”

Audiologists tell us that our listening can be affected by just one barrier - one issue, one thought on our mind - can often cause us not to hear things being spoken to us.
Wives call that “selective hearing”. Really though, there are times in our life when we cannot hear what is spoken to us.

I think that Mary was unable to hear or understand who was talking to here because of her focus on the problem (missing body of Jesus). Her hurt caused deafness.

Maybe you’ve been in that situation.. your heart is broken over some situation or some person, and you are unable to hear what God is saying. As others stand around you and sing with joy, you feel the grief and the pain of loss in your life. I think that was where Mary was at.

As a pastor I’ve encountered people in all walks of life and all different shapes and sizes and all different levels of faith.

What I have learned is that people often express their hurt in different ways. Anger, bitterness, ingratitude are all expressions of that - we are hurting inside, and we do not know what to do about it.

The danger here is that hurting hearts can easily turn into hard hearts.

If we allow our hearts to become hard, our hurting hearts can quickly become unforgiving hearts / unbelieving hearts.

The author of Hebrews warns us of this...Hebrews 4:7 Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

Mary’s heart was hurting so much she didn’t even recognize Jesus when he was speaking, “Woman, why are you crying?”
I believe that Jesus is speaking to some of us just like that.

What has you tied up in knots today?
What is heavy on your heart?

Friends, I beg of you, do not allow your hurting heart to become a hard heart.

Receive the kind of words that only Jesus can speak - words of comfort and hope and healing.

As Mary stood outside that tomb, God persistently speaking to her through angels and through His own resurrected Son, finally the words broke through and Mary was able to hear - when was that?

When Jesus called her by name.

This is a very important point. Mary almost missed out on the most significant event in human history; but when she heard her name being spoken, something clicked.
All of a sudden, the persistent voice of God became a personal voice for her, “Mary…” and when she heard Jesus speak her name, it triggered something in her heart. She began to respond to Jesus in faith.

I believe that healing begins when we hear Jesus call our name. The healing that our sin-sick souls need only begins when we hear Jesus begin to call our name.

Do you remember the first time you heard Jesus call your name? I do.

With no human instruction I responded to that call by faith and asked Jesus to forgive me. I remember, rushing down the aisle to kneel at that old shag covered altar to receive the Jesus that the preacher man was talking about. Jesus called me by name and I responded.

Some of you may still have a white knuckle death grip on the underside of your chair because you know Jesus is calling your name, but you are afraid. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

In John 10 Jesus reminds us of how He knows us by name and how He speaks to us.

As you learn to follow Him, you begin to recognize His voice.

Shepherding in first century Palestine was done by a very close relationship between the shepherd and his flock. Voice commands were given to the sheep, and the sheep learned to respond to the voice of the shepherd. That is why Jesus says, His sheep follow him for they know his voice.

There are times throughout my day where I have to pause and say, “Lord, speak and help me to hear because I want to listen to Your voice.”

Is God asking, “Can you hear me now?” Is God trying to get your attention some how? Today, if you hear His voice, do not hold back. Step out in Faith.

I had a friend once said, “But I do not hear Him speaking.”

Truth is very few of us ever hear Him audibly, but we hear Him in our hearts. We hear Him as He speaks to us through His Holy Word.

We hear Him as He speaks to us through His church.

We hear Him through song. We hear Him through prayer. We hear Him through the circumstances of our lives.