“After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.”
1 Kings 19:12
Everywhere we go at this time of year, it seems that noise levels are higher… City streets, markets, public transport are all louder, shopping centres, buses and trains – even church – as excitement rises.
As well as the increasing volume levels of the external sounds around us, the “silent noise” in our head grows louder too. Lists of presents to get (and wrap); cards to write and send; Christmas / Boxing Day / New Year dinner ingredients to buy, then prepare; trees to decorate, Christmas jumpers for parties and a hundred other things to do.
All clamouring for our attention like spinning plates we can’t take our eyes off. The noisiest things are the most important, the most demanding – or so it seems to me.
In today’s reading, Elijah has been incredibly brave, standing up to the wicked king Ahab and queen Jezebel of Israel. He’s been dealing with all the “noise” of the prophets (who have been comprehensively defeated at Mount Carmel in an amazing show of God’s power).
He flees for his life, overcome with fear and ready to die. He arrives in a cave, alone and depressed – thinking he is abandoned to his fate. Now he is dealing with all the “noise” in his head – questions, doubts and anxieties.
And then he is invited into the Lord’s presence at the side of the mountain.
Three powerful displays of nature herald the presence of God (or so it seems): a mighty windstorm, an earthquake and a fire from heaven. In the previous chapter, fire fell, consumed everything and the people fell down and acknowledged the Lord is God (18:39).
But here, on the side of the mountain, the Lord is not in any of them. His presence is known in the voice that follows – “a soft whisper”.
The Bible emphasises – again and again – that God doesn’t work through showy, extravagant ways but the opposite. He operates in the unexpected and the ordinary.
When he sends his Son, Jesus, he is laid in a manger – no first-class accommodation for his birth; the first visitors are lowly shepherds, not prominent people of significance; his parents are poor, not wealthy. He grows up in Nazareth, far from the pomp and circumstance of the capital city, Jerusalem.
In Tim Keller’s book, Hidden Christmas, he writes,
“When God showed up in Jesus Christ, he was not a pillar of fire, not a tornado, but a baby. ...little babies can be picked up, hugged, kissed, and they’re open to it, they cling to you. Why would God come this time in the form of a baby, rather than a whirlwind or a firestorm? Because this time, he has come not to bring judgment, but bear it, to pay the penalty for our sins, to take away the barrier between humanity and God, so we can be together. Jesus is God with us.”
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
When Christmas “noise” overwhelms us and obscures what God has done, remember that he has made himself known in the soft whisper. And Jesus still bids the tired and burnt-out to come to him for rest.
Rejoice!
Written by John Mowat
A thought to remember: Followers of Emmanuel listen for the soft whisper of God's voice.
A bit more to read: 1 Kings 18-19
A question to ask: What choices would help you to hear God’s soft whisper?
A song to sing: Silent night