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July 17, (160 > DeEwou
Vaheglel (Mares ¥v Vaseer Lisiovs Rog. ee art
I sam 3:1 iv Rog O72 | ah :

ee Juiy_ iv, 1956 Dyer be Dark

The charming story ¢ the young boy Samuel is one that every school

boy knows" to use the old cliche.] Sikansh had two wives, one of whom

nad porne Ain; childpene and Honmeah, the other woo was otrren,) samen

She
prayed for 4 sor” and when her prayer was granted s# gratefully and
— ie

dutifully tcook him to the priest Eli, to serve in the heuse cf the word,

Ii was there, that Samuel was called by God, in a nocturnal exchonge

—_.

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4 ‘Eo “
if

nat 72s long been a favorite Sunday School story.
But, like many other O.T. stories which are taken oui of context

and told and retold in our S8.S.classes, the story of Samuel has almost

no meaning to the adult chirstian. | It is no more than a pious fairy
tale, which will teach our children something and if not this, it

will at least fascinate and entertain them-as any tale about strange

——
voices in the dark wiil do .\jIt falits—in—-theadult.mind—-into~the
\

same category as Ly ttle-Red Riding Hood and Sow Whiie. |

Wnat would you do if your child came io you in the middie ofthe night

—_—.,

saying that he had heard a voice calling hnimfidon 'tknowabout you but

rpped % dig
i'd be inelined to reaet in the same way 3¢ S1i did. perhaps more

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vehemently thinking that he had been watching too much television, or
sire i eelinsamrssimsebs -

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hearing too-many Samuel stories .\There is something here that offends
pas Aa Fine ciemenes
our common sense. We ‘We not at all enamored with the whole conceptof

ny

a God who confronts men personzlly, who speaks to men andcalls them
Co i hae | ete

to certain beers. and we are down right embarrapsed by ~ thogght of

mystical, emotion ladden experience with God. sense,
a harmful—skeptieism,.because-we~ know thet=for-every.one
religious. SapePeenes. there. ane tt-of a

099-—tha-+—ane simply t
gssaull- th here
carefabiy— Hpianned-peychotogtcs? Seeteughe at —the~hands—¢

6 lange bts t ‘\

Page 1A

There are several reasons for our skepticism, however: simple logic
tells us that volees in the dark are probably an illusion, 2 dream,
a figment of the imagination or a remnant of the superstitous days of
old. But beyond this you and I have reacted against the very popular
ee of religion that makes an emotional, religious experience its foal
emphasis. We have reacyed against the type of evangelism which uses all
the techniques of group manipulation and personal persuaion. We know
that for every one authentic religious experience there are 999 that @re
merely the result of 3 aarefully plotted, pschologicai assault on the
emotions,

We know that, given the proper conditions the mindg can enable us
to do many exceptional things. We know that a football player can be
made to beleive his arm doesn't hurt, even though it was broken in the
last play. We know, because we have seen thousands of men, made to
beleive that thiers was a master race, and that thier father land was
destined to rule thew world. We know that given the proper setting,

dim lights, soft music, the urgent deserpption of the pain and torture
of hell, cleverly contrasted with the bliss of heaven, almost any man
can be made to have what he thinks is a religoous experience. And so we
back Away.

This is not what bothers me. I’m as skeptical as anyone.

es

that the use of LSD is a sure way to have a ee experience.| A

7. '

seminary professor who ay ste the drug states that he had a vision like

Moses' experience with the burning bush.

Years ago Wm. James discoverd that certain drugs did induce @’ mystical
religious experiences Pewee eos book "The Varieties of R“ligious
Experience" hts—own- “reactions |"Treeyrestemes—it-~is-invariably-a
reeoncttiation. \Et is” as” if-the-eppesttes Or the World; whose-contredice -

\

tevimness and conflict make allour-difficuities—and—troubtes;—were

melted into g unity. (see. leetures-K-&-17)

The disturbing aspect of LSD, however, is that for a growing number

religious experience’ the drug has introduced men to a level of existence

about which they knew nothing and ies see they feel they have always

our b “
needed | That ca We have lost traek with this whole realm of experiences

to such a degree that in our generation it has become necessary to induce

them by means of a drug.

Now, furthest from my mind at this point is any desire to see the

oo a —

Reesby. Church turn to mysticism ar psyoheiedieSitINnauced feelings ©

fi ee —

———EEE——

ao
of conversion.\I remain a sketptie| But I do think we very badly need
to open ourselves to the possibility thatGod does communicate with men
and with groups of men \ This we have lost-and this, it seems to me,

we Gdwsparately need to recover.
Along these lines let me make three observations. | First, let's sssume

that the reason we haven't had any first hand experience with a communi-
cative God is that he has euopped talking. \ mis, you will remember,
is one of theways the statment from I Samuel can be understood .|-Ef-thts
is the case, T-would direct your attention toa proyMcative article

re va? F gad
in the— a issue of posbys ive » by Devid Reed, pastor of NYC's
Madison Ave. Presby. Church.\The article is entitled: ("Why Sleepest
Thou O Lord, "Jana in it Mr. Reed suggests that is is appropriate for the

believer to ask and even complain to God to make himself known . | He points

page 3.

We have discovered that cows produse more and better milkto the continuous

strains of the Melochrino Strings:\|and that clerks will likewised@/pg do
— a ———— st ,

betéer work if music is piped into the office. We are more at ease in the
Se _—_—_—.

Dentist's chair, the Doctor's office, we will buy more in the depadtment
v ae es

store and enjoy our meal more in the restaurant, if the atmosphere is
——

a

filled with some kind of music, or better sane nome kind of background

noise ~ because we don't really listen to it and its only function is to

elliminate the uncomfortable sttence | We just don't like sitence | and why?

Becasue in silence A man can't help but think and reflect? Because

solitude is essentially dangerous - in that thinking has to occur, and

thinking leads to self examination and self examination leads to guilt

which in turn leads to ankiety?\A philosopher has propsed that a man
=

cannnot spend ten minutes alone, in absolute silence without thinking

about God.) But you and I, caught in an obsession with noise, may never

have the opportunity to test the validity of that thesis.

Perhaps we don't know much about a God who speaks to his people because

we have lost the ability to listen.
Elijah looked for God in the fire and wind and earthquake:| but God

came to Elijah’ after the storm, after the noise - and spoke to him in

the "still, small voige_ of calm",

Observation number three then, is that we may be listendng and lookigg
——_ O_O

for God in the wrong places.\Like Elijah we expect God to come dramatically}
———————————_—_————_—_—— co

We expect the heavens to open and a voice to thunderously address us:

We assume that an experience with God must be traumatic, full of emotion

and cath perhaps God speaks to us guiétly, inconspicuously.

Perhaps he speaks “to us through the words of another person, perhaps

even a minister.| Perhaps God communicates with us in moments of deep human

feeling - ‘joy or wonder or love or grief | Perhaps we look in the wrong

sy ——

places.

page 4,

In the Risen Jesus Christ we have been told that it is God's world:
-—.

the superficial difference between the sacred and secular is no more:

of his speaking,
Can we hear him?\ Do we know him?/If not, is it because he has
Stopped speaking, or have we stopped listening?

In one of the traditional funeral prayers in the Book of Common

Worship there is a phrase that leaps off the page every time I read it.

It is a prayer for God's presence in a time of bereavement , but it

might well aplly to the rest of iste. |e sums up what I have been trying

t i, — ern

to say: |" Grant us, we beseech thee, the comfort of thy presence, and
iF
the ministry of thy Holy 8 irit. .. Help us to walk amid the things of

this world with eyes open to the beauty end glory of the eternal",

If the word of the Lord is rare in these cays ar there are n

frquent visions in these lives, perhaps it is because we have not learned
’ nna N in s a 7 — a,
to walk with eyes” épen to the beauty of the eternal \ May this, then,

become our prayer | that God will help us so to walk - so to live -

awake, alive, alert, sensitive to his acting and to his speaking, in

—— _

the world and within our lives,

Amen