Letting the Spirit Speak
This Sunday, as we conclude our series on Sacred Listening with the topic, “How Not to Be Toxic.” We are invited to think about the ways our words, actions, and even our silences can either build up or tear down. Sacred listening offers guidance here: it helps us speak with love, discern the right moments to act, and respond to conflict in ways that reflect God’s mercy and truth. It challenges us to examine our own hearts, our own patterns of speech and silence, and to allow the Spirit to reshape us into instruments of reconciliation and healing.
Sacred listening invites us into a way of being that is attentive, intentional, and connected. It is more than simply hearing words; it is a practice that opens a holy space where trust can flourish and the Spirit of God can move among us. Over the past several weeks, our sermon series on Sacred Listening has explored what it means to truly listen, with our hearts, our minds, and our spirits, and how that kind of listening can transform our relationships with one another and with God. The secular term for this process can be distilled to one word: civility. Our world is desperately looking for that care and interaction.
Sometimes people are not ready for our presence, and that’s ok to realize. At the heart of sacred listening is attention. Sacred listening asks us to slow down and fully inhabit the moment, to recognize the dignity of the person speaking, and to allow God’s presence to enter the conversation. Sometimes, for reasons that have nothing to do with us, we will be better in the process of listening to someone simply by keeping a distance from them.
The story that I am telling myself’ is another way to practice sacred listening. Sacred listening requires trust and vulnerability. If someone is upset, it might not be about you; they may be struggling with a family or personal issue. They aren’t ready to have dialogue, and to assume we are the source of their discomfort leads us down a path where we have to decide who is upset. Sacred listening means that we hold another’s words gently, and to allow space for even discomfort. Noticing but not internalizing becomes a sacred act, a bridge between human hearts and God’s redeeming love.
Accepting the value of every human being. Connection is the third vital element. Listening without true connection can become hollow, a formality that misses the Spirit’s movement. Connection asks us to enter fully into the shared human experience, to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep, and to bear witness to one another’s lives in a spirit of compassion and care. Through this connection, we welcome each and every person who walks into this congregation. That will shape the way we live in our communities, our families, and our congregations.
As we reflect on this series as a whole, it becomes clear that sacred listening is not a single practice but a way of life. It calls us to pay attention, to cultivate trust, and to foster deep connection, and in doing so, it creates space for God to act. Whether in prayer, in conversation, or in moments of quiet reflection, the Spirit is at work when we listen with open hearts, and through that listening, we participate in the ongoing work of God’s love in the world.
The practice of sacred listening is nothing less than sharing in the reconciling work of Christ, who listens to the world with a heart full of mercy and truth.
Kevin+
