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"Connecting With The Spirit Whisperer" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – April 29, 2012 Centenary United I John 3:16-24, John 10:11-18 Everyone listening
to Jesus understood what that meant.
Shepherds know their sheep. If anyone but the shepherd tried to
gather his sheep, they would scatter.
Shepherds have an authentic bond with their animals.
This reference is so critical in
our understanding of Jesus’ ability to connect with the human spirits of
people. Jesus
is the ultimate Spirit Whisperer. What is a
whisperer? This term is used
to describe the skills of a few people who have the uncanny ability to
communicate with animals.
Some people who work with horses know how to approach a horse unknown to
them and instantly bond with it.
The horse will actually follow their directions. One of these
fearless, risk-taking nature guys on television told how he once came
upon a female grizzly bear and her three cubs.
The bear charged him.
The giant animal came to within ten feet of him and stopped. She
roared and roared her protests as he stood there gently speaking to her.
She was not happy with him being so near to her cubs but she did
not attack. She gradually
walked back to her cubs and the four of them wandered off into the
wilderness. Whatever this
quality is, Jesus had it.
There are so many illustrations of his skill as a
spirit whisperer in the
Gospels that it is difficult to determine which one is the best.
There is the story of Nicodemus.
This teacher had been deeply influenced by listening to Jesus
preach that he visited the Master one evening.
Jesus tried to
explain how different it is to interpret life by using spirit as the
source of his understanding rather than by the logic of his mind or by
his emotional responses.
Jesus told him that the difference is like between night and day or like
being born again -- equipped with
a different set of filters to screen what is authentic and what is
not. (John 3:6f) When Jesus met
Zacchaeus, whatever he said to him over lunch was enough to cause the
chief of all tax collectors to say, “I will give half of my wealth to
the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times
what I have taken.” (Luke
19:8) What is fascinating is that each
of us has a spiritual
sponge
inside of us that wants to
soak up
anything that nourishes it.
A unique characteristic of this
sponge is that millions of
people do not realize that they have it.
Jesus used his words to penetrate all of the seemingly automatic
responses people had developed over the years, like having hatred of the
Samaritans, the Roman occupation and the high taxes.
He knew that our spirits can
remain dormant until they are discovered and trained. Many of you know that I am a PK -- a preacher’s kid.
As a boy, I did not like to attend church.
It was boring. The
lessons my father discussed in his sermons were for adults.
With Sunday school and a church service, I felt that spending two
hours once a week at church was a waste.
But, I did not hesitate to sit in front of the television later
that day to watch football. When I grew older
and my dad began to recycle some of his sermon illustrations, I would
call him on it. He once
said, “Dick, I can’t believe you remembered that.
I have not used that story for eleven years.”
Keep in mind, I never intentionally listened to my Dad during his
sermons, but something inside of me was absorbing what he had been
saying through the years. As most of you
know, Margot White recently had her hip surgically repaired.
Apparently, Margot has a low tolerance for morphine because the
medical staff had been unsuccessful in awakening her days after the
procedure. When Lois and I learned of her condition during a visit, I
stood over Margot and said, “Margot, this is Dick Stetler and I want you
to know that your mascara is a mess.”
David, Linda, Lois and I watched Margot produce a smile but she
did not open her eyes.
She heard and later she would have no memory of that incident.
This is the part of us that never sleeps. If our minds drift
during a sermon or we tune out because we have a life-issue that has
distracted us with worry, remember there is a part of us that is
listening. This is why church is so important even though hours later,
we may not remember much of what was said from the pulpit. Jesus knew
that his words would reach the spirit of his listeners and they still
do. Tucked away in our
lesson is a very curious verse -- “There are other sheep which belong to
me that are not in this sheep pen.
I must bring them, too; they also listen to my voice and they
will respond, making one flock with one shepherd.”
Who are these sheep?
Thomas understood and that understanding is what inspired him to
take his message to While all of us are spirit-beings, we are different from each other. Part of what makes us different are the interests we have, the values we want to develop and whether or not we are people that are energized by elements of the external world or motivated by the desire to cultivate and master the spirit that controls every decision we make. Some years ago
there was a group of friends that decided to vacation together.
They secured a packaged travel-plan that would take them to the When they secured
their hotel accommodations, one couple decided to eat lightly and go to
bed early to compensate for the time change.
The other two couples decided to begin the new day touring
immediately and then venture into the night scene.
The dream vacation had been planned very carefully by the six of
them. What had not been
anticipated was the rather broad latitude of interpretation each gave to
the meaning of “Let’s make the most of it!”
The two couples
that spent their daylight hours shopping, taking pictures of various
landmarks and then later exploring the fast-paced night life, arrived
back at the hotel at 2:30 a.m. completely exhausted.
They were in no condition to do
anything the next day. They
had come to play and to spend
money without having their children in tow.
The other couple
wanted to see paintings by French artists, tour museums and eat at a
variety of restaurants known for their authentic cultural cuisines.
As close as these three couples were as friends, they parted ways
almost immediately because four of them wanted to party all the time and
the other couple wanted to learn about the countries they were visiting.
When they were in We humans simply do
not mature on the same timeline.
What we need to remember is that the
spirit whisperer constantly
wants to encourage us to open the doors to our remarkable futures.
The quality of our futures,
however, will always match the attitudes our spirits generate. We
create with our thoughts.
We create with our emotions. We
also create with our spirits.
If this were not so, Jesus would not have sent his disciples into
the world to become spirit
whisperers to help guide others on their journey. Without the
willingness to listen, however, a number of us will spend our lives as
though we are at Disney World going from one ride to another, always
looking for the next good time,
waiting for the next exciting product to come on the market and
wanting the latest and best car to drive.
People grow older but many of them do not grow up.
Many spirit-beings are not listening for the cues that might open
doors for them to futures that are beyond their wildest imaginations. Jesus used a lot of
agricultural references as vehicles to carry his message.
He told his listeners that they will mature in spirit if they
remain part of the vine.
He also said that God prunes the branches that do not bear
fruit so that even more fruit will grow. (John 15:1f)
If we pay attention to
what he was teaching, think of how differently we would interpret our
life-reversals or our less informed decisions that caused very
disappointing results. Those of us that
have learned to listen to him understand such experiences as
opportunities to change our expectations. For example, there was a time
when Jesus told his listeners to let go of callous, judgmental feelings
and responses that will never serve them. (Matthew 18:22)
Are we listening to that?
Or, do we say, “I don’t care what Jesus said; what happened to me
is not right!” When we personalize
frustrating and painful events, we have allowed something in the
external world to rob us of our peace.
In many cases, we choose hostility as our value when our world is
not the way we want it. The
spirit whisperer has said,
“The only way you are going to
strengthen your skills of peace and patience is by choosing to do so in
the heat of passion when something you want desperately is denied.”
(Matthew 6:21) Are we
listening? One afternoon, I
received a call from a woman whose wedding ceremony I had performed a
number of months before.
She had just been terminated from her job and was frantic and furious.
She told me that she had received excellent performance reviews.
However, one of the executive’s nieces was being hired to replace
her. She wanted to sue the
company. I said, “Linda, let
go of this! Look at this
experience as the currents of
life taking you away from something so that you can be somewhere
else.” She protested.
I asked, “Are you an adventurer in life or are you a person that
needs to cling tightly to what you believe you understand?
If you believe in yourself, you will let go.”
She let go completely.
I asked her to name
a company where she would like to work.
She named one. I
told her to apply for a position.
I said, “If you are told that they are not hiring, tell the
person that you want to work without compensation for six months to gain
experience. Tell the Human
Resources manager that you want an internship.” After getting
several clearances, H.R. called and gave her that internship. When she
called me with the news, I said, “Good, live off your husband’s salary
for that length of time. Show up
early every morning. Use
your personality to network with everyone you meet.
Stay late and help others finish their work. Make working there a
way of life rather than your
need to receive a paycheck.” After three months they hired her.
Many companies make room for someone who demonstrates that she
thoroughly enjoys what she is doing and produces. None of us will reach our
potential by clinging to what we think we know.
Moses tried that while talking to God, if we can imagine that.
He told God, “I am a nobody!
How can I go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of We are never alone
in life.
We become empowered the minute
we extend ourselves into the unknown armed only with faith and trust
that doors will open. If
faith is an idea we use only
when the outcome is fairly certain, that is not faith.
Faith is when we take a leap
knowing that there is no safety
net. When we remain
connected to our Creator, we are never without
the
spirit whisperer that knows
what we need long before we do. (Matthew
6:33) |