A voice cries in the wilderness. How on earth is it expected to be heard? It's like the tree falling in the forest when there is no-one to hear it. Does it make a sound?
[PAUSE]
We speak in order to be heard. We speak because we seek to communicate with those around us. But if there is no-one around, is there a point? St John the Baptist says that he is the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. If he is not calling out to God, then who does he expect to hear him? Who goes out to the wilderness?
Certainly not the rich folk of the city. They are comfortable with their circumstances. Certainly not the merchants, the captains of industry, or the chief executives: they need to stay near people in order to make a profit. Certainly not the revellers, the party-goers or thosr who enjoy the noise: they are satisfied with each others' company and all the booze.
Who goes out to the wilderness?
[PAUSE]
We recognise the noise of the city. All day and every day there are things fighting for our attention. On social media there are voices demanding our acceptance of their opinion and who scream at us if we differ or hold to Godly moral values. In our day and age we are surrounded by a cacophony of voices crying out to us. We can barely hear ourselves think.
The people who come out to the wilderness are those who know that there is a din in their lives. They shut themselves away, unplug the phone, turn off the laptop, disable the apps. And they sit, and they listen for the voice crying in the wilderness.
It's there to be heard. And that's the point. Without St John calling in the waste land, there would be nothing to hear, no call to repentance, no promise of salvation, no expression of God's love.
[PAUSE]
In the beginning, there was the uttermost wilderness. There was nothing but God. He calls in the wilderness of nothing and, lo! there is light. If He had not called in the wilderness, we would not be.
St John cries in the wilderness for those who will hear.
And what of our calling?
[PAUSE]
As Christians, we have a duty to preach the Gospel by living lives that display the love of God. But we preach in an age of noise. Won't our message get lost in the hustle and bustle of news, opinion, and demands to share the latest meme on Facebook?
[PAUSE]
Ironically, in all this noise, we are calling out in the wilderness. It looks as if our message will not be heard above the crowds of people shouting their own messages. But the lie that Satan feeds us is that there is no point in talking because we will not be heard. We won't be heard if we don't preach and that's what Satan is counting on.
All we have to do is open our mouths and tell the truth. There is a God. There is a God Who loves us. There is a God Who dies for us and rises for us. There is a God Who brings us into true Eternal happiness. There is a God Who is coming soon. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
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