When I was growing up, we had records with this picture on the label, and you’d watch the dog go spinning around and around the record player at 33 1/3 rotations per minute. Before it was a record label, it was simply a painting, done in England in 1898 by Francis Barraud, called “His Master’s Voice”. The Victor Talking Machine Company began using it in 1900, and a form of this image is still in use today.

The painting represents how a dog can always recognize its master’s voice, regardless of whether or not it sees its master. But just because the dog hears doesn’t mean it always obeys your commands. Sometimes my coonhound, Hudson, will get loose in the backyard. I’ll say “come here, Hudson” and he’ll look at me and think about coming to me, but sensing his chance for freedom he’ll go running through all the backyards in the neighborhood instead. After a while, when he gets close to home and I hear his collar jingling I’ll say, “Hudson—want a treat?” And that usually does the trick, since most dogs will gladly sell their souls for a delicious treat. This time he hears my voice, and since he knows that I’ll feed him he decides to listen and obey.

What about us? As Christians, do we listen for our Master’s voice? How can we listen for the Word of God to speak to us, so that we can be fed with the grace and love of Christ?

In his book The Walk, Adam Hamilton discusses two basic overarching ways that God uses to speak to us, if we are paying attention. One is known as “General Revelation” meaning God’s grace comes to us through ordinary, general, things of the world—even water, bread and wine. But we can learn about God from simply being observers of the world God has made—and this kind of knowledge is available not only to Christians, but also to people of other religions, and even to people who are non-believers. The other way God uses to speak is known as “Special Revelation”—and this is God’s direct and unique action to speak to us, including Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.

When you look at General Revelation, there are four basic ways that God speaks. The first is in nature. We look at the beauty of the world around us, and within it see the hand and power of God. The incomprehensibly distant stars and planets, the vastness of the ocean, the changing colors of the leaves, the finery of the flowers, majesty of the mountains, abundance of the farm fields. Jesus often used parables and metaphors drawn from nature to teach us about the Kingdom of God.

The second way is the Arts. This includes music, literature, drama, comedy, pictures, paintings, sculpture. As humans, God has given us the gift to express pain and pleasure through art. The Arts help us work out the big questions of life, and they lift our spirits and help us enjoy life. Why wouldn’t God use these as opportunities to speak to us? Sometimes the artist is trying to convey a message about God—but God is not limited to speaking through what someone intends to say. Sometimes God will simply use what an artist has created and (without the artist intending it or realizing it), God will speak a message that you need to hear.

A third way God speaks is through life experience and people. We have a God who loved the world so much, that he took on flesh in Jesus Christ and entered the world to experience the good, the bad, and the ugly of human life. Likewise, God is still active within the lives of real people today, and through our own real-life, everyday experiences—whether that be at work or school, with family or friends, being out in the community, or struggling through a personal dilemma, we can witness the power of God at work. And our stories are sacred; by hearing each other’s stories, we can gain greater understanding, humility, empathy for what others are going through, and we can learn to be ministers to one another.

And a fourth way of General Revelation is conscience, intuition, and reason. God has written his commandments in our hearts to give us an inner sense of right and wrong. God has wired us to sense his influence and nudging. And God has given our brains the ability to weigh the pros and cons of different situations, to look at all the factors that might be at play, and fit them into a bigger picture. While our knowledge as humans will always be incomplete, God has helped us to discover the tools of science and scholarship so that we can better understand the world and each other.

While God does speak through all of these ways of General Revelation, because they are “general”, and we are not God, that means we can’t always be sure that we’re hearing God correctly and completely. We know that even fellow Christians can look at the same things and sometimes come to different conclusions about what we think God is saying. So God helps us go a step further, by giving us the Special Revelation of God’s own nature.

The clearest way God has spoken is through Jesus. If you want to know what God is like at heart—look to Jesus. Jesus, and all he has done on our behalf—his birth, life, and ministry; his suffering, betrayal and crucifixion; his resurrection and ascension; his defeat of sin and death; his promise to be with us always with love and grace, mercy and redemption—Jesus is how we come to greater understanding of all the other ways God speaks to us.

God has also promised to speak through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that part of the Triune God who gives us faith in Christ, and who forgives our sins daily whenever we turn to God in repentance. The Holy Spirit empowers us to serve God and love our neighbors, and has made us who we are, each with unique gifts to offer. The Holy Spirit often communicates more through a whisper than a shout—more like a wind that nudges, a breath that encourages when you open your heart and mind. And every now and then, the Holy Spirit might even grab hold of you and shake you up a bit!

Finally, God speaks through the Bible, both the New Testament, and the Old Testament which is the only part of the Bible that Jesus read during his time on earth. Jesus prayed, memorized, taught, and lived it. He affirmed some parts of it, while reinterpreting other parts. I know the Bible can be confusing, even intimidating, because of its complexity. It contains different kinds of literature, a diversity of theological viewpoints, inspiring and comforting verses, timeless critiques of social injustice, and descriptions of ancient culture that can seem weird or even disturbing to us today.

Luckily, Jesus summarized the Bible in a simple way, which we heard in today’s gospel. Jesus says there are two great commandments, and this gives us an “interpretive key” for unlocking the big picture of the Bible’s message. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. When we listen for God to speak, if we find ourselves moving towards greater love for God and neighbor, then that’s a good bet that we are truly listening for our Master’s voice, and being fed by his Word.

For the Bible to make the biggest impact on our lives, we need to read or hear it regularly. Adam Hamilton has several tips for different ways of reading the Bible in The Walk (p.52-60), and I’d like to share one of them today. Hold up your hand and look at your five fingers, like you did last week, and let your 5 fingers be the nudge to read 5 bible verse a day. It could be 5 verses all at once, like when you wake up or go to bed. It could be five verses spread throughout the day. Maybe you want to start with one of the Gospels (Mark is the shortest). Or maybe the wisdom of the Proverbs, or the poetry of the Psalms (the 23^rd Psalm has six verses, for example). Especially if you are not in the habit of daily bible reading—or even if you are—sometimes “less is more”. As you read, pay attention to which word or phrase sticks with you, then come back to that word or phrase throughout the day. Like using your voice to call your dog with a treat to make him come back home, think of that Word or phrase from the Bible as the “daily bread” God is offering, to call us home. Amen.