Brenna Barbarick 7-19-26

I just finished my first year at acu. And that actually still surprises me to say, because before making college decisions in high school, in middle school, elementary school, I was adamant that I would never be going to a university in Texas, let alone Abilene. Yet here we are. And actually, as an Abilene native, I often feel like an outsider at acu. I didn't come to ACU because it has a beautiful campus, although that's true, or has great programs, or even because I just really love the idea of a Church of Christ university, although I do.

I came to ACU because it was cheap for me because my dad works there, it's convenient because it's a short drive from home, and because I didn't know how else to make the biggest decision of my life. However, most people at ACU cannot relate to the fact that it's a cheap school to go to. They also can't relate to the fact that it's a 10 minute drive from their home. Actually, when I get into the conversation with people, a common answer that I get when I ask, why did you go to acu? Is something along the lines of, well, I just felt called by God to come here.

And that answer kind of stings more than the other ones because whenever I was choosing my college, I didn't feel called to come to acu. I didn't hear the voice of God telling me that's where I needed to be. And even during this past year at acu, I never really heard God telling me, you're good here. He wasn't saying, go, leave now. But he wasn't saying, stay, it's okay.

So it would make me wonder, every time I heard someone talking about encountering the voice of God, what does it mean to hear the voice? Why am I not hearing it? And what is it like to actually be called? Well. Well, when I was younger, for it to be called and for it to truly be the voice of God, I assumed it needed to be God's presence in a concrete or unmistakable way.

Because of this, I would often have some questionable prayers. When I was younger, I would bargain with God and it would sound sort of like this. Not all the time, but sometimes I prayed it would go, okay, God, please, if you are real, it would be really, really great if you could do this for me. I want to hear the word lizard within the next 10 minutes of the conversation my family is having. And then because I have a healthy fear of God, I would add something like, it's okay if you don't do that.

I won't stop believing in you, but I would really, really appreciate it if you could do that for me. That would be great. Thank you. Amen. Sometimes I would choose a word that could have never been a coincidence, like lizard or maybe elevator or something.

Other times I would choose a word that maybe could be spoken as coincidence, like pumpkin during the fall. Because I just wanted to put my worries to rest and be certain that God did exist, even though I had this belief. As I look back now, I think I prayed these prayers because in elementary school and in Bible class, the stories that were put in the spotlight were the ones that were supernatural and extraordinary from the Old Testament. Moses in the burning bush, Daniel in the lion's den. Noah's ark in the flood.

Jonah in the mouth of a whale. Stories that have no possible explanation except for the fact that God's hand was at work. One story like this comes from Samuel, chapter three. This morning I want to take a page from my own dad's book and recite this piece of scripture to you. Feel free to just close your eyes and listen to the words that I have to say.

This comes from First Samuel, chapter three, verses one through ten. Now, the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those times. There was no frequent vision at that time. Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.

And the lamp of God had not yet gone out. And Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord when, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel. And he said, here I am. And he ran to Eli and said, here I am, for you called me.

But Eli said, I did not call. Lie down again. So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again Samuel. And Samuel arose and ran to Eli and said, here I am, for you called me.

But he said, I did not call my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again, the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, here I am, for you called me.

Now Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, go, lie down. And if you should call again, you shall say, speak, Lord, for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood calling, as at other times, samuel, Samuel.

And he said, speak for your servant hears. Now, this story is a perfect Example of the kind of interaction I was taught to hope for and expect when I'm talking to God. Just like I prayed for over and over as a child, Samuel got to hear the voice of the Lord and speak to him in a literal audible voice. However, it doesn't work out as smoothly as I would have hoped or expected. For Samuel.

There should be no confusion about it, right? God calls Samuel by name, yet there is confusion. Samuel hears the voice, but he mistakes it for Eli three times. Samuel, who eventually becomes a prophet of the Lord, is not able to recognize the voice of God. But at the beginning of Samuel story in verse one, we learned that the Word of the Lord was rare in those days.

And later that Samuel did not yet know the Word of the Lord and it had not been revealed to him. Throughout the Old Testament, the Word of the Lord was used to impart wisdom or give deep understanding or insight to those that God chose. Prophets, people that God had selected to be his voice. But the Word was limited. It was not given freely to all Christians who believed.

Without the Word of the Lord, Samuel was lost. And before the Word of the Lord, Samuel could not understand God's voice. Without the word of the Lord, Samuel was left searching for a voice that would have never been found on his own. But the very good news for you and I here today is that something incredible, something major, something. Something altering the existence of humans for good has happened since Samuel's story.

Since Samuel's story, Christ has come down from heaven, spread the gospel, died on the cross, rose to life again, returned to his throne in heaven. Jesus became the incarnation of this Word that was limited who was with God from the beginning and who is one with God. Through Jesus, the Word was brought down to the earth and. And before the Word departed from this earth, he left its people with a powerful gift, the Holy Spirit. Jesus gift is described by Paul in the scripture that my sister Kaylyn read for us all this morning.

1 Corinthians, chapter 2. In verse 12, Paul declares that all Christians have received the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. According to Paul, we as Christians today still get to have this gift of the Spirit that Jesus gave directly to his disciples when he was alive on this earth. And that is really good news. The Word of the Lord is not rare anymore in this time that we are living.

So each of us should be able to understand God the same way Samuel could. After receiving the word, right? Each of us should be able to hear a calling. I should be able to talk to God and hear his voice. Right?

I should be able to hear the word lizard when I request it in a conversation. Very politely, might I add. Or maybe not. Maybe since Paul says that God has put the Holy Spirit in the hands of ordinary people like you and like me, God has to speak to us in more ordinary ways. Maybe we shouldn't be waiting on God's booming voice or a dramatic display when those things come.

I really doubt that we're going to miss them. Instead, I believe that I am at a much higher risk of missing out on the gentle nature of God through a more subtle and more ordinary connection. In fact, a couple months ago, I think I nearly missed out on one of the coolest encounters I will ever experience with God because I was looking with the wrong expectations. It was early February of this year and I was sitting on a plane, of all places. For those of you who do know me, you already know or will eventually learn that I am not a fan of planes.

I don't mind roller coasters, I don't mind heights. I like scary movies. I like being thrilled. But planes I really can't stand. And I think it's because I don't know what's going on in the cockpit.

We're being told light turbulence, but I don't really believe that. I think that's code for strap in, flight attendants for going down. In fact, my family and I watched a documentary two days ago that encapsulated exactly what I imagined. Every time the pilot says light turbulence and to buckle up, there was 4,000 people on this cruise ship and they hit a rock because of the captain's poor management. But the captain was embarrassed, didn't want to admit what was happening.

So he came over the speaker and said, passengers, no worries, it's just a blackout. The electricians are working on it. Well, the ship is actively sinking. And so this is what's running through my head. Every time the pilot's reassuring us that everything's fine, I'm saying, no, it's not fine.

In fact, the only form of peace I'm able to find on the plane is after I have accepted that the plane will inevitably go down. And that's okay. I have to come to terms with that. And it's also okay because at least all of my family will be going down together. Unfortunately for me, that was not the same luxury of thought on this flight back in February, because it was my second ever flight by myself.

My first ever flight by myself, being the one on the way out to my destination. And this one on the way back. So I was sitting on this plane by myself, and the turbulence is going and going, and I'm realizing that I'm going to have to survive this for the next three grueling hours. So naturally, I begin to pray. And I pray like I always do on planes.

It's not the best prayer. It sounds kind of like this. Dear God, please keep this plane safe. Please keep it safe. Please keep it safe.

Please allow us to land safely on the ground and be reunited with our families and get this plane safely to the ground. Please, please, please, please. It's not exactly theologically sound, and actually it's just me begging God to keep me alive while trying to avoid telling him what to do. So I'm sitting there praying, praying, praying, and. And all of a sudden, it all stops.

My frantic thoughts shut off. I'm not thinking about crashing or about the turbulence or the fact that I need to keep praying just to stay alive. All of this has been interrupted without any effort made by myself by a song lyric that played so loud in my head that all my other thoughts had no choice but to stop. Here's what I heard.

Here it comes.

My heart rate slowed down, my breathing got back to normal again, and I felt so at peace that I even started to smile. Now, the reason I felt so comfortable wasn't just because I love Toy Story, although I do. And it's not just because I think Randy Newman is a great singer songwriter, although that's also true. To tell you the complete truth, when I heard those lyrics, all I could picture was Jesus using those deeply internalized words to reassure me and give me the peace I had been frantically searching for. 10 seconds earlier in my prayer, I could imagine him sitting in the seat next to me, reaching over and saying, I know the road looks rough ahead with all the turbulence, and he knows that I'm miles and miles from his nice warm bed.

But he told me, just remember what I always say to you. You have a friend in me. Immediately after realizing that I was picturing Jesus singing the Toy Story theme song to me, I felt silly to say the very least. I told myself that if God wanted to speak to me, it would have been far, far more extraordinary. The pilot would have come over the speaker and said, if you're sitting in row 15, seat B, I want you to know you have nothing to worry about.

I'm not lying. It really is just light turbulence. Or the person who was actually sitting next to me would have reached over and said, I'm praying for our safety. I I think we're going to be fine. Everything is great.

Or better yet, the turbulence would have stopped at my command and we would have had a smooth ride all the way home. So I figured I had to be making it up on my own. There's no way God was responding to my prayer by getting a kid's song stuck in my head. But then I kept singing the song to myself, and I couldn't ignore how much sense it made, how much it felt like God was responding directly to to the prayer I had just been praying. As this next clip plays, I invite you to imagine the words being spoken to you by Jesus.

Just close your eyes and although it might feel ridiculous, imagine what it might have felt like for me sitting on the plane.

I didn't feel so silly because sitting on that plane, I knew better than any time before that no one will ever love me or watch over me as well as God does. And even listening to it now, it makes me get a little emotional because of how much I connected with it on the plane. The piece I received on that plane was way too powerful to just be a coincidence. Without the Holy Spirit, that song would have just been you've Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story. But it wasn't just that.

In that moment with the Holy Spirit, that song became a personalized message to God meant exactly for me. So I know the Holy Spirit was speaking through me. At that time, God didn't use a piece of scripture or even a worship song, although I wish I could stand here and tell you he did. But I was far too frantic to think of that. He didn't put on some big show for me as badly as I wanted him to.

Instead, God met me where I was at with the Holy Spirit and a song that I knew by heart. I was given the eyes to see and the power to discern, and the Holy Spirit guided me to a place of understanding and that I would have never been able to reach on my own. Now, before I close out this morning, I want to return to our scripture from First Corinthians, chapter two, one last time, verse 13 says, and we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. In other words, Paul calls all Christians who have received the Holy Spirit to take action. Paul asks that we share our understanding of the Lord with those around us, and specifically to use the wisdom of the Spirit and not the wisdom of humanity.

To me, human wisdom is one that is skeptical, one that assumes that Something is a coincidence. Before considering the capabilities of God, such wisdom would discredit the extraordinary outcomes of ordinary circumstances. It would find a logical way to explain the peace that you've got a friend and in me brought me on that plane. And it would demand hard evidence of God's existence, like I did when I asked God to reveal Himself to me through the word lizard. Human wisdom is what prevented Samuel from finding the Lord's voice before receiving the Word.

Human wisdom, as Paul defines it here, cannot teach anyone about the nature of God because it ignores the guidance from the Holy Spirit. PAUL but wisdom from the Spirit, on the other hand, readily accepts the miraculous possibilities found within ordinary people in mundane situations. This kind of wisdom asks that a person puts their guard down and allows for the Holy Spirit to reveal to them the voice of God. Spiritual wisdom does not assume coincidence like human wisdom. It assumes that the Lord is constantly at work and awaits the opportunity to discern his messages.

My challenge for you this morning is to anticipate that the Holy Spirit will empower you to discern unexpected chances to talk with God. I challenge you to let go of the wisdom that belongs to humans, to let go of your skepticism and begin to seek out spiritual wisdom by choosing to acknowledge that God is at work in ordinary ways and in ordinary people. Please stand for the benediction which comes from Colossians, chapter three.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through, through him go in peace.