Sookie Stackhouse can hear voices. Sookie is one of the two lead characters in the HBO racy vampire series “True Blood” and she has the uncanny ability to hear the thoughts of people as if they were speaking in an audible voice.  Sookie is a waitress in a backwater Louisiana small town bar, and her telepathic abilities often distract her as she hears the thoughts of customers who are attracted to her physical beauty, who are disgusted with the food served at Merlotte’s, or who are repulsed by her hospitality of vampires who — of course — are feared by most everyone and regarded at best as outcast citizens of the community.

Sookie Stackhouse has that uncanny capacity to hear thoughts as one would hear audible voices.  She tries not to abuse the ability, which most of the time seems more of a burden rather than a gift for her.  Respectful of her friends’ privacy, if she tries really hard she can put a block on the voices but sometimes she lets her guard down and the thoughts-turned-int0-voices come blaring through.  Perhaps it’s an imaginary ability most of wish we had at one time or another.

Today’s scriptures are all about hearing voices.  But not just any voice — rather, one voice in particular.  And in the case of all 4 scripture readings, none require a special telepathic ability.  The voice, of course, is none other than that of the Lord God of Israel, the God who created, formed and made us for God’s glory.

The voice of the Lord comes through loud and clear through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading.  Twice, the voice says “Do not fear.”  Twice the voice says “I am with you.”  Twice, the voice says “I have called you by my name.”  Initially spoken to the people of Israel who were at the lowest point in their existence as a nation — exiled in Babylon and far from the home they loved — the voice reminds them amid a dicey and seemingly-hopeless situation that they were not alone and, despite being strangers in a strange land, they were not anonymous to God.

We too can hear The Voice speaking to us this morning amid the dicey details of our own humanity, at times feeling exiled from and anonymous to God by the circumstances we are facing: illness, workplace negativity, economic uncertainty, relationship stresses and strains, and seemingly-impossible barriers and roadblocks to our hopes and dreams.  Hear what the voice says: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.”  Hear what the voice says:  “I have called you by name, you are mine.”  Hear what the voice says, “You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”  Hear what the voice says, “Do not fear, for I am with you.”

All you need are ears to hear and a voice loud enough to repeat these words of that Voice so your ears can hear and your faith can be inwardly enlivened by the Spirit.  God’s thoughts toward Israel and toward you are no secret.  You never have to wonder what God thinks of you, even if you feel as if you’ve been banished to outer Babylon and beyond.  Turn to Isaiah 43 again and again.  God’s thoughts are right there.  God’s voice is on the page.  Have someone read it out loud to you like I am doing for you this morning.  Let your ears hear The Voice.  Martin Luther often said that the ear was the “most Christian” of our body parts, for through the ear we hear the Word of God so that our faith can be enlivened.

7 times.  7 times the psalmist sings about the voice of the Lord.  Once again, it is no secret voice; you need no super spiritual abilities to hear it or discern it.  The voice of the Lord is so pervasive, according to psalmist; it is everywhere.  The voice of the Lord is so powerful a voice, and is such a voice of splendor — the psalmist sings — that it breaks the cedar trees, bursts forth in lightning flashes, the Voice strips forests bare, it makes oak trees writhe, the Voice makes stubborn countries like Lebanon and even sturdy mountains skip like a calf, and it shakes the very barren wilderness.  And best of all, for the purposes of this day, the psalmist declares that “the voice of the Lord is upon the waters.”  Again, this is no secret voice that only some with special abilities can hear.  The psalmist goes to say “the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters.”

This day we come together to remember that the God who spoke “love” into the world by becoming the babe of Bethlehem, continues to speak that word of love to us — in direct discourse.  Today as we hear the account from St. Luke of the baptism of a 30-year-old named Jesus, no longer a babe but a full-grown young adult, we are told that a voice once again spoke.  “A voice came from heaven,” St. Luke writes, and that voice came with the baptismal waters and with prayer, and it spoke words of identity and it spoke words of affirmation.  “You are my Son, the Beloved.”  Identity.  “With you I am well pleased.”  Affirmation.  In other words, even as a proud parent might say to their child, “I love you, and you’re doing great.”  Jesus must have taken those words in deeply, because the words of that Voice launched him into his earthly ministry.

Sisters and brothers, the same voice spoken to Jesus at his baptism were spoken to you at yours, and are spoken again to you this day as you gather around this font and give thanks for the gift of water, for the promise of baptism, and for the hope of all things becoming new.

At this time of year when we give voice to our resolutions and then find that perhaps already our resolve is waning — the trips to the gym are not as frequent as we’d hoped, the diet isn’t so easily re-adjusted, the old behaviors still haunt us, and old habit die hard, we come and we gather to hear the Voice — a voice of God’s unfailing resolve for you and for the world.  The voice which speaks of identity and affirmation.  A voice which says “You are mine” and claims us in holy baptism.  A voice which declares, “You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”

The voice of the Lord is upon these waters this day.  You need no special hearing device.  You need no super telepathic ability to discern God’s thoughts of you.  You need only your ears.  But bring your book and bring your bulletin, too.  Bring your very being, baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Come — let down your guard — and hear the Voice speaking to you.

And then go.  Leave the font, and go forth from this place — walking wet and echoing the Voice — to all this beloved world.

Amen.