I grew up in the ancient days of the “household telephone,” when our entire family shared one telephone line. In those days, I remember my parents training me to answer the phone when it rang. “Hello, Winters residence…” is what I was taught to say. It was pretty fun, as many of the people who called on the other end would figure out who they were talking to. “Oh, hey Jay, how is it going?”
But I remember one weird day after my voice was changing. I picked up the phone and said “Hello, Winters residence…” and the person on the other end started to say, “Hey Walt.” It’s not that they got my name wrong. That was my dad’s name. They had confused my voice for his. I quickly broke in before any confidential information was relayed, but it was still a crazy moment for me. “How could they confuse my voice for his?”
You can imagine the way that the disciples marveled in a similar way when Jesus sent out the 72 in Luke 10, telling them “the one who hears you, hears Me.” You can imagine their marvel when even the demons respond to the disciples as if Jesus Himself were telling them to scram. Perhaps we even still marvel ourselves when people hear His voice in ours when we speak words of forgiveness and truth.
But of course, sometimes the world responds to us as if they are hearing Him as well. We have to keep in mind the sound of Jesus’ voice didn’t just expel demons. That same voice gained him entrance into the houses of sinners and tax collectors. That same voice brought Him to judgment in front of the Sanhedrin. That same voice cried out from the Cross. If the one who hears us hears Him, we have to be prepared for the way the world responded to Him after hearing Him.
Yet no matter how the world responds to us, we can rejoice. We know why we sound like Him. Just like my voice showed that I was becoming more like my father, our voices give witness to the work of the Spirit in our lives. That Spirit matures our voices to sound more and more like His, forgiving our cracks and squeaks and giving us the timbre of our Savior’s voice for the world. Amen.