Presumptions in the Oran Chapel and sermons that bear God's voice

I've just come back from a wonderful week spent on the Scottish island of Iona: home down through the centuries to St Columba, Benedictine monks and iconic centre for the modern Iona Community. I experienced a lot, much of which, I suspect, will only become clear in the coming weeks, months (or even years) ...

I have been a frequent visitor to Iona over the years and have developed a mini ritual of going straight from the jetty to the small Oran Chapel next to the Abbey to simply offer prayers of thanks for the journey. But this was my first visit with my daughter and getting the family up to the Abbey and settled took some time. So it was not until after evening worship that I finally said to my wife 'I'm just going over to the Oran chapel to pray, I'll only be five minutes.' Half way over to the chapel it suddenly hit me: was my maker going to be so elated that one of heaven's creations had condescended to turn up for the briefest of conversations that the purposes of heaven for my life would be unfolded in 300 seconds flat!

Yes I rationalised, this was simply an opportunity to give thanks for the journey taken that day, not a 40 day Ignatian retreat ... but all the same it struck me how often we might limit God to the constraints of our diaries and agendas. The worship service must be over in an hour ... the prayer meeting must be done by 9 pm, the new evangelistic programme must be up and running by 2 pm next Tuesday... etc etc.

Of course Iona is a place that celebrates the presence of God in all things, at all times, in all places ... so it would not be unexpected if God were to reveal heavens' purpose while I was washing dishes, playing on the beach, or having a conversation over a drink but would you believe it, God did speak, both loud and clear, and it happened in the oddest of places, in the Sunday sermon! That this still happens is an encouragement to those of us who preach week in week out, and I hope it may enthuse those who listen to us too, for clearly God still uses sermons not just to give people information about God, but to change the direction of their lives.

For all that I am sure God spoke I am not exactly sure what was being said ... not in detail anyway ... God rarely makes it that easy ... but suffice to say that there remains much with which I need to wrestle and work and pray ... and its going to take much longer than five minutes