In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is a riddle that I think has its origins in Zen Buddhism that goes something like this: "If a tree falls in the woods, and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

If this question were seriously put to the faculty of an academic institution, I imagine that a rather intense debate might erupt. Physicists might argue with musicians about what "sound" actually is. Botanists and zoologists might argue about what "hearing" is. Philosophers and theologians might dispute whether there is any such thing as "no one" at any time or place. Sociologists and environmental scientists might disagree about the significance of whether the tree is indigenous to the woods or a transplant from another region. Priests and lawyers would no doubt have very different ideas regarding exactly what it means to "fall". What if, in the middle of all of this hypothetical consternation, what if in the middle of all of this, God actually spoke? That would raise another Zen question altogether, wouldn’t it? If God said something in the middle of a crowd of people, and nobody listened (for all their talking), would God’s message have any significance at all to those people?

This is the question that Luke’s Gospel asks us today. Jesus answers it with a gentle, non-condemning "no". No, God doesn’t do all the work when it comes to our salvation; entering the Kingdom of God requires our participation in it, our cooperation with God. Furthermore, the cooperation that God expects from his people largely consists of simply attending to him. That is, paying attention to him when he speaks, listening so that our actions respond to his desires for us and for the world.

For many of us, it would indeed be counterintuitive to sit idle when our Lord, whom we have invited into our lives, enters in. Our instincts tell us that we ought to at least look really busy when the boss is around. Even when our friends visit, we put ourselves out to make them as comfortable as we can.

However, with God, things are a little bit different. Firstly, we can’t fool God into thinking that we’re being productive or obeying him – we’re either doing it or not. Secondly, there is nothing that we can do to make God comfortable, except to make a place for him to be within our being so that he can inform our doing. For when we allow God to enter our hearts in this way, we permit God to love us, we permit God’s love to permeate us thoroughly and wholly. And when we have known and experienced God’s love in this way, our lives become a response to and a manifestation of that love.

Therefore, like Mary, let us pause, if only for a few moments, and adore our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and absorb what he has to say to us.

Amen.