The Gift of Ears (Year of Listening)

The Gift of Ears (Year of Listening)

(Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

10:30 am, Sunday, January 20, 2013; Windsor UBC; J G White

It was about six weeks ago that Dr. Harry Gardner preached to us, and I think his sermon was called “The Gift of Ears.” It was in the service celebrating Jeff Hosick's ordination, 25 years ago. Jeff has been given the 'gift of ears' by the Holy Spirit, Harry rightly said.

There is no gift of ears, gift of listening, or gift of hearing in the lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament. But, can't it be a gift of the Spirit? To listen well to the Lord, and to one another, is part of life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus, when he taught, would regularly say things like, “those who have ears, let them hear.” Christ died for us so we would have access to the Father. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of communication.

The story is told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir." It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Nonplussed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming."

I don't know if that story is even true. But have you ever played your own little game like this, to see if people were really listening?

I look across the weeks ahead in the year 2013, and think about my preaching and our walk together with the Lord. I believe my own theme for the year will be a “Year of Listening.” I think one thing I bring to my ministry here is my listening to others. I also think there is so much worth doing here that is about listening well and hearing better.

We listen to God. I have some confidence in how I do listen and hear from the Lord. I am a sheep who recognizes the voice of the Shepherd. I am also excited and interested in more. There is so much more for me to learn and practice. I can know the Master's voice and recognize Him better than I do today.

My relationship with God differs from yours, of course. Some things I pick up on from God are not what you pick up. Some ways you recognize the Spirit are clearer to you than me.

So, what we each have to learn varies. You may need to develop you prayer life, especially your prayers of listening to the still, small voice of God. You may need to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit and discover what God with you really can be like for you. There could be authors and teachers to read this year who will help you learn a lot and make some breakthroughs in your life. Your interpretation of the things that happen in your life and the world around you may need to grow so you can truly see the Lord at work in and around you. These are all elements of listening to our God. One I left to the last was the Bible – hearing from God in the World.

There is so much here to hear. We listened and maybe read from Isaiah 62 today. Wonderful words. The Lord said to the people who were beaten down: you will be called by a new name!This was to be the Lord's doing, His gift, His plan, His merciful intervention. You won't be called Azuba, “Forsaken.” You will be called Hephzibah, “My Delight.” You won't be called Shemamah, “Desolate.” You'll be named Beulah, “God's Bride.” Your God shall rejoice over you! What a word to hear and believe is from God. This year, will the Lord call Windsor Baptist “Listening Ears” and not “Stiff-necked People”?

Next Sunday I will preach on hearing from the Word of God. In the weeks before Easter I will preach on hearing what the Cross of Jesus means in our lives. And so on...

Also, we listen to one another. Like most spiritual teachings, we know and believe this, but how to do it – that's the challenge. Sometimes real listening to others takes a miracle of God.

Years ago, writer Chuck Swindoll found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it. "I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day," he recalled (in Stress Fractures). "Before long, things around our home started reflecting the patter of my hurry-up style. It was becoming unbearable.

"I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, 'Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin' and I'll tell you really fast.'

"Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, 'Honey, you can tell me -- and you don't have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly." "I'll never forget her answer: 'Then listen slowly.'"

Ahhh... to listen slowly. Not always easy for us. And this is but one kind of listening we can learn from the Master, our Christ. To listen to one another is a skill He would cultivate in us.

1 Corinthians 12 speaks of spiritual gifts, naming a bunch that were important when it came to that church getting together and worshipping the Lord. The chapter goes on to illustrate the congregation as a body, a human body, with may parts, all needed, all different, all working together as a team. Then comes chapter 13. The love chapter. All the prophecy, all the faithfulness, all the sacrificial giving of a Christian is nothing without love. Love for one another.

If we are to love one another, we are to listen. To listen for the feelings, not just to the words said. To listen to what is not being said. To listen – to see – the body language and other signals. To listen with less thinking of what we are going to say next: no, just listen to understand the other, deeply. To speak wisely, to know the right answer, to try and do better that others – do not often help the listening and the loving we are destined to do.

So I plan to preach on listening to other believers in two weeks time. In the summer I think I'll preach on what our Church Covenant with one another tells us. I hope to speak in November about what we hear when we listen to our history. We'll gain the gift of ears for all these things.

And thirdly, we listen to our world. Mainly I'm thinking about all the other people on our globe; but there is much to be learned by observing the rest of creation.

We who are believers in Christ, saved by Him and serving Him, are a rather fuzzy minority in Canada now. A minority, since practicing Christians are not 50% of the population. 'Fuzzy' because it is so unclear who is in and who is out, among all the folk who say they believe, say they pray, say they are spiritual, but are not teamed up with us and Christ's Church. So we are challenged by a mission field on our doorsteps. And one of the first active steps is to listen. Listen to them.

A famous American general of the previous century had this formula for handling people: 1. Listen to the other person's story. 2. Listen to the other person's full story. 3. Listen to the other person's full story first. (George Marshall) This is actually what I hear evangelical and emerging Church leaders say. Brian McLaren, Reggie McNeal, Richard Foster. Evangelism begins and ends by listening to them, not by telling them. Telling them, sharing, witnessing, must happen, but in happens in the midst of us knowing and loving them.

The latest Mosaic magazine from CBM quotes John Keith talking about the start of Canadian Baptist ministry in Turkey 35 years ago. Everything in our early history emphasized friendship, friendship, friendship. In the book 1 Thessalonians, Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy wrote: So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. When we care deeply for others, the Lord can teach us to listen deeply.

And as Paul's talk in 1 Corinthians 12 illustrates, we have many different gifts for listening and blessing people in our world. What I can do is different from what many of you can do.

At yesterday's men's breakfast, we saw and heard a recording of a Billy Graham sermon from thirty years ago. After, someone asked: “Who is sharing this message powerfully today?”

The answer is many of us. But few of us are Billy Grahams. Some can preach. And... some can explain. Some can interpret the times. Some can listen in amazing ways. Some can make music. Some can connect people to other people. So many gifts among us to reach our world with the Gospel. Often, one person out there who needs the saving intervention of God finds it because of many people in their lives. Each witness gives some 'light on the subject.' And the subject is Christ. In most cases, each witness needs to be able to listen to that person on their journey towards God. It is a matter of many relationship, many moments together, many glimpses of the needs of the person and the grace of God.

It may seem strange, but I thought of the old Indian story of six blind men, asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe.

Someone explained: "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched a different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned."

When it comes to people in our world who need Christ, each of us needs to listen a lot, and speak or do a bit. I show one part of Christ to someone. You show that same person some other bit about the Saviour. You reveal another facet of the Truth. And someone we don't even know will give that person yet another glimpse of God that fills out the picture, so to speak. In the midst of what we each give to others, there can be a lot of listening, understanding, waiting. It is an emphasis on friendship, friendship, friendship.

In three weeks time I plan to preach on listening to our world. And after Easter I hope to speak for a few weeks on various audiences “out there” who are challenging to our Gospel.

So, is there “a gift of ears?” Well, I'd say it's not like some other gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as prophecy or wisdom or healing. Ears is more like love, I think. If we all need to exercise Christian love, we all need to exercise our ears, so to speak. We all need to listen well, with mind and heart.

And if we all need to be good hearers and observers and listeners, God will provide. The Spirit will gift us. The Lord will encourage us to grow in this way. May this year be a year of listening. Listening more, listening better, listening everywhere.

Let me end with words of James, chapter 1 (17-19):

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger...