The Scripture Readings this week are:
- Ezekiel 2:1-5 (you might want to read verses 6-10 as well)
- Mark 6:1-13
The Sermon title is Will They Hear?
Early Thoughts: Have you ever wondered why so often people have trouble hearing? Well maybe that should say listening. OR comprehending. Or simply paying attention.
Both our passages this week talk about trouble hearing but it is not talking about needing a hearing aid. These are not medical issues at play here. The passages talk about those who choose not to hear, who choose to ignore, who choose to rebel against what is being said.
When have you met with that response? When have you perhaps offered that response?
My suspicion is that many of us have felt not heard at times. My suspicion is that, if wee are honest, many of us have often chosen not to/refused to listen to unpleasant or uncomfortable or challenging news at some point in our lives. What do we do with that?
Jesus instructs his friends to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them. That is a possible response. IF people won't listen then leave them behind and find someone who will. It often seems like that might be the easiest way to respond. Much less frustrating than continuing to talk to one who will not listen.
Ezekiel is told just to keep talking. Some will listen, some will not. And in the end many will acknowledge that something has happened. This approach takes patience. It requires that we are sure of where we stand. It means we have to be persistent. It also means we have to trust that a difference is being made even if we don't see signs of that happening.
WHat makes us stop and listen? IS it the "expert from outside"? Many people have found that if someone from outside a situation comes in and says something, even if people in the situation have been saying the same thing over and over again, it has more credibility. Is this why Jesus points out that "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house."? Do we sometimes need the outside voice to help us see clearly? Are we too enmeshed in the situation?
Or is the answer to being able to listen time and repetition? Many people in leadership roles talk about the value of planting the seed and waiting for it to germinate. Just know that some seeds take an incredibly long time to germinate. Another form of this is the idea that the leader or the outside person makes a suggestion and waits. Maybe the occasional reminder. Maybe a rewording or two over time. And then the community accepts the idea as their own and the seed bursts into life.
WE do tend to be a stubborn species. WE tend to avoid news or ideas that make us uncomfortable or unpleasant. We tend not to listen if a change seems just too big. Do we want the speakers to shake the dust off their feet and right us off? Or do we, deep down inside where we won't admit it, know that we really do need to hear what is being said and need people to keep talking until we get over ourselves and listen?
If we are going to move forward as citizens of the Kingdom of God we need both to listen and to talk -- and we need to know when it is time to do either. We who benefit from how our society operates need to listen to the voices who are telling us what our community really is like. We need to give space and time for uncomfortable and inconvenient truths to be told. We need to hear so that when it is our turn to speak we have a clue what we are supposed to say.
Are we willing to hear? Are we willing to listen? Or will we remain stubborn, impudent, and maybe a little rebellious (though maybe we should be rebellious in some ways)?
--Gord
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