Hearing, Listening, Responding
Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 25, 2010
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, WI
Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.

Texts: Acts 9: 36-43/Revelation 7: 9-17/John 10:22-30
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”

Hearing is one of the five senses. Hearing is how we come to listen. Sometimes we hear, but we don’t always listen. Sometimes we may do both, but then we don’t respond. I think that Jesus is using the word ‘hear’ to describe the whole process of hearing, listening and then responding. I’ve long been a student of human communication, so took a look at some texts on it, all of which have a component on listening. Blaine Goss, a scholar in the field of communication psychology, wrote, “In oral communication, listening is your main way of taking in information. How effectively you listen can determine what information you have available to store and retrieve. Any breakdowns in listening can cause future shortcomings in recall.” [p. 109] I’m sure you can recall your Speech Communication 101 class and the little chart on how communication works: an S (sender), sends an M (message) to an R (receiver). All of us do pretty well at the sending part, but how many of us really work at or practice our listening skills?

Perhaps a little humor might help us to think about it? Here are three little quotes from that great writer Anonymous. “Conversation: a vocal competition in which the one who is catching his breath is called the listener.” “History repeats itself because no one listens the first time.” And the one that hits home for any guy: “My wife says I never listen to her. At least I think that’s what she said.” My final stab at humor is from the delightful Douglas Adams book A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: "You know, it’s at times like this when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young!" "Why, what did she tell you?" "I don’t know, I didn’t listen!"

Each of those attempts at humor remind us just how important it is for us to learn how to listen and then to practice our listening skills. If this is true in our everyday lives then it is even truer for our spiritual lives. The whole point of Christian faith is in hearing . When we come into relationship with God in Jesus Christ we enter into a conversation that is ongoing. Unfortunately, as I’ve said, most of us aren’t having a dialogue, a conversation with God, we’re stuck in a monologue – sometimes, perhaps, even a diatribe!

“My sheep hear my voice,” this means that the Lord communicates with us. Well, I can just hear it out there in every head. Well, if the Lord is communicating, why haven’t I heard God speak lately? That is a good question. So, how does God speak to us? The word we use for God’s communication with us is revelation, the Divine self-disclosure. We understand that God reveals God’s self in many different ways, beginning with the world in which we live – natural revelation. Let me illustrate with another piece by Anonymous:

The little child whispered, "God, speak to me." And a meadowlark sang. But the child did not hear. So the child yelled, "God, speak to me!" And the thunder rolled across the sky. But the child did not listen. The child looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star shone brightly

But the child did not notice. And the child shouted, "God show me a miracle!" And a life was born. But the child did not know. So the child cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here!" Whereupon God reached down and touched the child. But the child brushed the butterfly away and walked away unknowingly.

Take time to listen. Often times, the things we seek are right underneath our noses. Don't miss out on your blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.

I know the moral sounds like one of those things you get on a mass-email, but it is still true: God is speaking if we are open to listen.

Those who came to Jesus on that long ago day and asked him “to speak plainly” have heard, but haven’t listened. Jesus is the living Word of God, Jesus is the word that spoken into our world, into human flesh, the Incarnate Word and he continues to speak to us. God speaks to us through the Son. The Lord’s sheep – those who hear, listen and respond – are the ones who recognize the voice. As John Shea writes, “To hear Jesus’ voice means more than attending to the words he speaks. It entails discerning who the speaker is. Jesus’ speech is filled with invitations to make this leap into his identity. A characteristic way Jesus talks is ‘Amen, Amen, I say to you.’ This way of speech emphasizes who is talking and encourages the listeners to discern the being of the speaker. When they grasp his unique relationship with God and they acknowledge him through a variety of titles – Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man, etc., they have heard his voice.” [The Relentless Widow, p. 131-2]

Thus, knowing, having heard, what Jesus says means that we have to share his consciousness. It ultimately means that we come to know what Jesus knew in an incredible way, that he was God’s child. And that is what we’re to come to know, that we’re children of God. As we listen and hear, we are then to respond. If we have heard Jesus’ voice, come to know we’re children of God we’re then to act accordingly. We hear, listen and respond to the voice by following Jesus in his life, which was a life of loving and unselfish service.

Where do we come into contact with the Son? Believe it or not, here, here, in the assembly that continues to make the Son present, his body, the church. We can hear the Lord still speaking here, in the Word preached, the Sacraments administered, and in the gathered community of faith with whom we share life. To be excruciatingly correct, we really should say that the Bible is not the Word of God, but that it contains the Word of God, since it then becomes the vehicle by which God speaks to us. However we designate it, the Bible remains the primary source, along with prayer, for our communication with God. Thus, we should be sure to spend time with it because there we will meet this God who has identified with us so strongly and who loves us so intensely.

Remember back to when we talked about communication theory? The SMR model? Well, we should also remember that eventually they added an F to the model – to stand for feedback – and they added an N to the model – to stand for noise. When we listen we’re always being selective as to what we’re paying attention to – that’s noise -- and what we’re not. As the communications scholar Goss says, “Apparently, the key to listening is not so much focusing the attention on the desired message as it is the successful rejection of similar and distracting messages . . . . . Good listening calls for the rejection of unwanted distractions.” [p. 112] The noise, the unwanted distraction, that was in the lives of those who told him to “speak plainly” was that Jesus wouldn’t use the language, wouldn’t play the game the way they wanted and so, while they heard Jesus, they couldn’t really listen. Their preconceptions, their expectations of what Jesus should have said drowned out the message. We come with preconceptions, expectations of how God should work and when God doesn’t work that way, then we can’t, won’t listen.

Listening, especially listening for the voice of the Good Shepherd, calls us to be focused and attentive. If we learn to come to this recollection – what the Eastern world calls mindfulness – we will soon see and hear that voice is all around us. As a consequence of our growth as a “listening presence,” we will also become far more sensitive in our communication with other people. I came across something which I think illustrates my point. Anthony Hopkins described his first meeting with the great actor, Laurence Olivier, in this way:

He came forward to shake my hand and I gave him my name. He gave me his full attention. This was an ability of his, to give his full, undivided attention to the moment, as if there were no past or future. Even in his “ordinariness” there was that one peculiar quality of concentration. This is what set him apart as an extraordinary human being: he never dismissed anything, he never disregarded anything. Everything held his attention. [in Robert J. Wicks Touching the Holy, p. 135]

I read that and thought back on the people I’ve considered to be great persons of prayer, some perhaps even holy, and that is what I recall – that attention. Great communicators with God are most often great communicators with those made in God’s image and likeness. That focus on the present moment, that attention is what we are to cultivate as a habit of being, so that we’re perpetually in God’s presence and so that presence is communicated to others through us.

The opportunity is still there for the sheep to hear the Lord’s voice and you and I – the church – we’re among the instruments the Lord uses to communicate. Our task, then, is to cultivate this habit of listening with more than just our ears, but with our hearts, so that we can hear God speaking to us and through us. The Spiritual masters used the phrase “listening with the ear of the heart,” and that is what we have to cultivate. After we’ve heard and listened, then we are to respond. And here is where the Christian movement has had some of its biggest difficulties, because hearing goes on, but not always listening or responding.

The message of Jesus’ life and his teaching are to make us different. As we encounter this message, it encounters us and we can’t remain the same. To BE a Christian is not just about assenting to a set of theological propositions or nodding in agreement to a set of facts – as important as they may be. To BE a Christian, a follower of Jesus, is to RESPOND to that voice and then allow our lives to make a difference as Jesus allowed his life to make a difference.

Sometimes hearing, listening and responding lead us to make difficult decisions, decision that call us in difficult and different directions. Coming here from monastic life was one of those times for me, but it has borne some fruit and done some good. My decision to end my ministry here at First Church and return to full-time work in theological education also comes as a result of my seeking to hear, listen and respond to the Lord’s voice. It has not been easy, but I believe it be God’s will for this Church and for me. Opening my prayer book this morning, I found a quote from James DeKoven that makes my point: “Let it not be thought egotism that the prevailing thought is that this work is the work of God. In it I have been guided by his Providential Guidance, directed by his Love, and following his leadings; that the work is God’s wish, not my own. I believe I have been doing the good works prepared for me to walk in”

The Good Shepherd continues to speak to us, if we have the ears of our hearts open to hear what he is saying. We live in an age where distractions abound. There is a great amount of noise going on all the time. Everywhere you look people are wearing ear-buds and plugged in to some device. Mobile phones and wireless devices abound. It would be so much easier if God just took out an ad in the Journal-Sentinel – a half page would do – and gave us directions. Or if God brought back some of those neat bill-boards he used not long ago (you know what I’m talking about, “How about coming over to my house, before the game?” GOD). Maybe if he took some time on television and displaced some of those horrid reality shows we’d be better informed. However, that is not how God has chosen to speak. The Lord’s voice was heard in Peter’s response that raised Dorcas and continued a ministry. It is heard in the multitude of witnesses who heard, responded and lived their lives for God. It continues to be heard through Word, Sacrament, and each other. The Good Shepherd’s voice can still be heard – we just have to cultivate a habit of listening that leads us to respond and make a difference and not just with us saying, “Huh?”

I came across something by James DeKoven

God is still speaking, if we have the ears of our hearts open to hear what God is saying to us. We live in an age where distractions abound. There is a great amount of noise going on all the time. It would be so much easier if God just took out an ad in the Journal-Sentinel, like when God got those neat bill-boards not long ago (you know what I’m talking about, “How about coming over to my house, before the game?” GOD), or maybe if he took some time on television and displaced some of those horrid reality shows. However, that is not how God has chosen to speak. The still small voice Elijah heard spoke in human flesh in Palestine and speaks to us through Word, Sacrament, and each other. God is still speaking – we just have to cultivate a habit of listening that doesn’t end with us saying, “Huh?”