In our Christian walk with God, one important virtue we need to cultivate is LISTENING.
We must be serious about listening to God and what He is saying to us.
HEARING PROBLEM
A middle-aged man was distraught over his wife’s stubborn refusal to admit she had a hearing problem. One day he asked his family doctor for advice how to convince his wife that she has this problem.
The doctor promptly told him that when he got home he was to confirm the problem by opening the front door and from there asking his wife what’s for dinner. Then the doctor said, if she doesn’t answer, move closer to the kitchen. Repeat the question again, and if she still doesn’t answer, move right up to her ear and whisper in it, “What’s for dinner, honey?” In this way, the doctor assured him, she’ll have to admit she has the problem.
So the man raced home with joy in his heart and opened the front door. “What’s for dinner, honey?” he asked. When there was no reply he moved closer to the kitchen and asked again. “What’s for dinner, honey?” No reply. When he looked into the kitchen, sure enough, there she was. So he tiptoed over to her and whispered in her ear, “What’s for dinner, honey?”
Immediately she turned and looked straight at him: “For the 4th time, I said we’re having Spaghetti!”
Who is the one having a hearing problem? Could it be me?
• Could it be that we’re facing difficulties and problems because we are not hearing Him right, or have not been hearing Him at all?
• And therefore we are left to figure out things ourselves, finding solutions to life problems on our own?
Is this why Jesus needs to repeat the phrase a few times?
• Mark 4:9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
• Implicit in this phrase is that we can have ears and not hearing.
• In this parable, Jesus puts it straight - the problem is not with God for not speaking but with man not hearing.
We can identify with this in life, don’t we? Many times we just don’t “hear” that well.
• Our teacher is talking to us, but we’re a hundred miles away — sometimes even more
• Our pastor is preaching, but we’re in a dream — maybe somewhere in Africa in the 1960s
• “Hello? Are you listening?” :-)
And what’s true in the physical realm is likewise true in the spiritual.
• There are times when we don’t hear God very well either.
• He may have been telling us, not 4 times but 40 times before we catch on — and even then it’s “touch and go.”
• Our heavenly antenna isn’t fully pulled out. For some, it wasn’t even installed.
Jesus confronted this "hearing problem" in the first Century.
FIRSTLY, people are not really listening. PATH
• No chance for the truth to sink in, because Satan comes and takes it away.
• Many do not give attention to God and what He has to say.
• They reject the truth outright, and choosing to believe what they like, even if it doesn’t sound true.
I met the sales rep in charge of the Holiday Inn Resort, Batam a few weeks ago.
She came to the church office and I took the opportunity to share with her about Jesus
She said every god is the same, whoever or whatever you believe doesn’t matter.
We just need something to lean on psychologically.
Everything is relative. Morality is subjective. Nothing can be absolute. It all depends on what you like.
I was surprised that she finds this acceptable. This is the postmodern generation, the new age generation.
The SECOND problem is – ROCKY PLACES
• Receive only on the superficial level - shallow. Hear only what feels good.
• When troubles come, they’re unable to accept the truth - how can a good God allow suffering and pain?
• The logical conclusion is – there isn’t a God or that such a God isn’t loving or powerful enough to help.
• Better trust our own selves; rely on our own efforts and plans.
This happened to one brother I knew who used to come to our church.
He faced a huge financial problem in business and was forced into bankruptcy.
Why didn’t God prevent it? Why didn’t He help me out? What’s the use of believing in a God like that?
And so he left God for good. Somehow, to him, God only exists to serve his own needs.
People choose to believe only in what feels good.
And THIRDLY, Jesus talks about the things of this world choking the Word. THORNS
• Too cluttered by the things of the world - we are distracted into pursuing things that are actually non-essential, temporary, transient. And we neglect things that are really important, true and eternal.
• Why care about what is true, or eternal? The world is more real; let’s enjoy life now. God can come later, if ever we need Him after all.
Jesus talks about these problems in the first Century, people are just not listening to the truth.
And the outcome is - all unproductive, unfruitful.
We find this same phenomenon today, don’t we? Four grounds but only one is fruitful.
• I wonder, if in life do I really listen only one quarter of the time, only 25% of the time did the truth get through to me.
We need to be serious about hearing the word and accepting it, only then will we "produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." (v.20)
• Implicit in this statement is that growth would naturally come when the seed is well received.
• When you hear and accept the Word, blessings will flow into your life - you’ll experience joy, hope, love, and strength... No words of man can bring you these - only the Word of God. I believe you have that experience.
Nothing wrong with the seed – God is keen to get His Word across, as the farmer is keen to see every seed germinate and grow.
• The problem is with the ground – the receiving end. We are not listening to Him well!
• Therefore I must till the ground - make sure it’s soften and receptive.
Don’t harden it by our self-will – the attitude of “I like to do my own things.”
Don’t allow pride to spoilt it - the attitude of "I like to do things my own way."
I don’t want my life to be too cluttered by things; or distracted by the pleasures of life
We are living in one of the most confusing and distracting generation in the history of the world.
• I believe we’re having more noises (voices) than generations before
• We are bombarded with information, opinions, views, and ideas - tons of them everyday.
• There are more things that demand our attention than we can handle.
We must guard our time with God - this dedicated line with the Almighty.
• Listen to what God has to say - through the prophet Isaiah 55:1-3
Isaiah 55:1-3
1"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3Give ear and come to me; hear me that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
Notice COME. Notice ’listen, listen to me... give ear... hear me...’ THAT YOUR SOUL MAY LIVE
What we really need is not things - but God! What we need to hear, not words of man, but His Word.
No wonder Jesus says, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (Matt 4:4)
Our God is a speaking God. But someone has to be listening at the other end.
• The key to a blessed life is to have a listening heart that longs to know what the Lord is saying.
• The emptiness in our lives comes primarily from not listening to God.
Jesus spoke to seven different churches in the book of Revelation.
• The spiritual condition of each group was different and therefore His words were not the same as He addressed their unique situations.
• But it is interesting is that He used the same phrase to close all seven messages:
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Rev 2-3)
• The antidote to their problems is there, but they’ve got to listen!
I do not know what your situation, but what is clear is that God speak to each situation
• God speaks to you according to your needs and situation. He speaks to you personally
When a Chinese man, Mr Lo, felt discouraged and depressed over his work, he turned randomly his bible randomly and came to a page in the NT. And he read, "Lo, I am with you always."
• No matter how deep our problem is, no matter how far we have fallen, God is still speaking to us.
• He has not left us - there is always hope if we will just listen to what He is saying.
• It is when we get so full of ourselves and too busy to stop and listen, that we cut ourselves off from the one true Friend who can help us.
• We are to blame then, because we make ourselves deaf to words that would bring healing and life.
Throughout Scriptures, we see a God who sends prophets, judges, apostles and His faithful ones, to speak His Word and address the needs of man. He is a concerned God. He is a speaking God.
• Today He sends family members, church bros/sis, friends, pastors… to warn or correct us, to guide and encourage us
• Don’t be too quick to dismiss God’s promptings or ignore Him, because by doing so we will miss out completely on what God is trying to do in our lives
• Don’t let pride or stubbornness makes us incapable of receiving help.
God is still pleading through the words in Isaiah, "Hear me, that your soul may live." (Isa 55:3)
• MAKE TIME FOR HIS WORD - slow down and get quiet before Him.
It’s OK to miss the radio sound, the TV noise but you cannot afford to miss His VOICE.
Expose yourself to His Word constantly - Bible reading, sermons, CDs...
• TILL THE GROUND - soften your heart; be humble and receptive to what He has to say.
In Jesus’ farewell discourse He promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come
John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you."
• Clearly, Jesus says God will speak to you, through the Holy Spirit.
"He will guide you into all truth... He will speak only what He hears... He will tell you what is yet to come... He will take what is mine and make it known to you..."
• This ongoing revelation is taking place today
• Pay attention! His messages are coming through all the time. Pay attention and listen!
• And we’ll see our lives transformed and renewed. Rom 10:17 "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ."
Jesus starts with the parable with LISTEN (v.3) and ends with LET HIM HEAR (v.9).
• It is so vital that we learn to listen to God in all things - and listen well
"If ye keep watch over your hearts, and listen for the voice of God and learn of Him, in one short hour you can learn more from Him than you could learn from man in a thousand years."
... Johannes Tauler (ca.1300-1361)
Poem by Max Lucado in "A Gentle Thunder":
Once there was a man who dared God to speak.
Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God
And I will follow.
Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua, God
And I will fight.
Still the waves like you did on Galilee, God
And I will listen.
And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall, close to the sea and waited for God to speak.
And God heard the man, so God answered.
He sent fire, not for a bush, but for a church.
He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of sin.
He stilled a storm, not of the sea, but of a soul.
And God waited for the man to respond,
And he waited... And he waited... And waited.
But because the man was looking at bushes, not hearts; bricks and not lives, seas and not souls,
he decided that God had done nothing.
Finally he looked to God and asked, Have you lost your power?
And God looked at him and said, Have you lost your hearing?
Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for being the loving God who initiate contact with us, and continue to speak to us, even so today. Lord, help us cultivate a listening heart that is attentive and teachable. Save us from being so filled with ourselves that we can’t hear you. Give us the grace to both listen and obey when You speak to us. In Jesus’ Name we pray, AMEN.
