Can You See Him?

Scott McFarland
10/24/21 - Sun AM Worship

Hearing Properly

Last week, the lesson was on hearing and the article was on seeing; this week, the sermon is on seeing and the article is on hearing.  Go figure.  Most of us are used to the difficulties of communication.  We usually don’t do enough communicating, and when we do it’s still difficult to get people to hear the right thing.  Most people hear what is already on their minds and read that back into the conversation later when recalling details.  This is often humorously illustrated in the stereotypical husband/wife conversation:

Wife: “Honey, can you stop by the store after work and get milk and bread?”

Husband: “Sure, I needed to get a couple things after work anyway.”

After work, husband returns home with screws from the hardware store, some lightbulbs, and a gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  Hey, he was heading to the store anyway, right?  He thought he heard his wife needed ice cream!

In the Gospels, Jesus makes a big deal out of his audience “hearing” him.  He’s not just talking about listening to words.  When Jesus speaks of “hearing,” he’s talking about not just listening, but hearing to understand, then doing.  It’s easy to listen to words; it’s harder to properly understand and put them into practice.  It’s easy to say you heard, but the truth is revealed in whether you understand and obey.

This morning, we looked at another lesson on the distractions of our modern world.  These distractions often lead us to forget about “doing” the words of Jesus.  It’s far easier to sit in a sermon, attend a church service, or go through the motions of listening.  That’s where Satan wants us.  If he can keep us inactive and fooling ourselves that we’re “listening,” he has it made!  Inactive Christians are ineffective Christians and ineffective Christians are no threat to him.  Don’t just listen—do!

  -Scott McFarland