Proper 10 A

July 13, 2008 

Isaiah 55:10-13

Psalm 65:9-14

Romans 8:1-11

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Speak to us, Lord God. Your servants are listening.

We had a family doctor when I was growing up that Mama took us to way too often, named Dr. Holt. He was not very tall and really big around the middle. Sometimes he wore glasses with thick black rims. For most of the years I went to him, I never saw him that he wasn’t chewing gum. He popped it between his teeth like we were not allowed to do when we chewed gum. He pierced my ears when I was about fourteen after I messed one up trying to pierce it myself with a sewing machine needle.

A few years before that Mama had taken me to him to check my hearing after a few times of not being able to get my attention when she wanted me for something. Her first thought was that I was ignoring her. She advocated a spanking from my dad for being disrespectful to her but he convinced her that I just might be hard of hearing. It wouldn’t be right to punish me if I was. After the hearing test Dr. Holt and I had a talk. (we had several of them during my growing up years) He asked me what prompted my mother to think I couldn’t hear. I told him if I was watching TV or reading a book, when she called my name, I just didn’t hear her but that I didn’t mean to ignore her. He smiled at me, then he went out and got her and brought her in the room with us. First he told her my hearing was normal. With that bit of news I noticed her eyebrows flattened out. I could almost feel the spanking I would get when we got home. Then he told her it was true that I didn’t hear her when she called to me but my ears weren’t the problem. It was that I could focus my attention on the TV or book so intently that I tuned out other sounds not to be distracted by them. Apparently her voice was one of them. Selective hearing loss in other words. He said some kids are just like that. She said some husbands are too (and I know that’s true!). The doctor gave her some suggestions what she might do about it. None of them included a spanking or any kind of punishment. I know because that’s what I was listening for. I hoped like everything that her anger and frustration with me would not keep her from listening to the doctor’s good ideas.

When I read the Gospel just now, did you notice that the first and last word Jesus spoke to the crowds was "Listen"? The word, listen, is like bookends before and after the parable. It begins with, "Listen! A sower went out to sow." And it ends with, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"

In this church we have a public address system with microphone and speakers. If that isn’t enough amplification we have other hearing devices to help you hear. Some of you have hearing devices of your own. But none of that does anything to help you listen. Listening is more than hearing. And it is more difficult than it seems. Most of us have been conditioned to listen FOR something. We tune out what we’re not listening for.

In the crowd who came out to hear Jesus, there were people listening for all sorts of things. The scribes and Pharisees were listening for something to justify their doubts about him; something they could use against him; something that would draw his followers away from him; some good reason to despise him.

For some in the crowd the words Jesus spoke pleased them. Maybe it was the quality of his voice that was pleasant in their ears. They could have been superficially attracted to him without knowing why exactly. But for a few of them it was not only the words he spoke, but the authority in what he said. That, and what they witnessed him doing – healing the sick, casting out demons and such. Those were the people who were open to believing that he was the promised messiah. For them his words were like seeds sown in fertile soil.

The word of God is always creative. They knew that in biblical times. It was with words forced out by the breath of God that the world came into being. The whole people of God believed that. But not all of them were listening for the same creative word to be spoken by Jesus, who was God’s Word in flesh and blood. They didn’t hear it because they weren’t listening for it.

It could be that was the message hidden in the parable of the sower for those Jesus told it to. But a good parable transcends time and place. That means there is a message hidden in it for us too. For me it’s still about listening. Now all these years later a book still holds my attention, but seldom does the TV. Especially not news shows. It’s all opinion and commentary as far as I can tell. It’s too much work for my ears to sort through it. I’d much rather read news than hear it on television or radio. It’s not enough for broadcasters to tell the news, they tell me how to interpret what I hear too. And they do it over and over again.

There’s way too much noise for our ears these days. No wonder we listen for some things and tune out others. It’s how we make our way through the noise without having our hearing numbed.

As I sat in the swing on my deck pondering these things earlier this week, after the sun had gone down, I listened to all the evening sounds. A light wind rustling the leaves of the trees, the crickets, an occasional moth crashing into the window, a whippoorwill, a June bug, and sounds I am familiar with but couldn’t name. I thought of the native Americans who occupied our country long before we did. Whose hearing was so keen they not only heard the wind rustling the leaves, they knew which direction it came from. Whether it would be followed by calm or storm was announced by the song of the crickets. They knew how to interpret what they heard, and many if not all of them gave credit to the Great Spirit who spoke through the wind and the cricket. They listened for his voice embedded in the sounds that settled in their ears.

If only we could listen for our Lord’s voice like that! If only hearing the creative word of God was as important to us as hearing the latest news of the stock market; or the price of a barrel of oil; or what the presidential candidates said or didn’t say; what the newest medical breakthrough is; which foods are not safe to eat anymore.

Is it possible we could recondition our hearing to listen for God to speak to us? If we focused all our attention towards God do you think we could hear then? Could we learn to tune out the other stuff and tune in to the Great Spirit that dwells among us to guide us in the way we are to go, to give hope and peace to the living, and stir awake the souls of the dead?

Give us another chance, Lord God. Speak to us today through words sung, spoken, read, and prayed. Speak to us in silence, in the stillness of sleep. Speak to us in the voice of friends and strangers. Speak to your servants again, Lord God. This time we are listening for you. Now that we have ears to hear our master’s voice, speak to us again, Lord God. Your servants are listening.