Ears to Hear

The elderly pastor was searching his closet for his coat before church one Sunday morning. In the back of the closet, he found a small box containing 3 eggs and 100 $1 bills. He called his wife into the closet to ask her about the box and its contents. Embarrassed, she admitted having hidden the box there for their entire 30 years of marriage. Disappointed and hurt, the pastor asked her, "WHY?" The wife replied that she hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings. He asked her how the box could have hurt his feelings. She said that every time during their marriage that he had delivered a poor sermon, she had placed an egg in the box. The pastor felt that 3 poor sermons in 30 years was certainly nothing to feel bad about, so he asked her what the $100 was for. She replied, "Each time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them to the neighbors for $1."

I wish I could say that this is the only joke I have ever heard about preachers and their lack of skill at their profession. Unfortunately, I would have to concur that I have sat through just a few sermons which were lacking in their ability to fully captivate my attention. I would have to readily admit that I have been guilty of preaching some sermons that worked as powerful sedatives for my listeners (though I certainly hope that I do not find a box with eggs and $1 bills in my closet!). We have all been participants in worship services in which the preaching, the singing, or the general attitude of the congregation was less than noteworthy.

While it can make for a good point of laughter many times, this in no way excuses the responsibility of spiritual leadership in the local church. Men called by God to preach His Word, or to lead in any aspect of worship, should apply their very best effort when standing before God’s people. They should be well-prepared and aptly capable in their trade of delivery. God deserves nothing less than excellence, and God’s people should expect their leaders to be full of integrity as they deliver God’s Word. It is no menial warning which James levels to the spiritual leaders of the church: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). In like manner, Paul charges that the minister of the gospel should never lack in his work ethic as he administers his calling: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

However, when God’s people gather together for worship and the preaching of His Word, they also are charged with a responsibility and held accountable for their participation. A phrase is oft repeated throughout the Bible which expresses this very charge to God’s people when they gather for worship—“ears to hear.” In Jesus’ teaching ministry, He often dealt with the matter of those who were present to hear His words, but who had checked out in the matters of intently listening to His instruction. To think, even in Jesus’ ministry, there were those who disregarded His teaching because they thought Him to be too boring, too longwinded, or too confusing in His words (Matthew 13:13-15, 53-58; Luke 7:31-35)! When God’s Word is put before us, we are charged with taking it in as a very serious matter. The prophet Jeremiah warned God’s people that because they did not listen to God’s Word when it was given to them, they would be sorely punished by God (Jeremiah 7:13-15). Now that we have been given the most excellent and complete Word of Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3), how much more are we accountable to listen?!

So, in those times when God’s Word is brought before us, how can we be prepared to listen? Make no mistake, listening is a discipline. We must make ourselves listen. I have heard many excuse their inattention to sermons because they struggle to concentrate. I say to them “welcome to the human race!” We all struggle to concentrate, especially to a Word which the enemy wants us not to hear (Matthew 13:19). What can we do to prepare ourselves to listen to God’s Word?

1. Come to church well rested.

I have seen more than my share of congregants struggling to keep their eyes open during worship service. While there certainly can be unforeseen reasons why we are struggling with tiredness (health, medication, stress, something that kept us awake through the night prior, etc.), many times we do have control over the amount of rest we get. We cannot possibly stay up all hours of the night and hope to be able to stay awake and aware during the sharing of God’s Word. We have to plan to be rested and we have to invest the time in which to make this happen.

2. Remove all possible distractions.

We now live in a culture in which distractions abound. The devices we carry with us allow instant access to information we once had to wait to receive. While this may be helpful at times, it can destroy our hearing of God’s Word. We must plan to remove every distraction possible lest it divide our attention of most important matters. Each one must evaluate how to do this best. And remember, your distractedness will affect everyone around you. And as a particular rule to parents, we must train our children in the discipline of listening. They will never learn to listen to God’s Word if we do not teach them to listen by our example and our instruction.

3. Anticipate to receive God’s very words.

If you knew that Jesus Christ Himself were in the midst of our congregation, listening to our singing, and longing for us to hear Him, how would it affect our worship when we gather? And yet, Christ is among us when we gather (Ephesians 2:19-22)! If we come to worship expecting to hear from God in His Word and anticipating Him to work among us, then we will be properly prepared.

So, let’s all enjoy a good joke about boring sermons and congregations that sleep during the service. We don’t need to take ourselves too seriously. But may it never be true that we are not giving and receiving our very best to God in our worship gatherings.

Jason