Sunday, April 21, 2013

We Hear What We Listen For



One day, two friends were walking down a crowded city sidewalk together.  Suddenly, one of them said, “Listen to the lovely sound of that cricket,"

His friend listened, but, try as he might he couldn’t hear the cricket.

So he asked his friend, “How can you hear a cricket when there’s so much other noise from all people and traffic?”



The friend who’d heard the cricket didn’t say anything.  Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a large handful of pennies, and proceeded to toss the coin out on the sidewalk.

Instantly, a dozen people heard the coins clinking and clanking as the hit the ground, and they began scrambling around looking for them.  Even in the midst of all the other sounds they’d heard the coin.

And as the two friends watched the people looking around for the coin, the one who’d heard the cricket turned to the other and said, “We hear what we listen for.”

The last three Sundays we’ve been hearing stories about what happened with Jesus and his disciples after the Resurrection.  We saw him appear to Thomas in the upper room and eat breakfast with his disciples by the sea.  The last three Sundays have been stories confirming the fact that Christ did rise from the dead.

But now this morning we go back in time to before Jesus’ death and resurrection to be reminded of the fact that Jesus predicted all this.  He’d told people he was the Son of God.  He’d told them he would die and rise again after 3 days.  And yet still the resurrection came as a surprise to everyone.

And the reason for that is given in our lesson today: it’s because people didn’t listen; they wouldn’t hear what he told them.

Again, we hear what we’re listening for, and they weren’t listening for Christ.

In our lesson this morning the Jews ask Jesus, “How long will he keep us in suspense? If you’re the Christ, tell us plainly."

And Jesus answers them, “I have told you but you do not believe.”

Like the cricket in the story, Jesus had been speaking, but they had not heard him.

And the question we need to ask ourselves this morning is: what are we listening for?

There are a lot of voices competing for our attention: the voices of our families and friends, the voices of the media and pop culture and the internet, the voice of books and magazine, and on and on …

And in some of these voices we can hear the voice of Christ when he speaks to us through them.

While other voices don’t want us to hear the message of Christ; the message of the Resurrection; the message of hope, forgiveness, and eternal life.

These other voices want us to believe a different message, a message of fear, guilt, uncertainty, and death.

That’s certainly the message the bombers in Boston wanted us to hear this past week.  Theirs was a message of terror and hatred and despair.

Voices such as these are compete with Christ for our attention.  And when we let them fill us with fear or hatred or despair, they are victorious.

And so this morning, Jesus wants to make sure that we hear his voice and his message.

“My sheep hear my voice,” he says, “and they follow me.  I give them eternal life  and they’ll never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

This is the message his voice speaks to us this morning in his words and Sacrament; a message of encouragement and assurance and hope.

The life he’s given us in baptism is eternal.  Death cannot defeat it because the resurrected Christ is our Good Shepherd and nothing in all creation – not even death itself – can snatch us away from him.

This is Christ’s message for us today and every day.
But are we listening for it?

Are we listening for Christ’s voice and that message in the midst of all the other noisy voices competing for our attention?  Or has it gotten drowned out?

Again, we hear what we’re listening for.

And as our gospel reminds us this morning, if we’re not hearing the voice of Christ it’s not because he’s stopped speaking, it’s that we’ve stopped listening.

Christ’s voice and his message are always there for us.  He’s always calling out to us like that cricket on the busy sidewalk.  All we have to do is focus our ears on hearing him.

And so if you’ve been having trouble hearing Christ’s voice in the midst of all the other voices in your life, if you’ve found yourself overwhelmed by messages of hopelessness anger, guilt or despair, then I would encourage you to use our worship this morning to once again tune your ears into Christ; listen to his voice speak to you in his Word and in his Sacrament.  Listen to his message of hope, forgiveness and life.

“My sheep listen to my voice,” he says to us again this morning, “I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life. They shall never perish because no one can snatch them out of my hand.”


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