“Listening as Discipleship” Sermon by Pastor Betsy Perkins

“Listening as Discipleship” Sermon by Pastor Betsy Perkins

Sermon:  Listening as Discipleship

January 19th, 2020                                                                                                      Rev. Betsy Perkins

First Baptist Church, Delavan WI

Scripture passage:   Mark 4:1-34

If anyone has ears to hear, let them listen! Listen to this!

A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding the farmer’s wildest dreams. Are you listening to this? Really listening?” (Mk.4:3-9, Msg)

That’s how Jesus began teaching one day, using an illustration from the common, everyday experience of the people he was talking to.  What has struck me this week as I read through Mark 4 again and again, is that in the course of relating a few short stories, Jesus tells them to ‘hear’, to ‘listen’, 14 times!

You can tell when someone is listening to you or not, right?  Just this week I was having a conversation with someone, and at one point I asked a question… and suddenly there was silence.  It was pretty clear that while that person could still hear me, he had stopped listening.  I know I’ve done the same thing at times: someone is relating a story and it triggers my own thoughts and before I know it I’ve missed how their story ends.  Or I get distracted by my phone or by something else in the room and am no longer really paying attention to the conversation.  I’m sure it’s happened to you: someone asks ‘what’s for dinner?’ And not 30 seconds after you tell them, they ask ‘So what’s for dinner?’ You know the difference between someone who has a problem of forgetfulness, and someone who just didn’t bother to listen to your answer!

What are some ways you can tell that a person is really listening? 

Like the farmer is doing in Jesus’ story, words are being scattered all around us, all day.  I’m throwing out a whole bunch of words right now.  So what happens when we are really listening?   What happens inside us?

First, when we are really listening there is an openness to new information.  One of the big problems in our polarized nation is that often we are so convinced of what we believe to be true that we just can’t listen to one another.  Someone says a trigger word and we quit listening, shut our ears, change the channel on the TV, shut down.  To really listen, there needs to be receptivity.  That does not mean we don’t weigh the message and evaluate it, but that we hear it seeking to understand the one who is speaking.

Which leads to a second characteristic of really listening – there is willingness to engage with the message, to reflect on it, to mull it over, to discover something, to learn from it.  Unfortunately, there are many times that we listen to someone simply to find the thing that we can use to twist their words back on them, we listen for the inconsistencies, for the error in their ways.  Christians have at times earned the reputation of reading and listening to the Bible simply as a way to condemn others, looking for the verse that can be used as a bat to whack at the neighbor, to attack the person we don’t like, to use as an excuse to exclude someone.  But true listening involves allowing the words we hear and the Word of scripture, to expose our own hearts and our own actions.  Allowing the Word to examine me.

When we listen in that way, it leads to the possibility of change.  Truly listening accepts the possibility that we might be convicted of something false in us, and have the opportunity to turn it around, to begin to move in a new direction.  When we are really listening, actively listening, what we hear is able to guide us and leads us to respond.   In fact, a person’s response to what they hear is as important, perhaps even more important, as what they hear.

Which brings me back to Jesus’ style of teaching using parables, using story illustrations.  Those around Jesus who had committed to following him, ask him about it later: Jesus, why do you use stories and illustrations instead of just saying what you mean directly?  He responded, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables, so that (and here Jesus quotes from the book of Isaiah 6:9-10) ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding, otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’” 

Listen again to what Jesus says, this time in the way that Eugene Peterson in the Message Bible hears it: You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom, you know how it works [when God rules]. But to those who can’t see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight. These are people – whose eyes are open but don’t see a thing, whose ears are open but don’t understand a word, who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven.

Hearing God’s Word is not intended to be a one-time occurrence, a single message.  Hearing, listening, is an ongoing characteristic of discipleship.  Jesus’ stories were an invitation to follow him, to listen with openness, to engage the message with self-reflection, and to listen with a willingness to be changed.  Karoline Lewis, a preaching professor at Luther Seminary said, “Listening is essential to discipleship.”  Listening is essential to discipleship.  So Jesus is not speaking in riddles to exclude, rather he is speaking in stories to draw in the ones who are ready and willing to truly listen.

So Jesus told them the story of the farmer sowing his seeds again, showing them how the story works to illustrate his point.  Listen for when and how you may have experienced these responses to hearing God’s Word.

 “The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.”  When in your life have you heard God’s Word read in church or read it yourself in the morning before heading out for the day and the moment you walk out the door you have no recollection what you heard or read? You never thought of it again.

“And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.”  When have you gotten excited about what you’ve heard from Jesus, until you realized what you might have to change or give up something and it’s easier to fall back into old patterns. When have you gotten excited about helping out, but in the end found it easier to stay in the recliner or to find an excuse to go shopping instead.

“The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.”  When have you sat before God’s Word or tried to pray, but all you can think about is your to-do list, or the I-can’t-do-it list, the anxiety builds till it’s all you can hear.

“But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams.” When have you had these good days, when you even surprise yourself at the joy and the results that come when you take that step to put God’s Word into action, to respond, to allow God to work through you?  Did you notice that only the rejection of God’s word is quick? The growth, the producing of harvest, is a slow process.

What have you heard?  Let those who seek to be disciples, listen!

Jesus went on that day to share a few more stories.  Listen!

Jesus asked, “Would anyone turn on a lamp and then put a box over it or toss a blanket over it? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a table, where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

Jesus added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

Jesus’ intention is for people to understand, for the truth to be seen.  Isn’t that the goal of teaching – that the teacher wants his/her students to learn and grow and have a more fulfilled and healthy and whole life as a result?

Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

And just when we are beginning to feel the pressure that it’s all up to us, that accomplishing God’s work in the world and bringing our neighbors to faith in Jesus, and filling these pews is all up to you… Jesus speaks a word to remind us that it is ultimately God’s work.  We simply need to scatter the seed, and wait patiently, and pick up the sickle.

Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate what it’s like when God is in charge?  It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is one of the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.”

What is it in your life that seems small and insignificant, but when offered to God might grow beyond your wildest dreams and bless those around, offering shade to those who are exposed to the harsh light of poverty or disasters, to discrimination or lies? 

 Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.

Discipleship, following Jesus, begins with listening.  We need to show up, be present, attentive, and listen… but from there on it’s God’s work in us to illuminate, to disclose, to bring growth and a crop. 

If anyone has ears to hear, let them listen!

Closing Song:   “Revive Us Again” # 723  

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