SUNDAY SERMON; Hearers and listeners of the word

Watch your steps whenever you go to the temple. It is better to draw near to listen than to give sacrifice as the stupid ones do, for they are not aware that what they are doing is bad. (Ecclesiastes 5:1) Elsewhere believers are urged not to become hearers only but most importantly doers.(James 1:22–24)

Hearing and listening
Hearing is passive and listening is active. Imagine a child is playing a dangerous game and you tell him/her to stop playing. You realized after a while he/she is still involved in the game. Could it be that what you said was not audible enough or that what you said did not elicit the right action? In most cases disobedience is a sign of absence of active listening. The person was a hearer and not a listener, for listening instigates action.

That being said there are factors that impede listening, that hinders becoming doers. Bias or prejudice against the idea or the speaker is one of them. His status, character and even intention.

Let’s do a little bit of time travel. The setting is 30 CE to 33 CE. The character is a Jewish man from the poor village called Nazareth. His message? A kingdom is coming and you all need to repent to be part of it. The code of ethics we operate by needs reformation and I tell you if you don’t receive my message you’re doomed. You think we would have been open-minded enough to embrace his message without any hostility? Jesus was one who offered sound counsel in those days. It was so persuasive that we read this of its effect: “The crowds were astounded at his way of teaching.” (Matthew chapters 5 to 7) But few among those crowds really listened to what he said. To a large degree, it was a matter of prejudice. Some despised Jesus because he was from Nazareth. Others rejected him because he had not attended one of their schools and had no connections with the ruling class. Moreover, Jesus did not always say what people wanted to hear. He spoke only the truth, and the Pharisees, for example, were often offended at his words.

Remember from the onset that before you go to the temple you need to consider some steps in order not to be like the fools in Solomon’s day who apparently went there to show off.

PREPARE your heart
It implies that you place yourself in a mental frame work such that you’re not weighed down by anything that will negate your sole objective to listen. You want to be open-minded to new perspectives.

FOCUS your attention
You’ll want to remove any distraction under your control. Could you put off the phone or completely out of view? Merely having it in view will urge you to send that tweet or respond to that notification. Why not go handy with a marker and a notepad to take notes.

MEDITATE on wise counsel
A good sermon is invaluable, but after hearing, we must meditate, think deeply, or speak with ourselves about what we have heard. Just as digestion is needed if we are to benefit fully from the food we eat, meditation is needed if we are to absorb what we hear or read. Proper meditation does more than merely remove negative thoughts. It also allows us to consider solutions to our problems in the light of what we have read or heard. Such meditation can help us deal successfully with day-to-day life.

APPLY the message
How often do you look into a mirror? Most of us do so daily because this helps us see aspects of our physical appearance that need attention. The bible is one such mirror. It can help us see aspects of our spiritual appearance. Of course, it does us no good to look in a mirror and then ignore a defect. We have to remove the defect from us if the message is applicable.

Now let’s see whether we can dig some gems from the Sermon on the Mount. READ Matthew Chapters 5 through 7. Imagine yourself among the crowd listening to the son of God speak.

By Kingbert Eduako
Simple Life Coaching

You can reach me on Facebook and Twitter