Thought for Today

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.   

Jeremiah 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed, they cannot listen. The word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.  

Luke 14:35 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"  

John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  

hear – 1: to perceive or become aware of by the ear; 2a: to gain knowledge by hearing; b: detect; 3:a to listen with attention (www.merriam-webster.com)

listen – 1: to pay attention to sound; 2: to hear something with thoughtful attention: give consideration; 3: to be alert to catch an expected sound. (ibid)

In normal conversation, many of us use ‘hear’ and ‘listen’ interchangeably. In the Bible, both hear and listen are usually translations of the Greek word ἀκούω. My lexicon defines that word as, “(1) followed by the genitive to indicate sense perception hear, (2) followed by the accusative to indicate understanding of what was said hear . . . (6) of discipleship listen to, pay attention to, obey,” (Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon)

For me, to hear implies definition 1 above, to perceive or become aware of by ear. To listen always has connotations of 2 or 6, understanding of what was said or paying attention to what was said. Do you use, read and/or understand the 2 words as being interchangeable?

I thought about the difference between hearing and listening this week as I prepared my sermon for Transfiguration Sunday. The event is recorded in the 3 synoptic gospels. All 3 accounts include hearing a voice from the cloud (not the cloud where everyone stores all of their information) saying "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" (Mk. 9:7 NRS) "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" (Matt. 17:5 NRS) "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" (Lk. 9:35 NRS)

Putting aside for now whether or not there is any substantive difference between “Beloved” and “Chosen,” ignoring for now how we pronounce “Beloved,” I am now and always have been intrigued by the deliberate phrasing of “listen to him.” Especially when I think of how often Jesus himself used the phrase “with ears to hear listen.”

I believe that far too often in life we do become award of noise “by the ear.” Equally too often what we perceive by our ears remains nothing more than noise. Much of what enters our ears becomes white noise. “White noise is a sound that contains equal intensity at different frequencies, creating a consistent and steady sound often used for masking other noises or aiding sleep.” (en.wikipedia.org)

When Jesus said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” we need to understand listen in the sense of not merely perceiving Jesus’ words but also recognize that exclamation point. In the Greek, the verb is in the imperative mood, the mood of instruction or command. Don’t just hear the noise, don’t just hear the words, think about the message. We are being told to use our minds, understand the message and then apply the lesson to our lives.

When God said, “"This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" God is telling each one of us to recognize Jesus as the Christ, to pay attention to sound, to hear Jesus’ message with thoughtful attention and to give consideration to that message. God is also telling us to ‘internalize’ the gospel good news, to translate what we hear into how we live.

Christians are instructed, commanded to hear and obey, to understand and apply. As I think about this, I am reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concepts of cheap grace and costly grace. My understanding of the difference is that cheap grace is hearing and merely saying “I have faith; I am saved.” It is cheap and easy to avow one’s faith and rest comfortably, assured of one’s salvation. Costly grace is recognizing and accepting the transformative power of one’s faith, realizing that God’s grace calls us to new lives reflecting that grace. Costly grace recognizes and accepts the truth of the words of James, “2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” Don’t just hear, LISTEN!

Stay safe, let your faith and God’s grace transform your life, trust God,

Pastor Ray.