Easter 4 C Listening with an Open Mind
Easter 4 C Listening with an Open MindApril 20, 1986By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell
Let me see if I can illustrate what I mean. Scripture tells us that Jesus walked on water. We adults hear that information and run it through our preconceived ideas and our prejudice filters that insist -- that because you can not walk on water, and because you have never seen anyone else walk on water, there must be some other rational explanation. Adults might think… if Jesus were close to shore and if he was walking on a sand bar it may appear as if he were walking on water. Adults may then conclude that -- Jesus had a keen sense of the dramatic, but was no more capable of walking on water than you or I.
A child hearing the same story might simply conclude that Jesus can…walk on water….and that Jesus can be present to us any time or place. The adult conclusion leaves us exactly where we were before we heard that Jesus walked on water, while the child’s conclusion opens up a realm of Godly comfort and strength without bounds. What are we thinking when we sing.
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black, and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Do we believe that Jesus died for all people, in all places, in all times – or do our prejudices work to filter some people out? Be Honest! Perhaps that’s why Jesus said, “Unless you become as little children you will never see the kingdom of God.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is confronted by the prejudice filters of the Jewish religious leaders. They ‘catch up’ to Him on the portico or porch of Solomon with a question. Have you ever noticed how we sometimes ask questions to tell someone we already know, or are not interested in knowing the answer?
When I was the Program Director at the Teton Valley Ranch the Director’s wife has a way of telling you…. her answer to a question. She would say it’s time for the final barbeque – we have always done it this way – everyone loves it that way – I can’t imagine a better way of doing it…. So, how would you like to do the barbeque this year?
Listen to the way the Jewish leaders put their question to Jesus, and ask yourself if you think they were interested in any other answer than the one they had already settled on?
“How long will you keep us in suspense?”
In other words, we haven’t seen anything yet to convince us, and we’re getting impatient! If you are the Christ – If by some wild stretch of the imagination you are God’s Messiah – tell us…. Plainly! Prove it! Convince us right here on Solomon’s Porch! And what did Jesus say?
"I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”
The Jewish leaders cannot acknowledge Christ because they can not tolerate a response that is different from the answer they have already formulated.
I asked the headmaster of Breck School if he was planning to attend a certain training conference for clergy. He said, “No, because I know they will try to change me, and I like myself the way I am.” The leaders of the conference are lucky that he didn’t attend.
Does this mean that the sheep (If that is what the Lord want us to be) are not supposed to ask questions? By no means, ask all the questions you want, only be ready and willing to listen, and in listening… be prepared to hear the unexpected.
What shall I do Lord when someone strikes me on the cheek? Are we ready to listen…. more than that, are we ready to accept all the risks the answer may entail? Are we ready to give up our preconceived ideas… and turn the other cheek?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to move above and beyond our interminable questions – questions which are not always aimed at integrating the strange and new into our accustomed picture but reducing God’s new way…. constrained to what is known and familiar. That approach is a way of stripping new realities of their meaning, closing us in upon ourselves, and taking away all possibility of progress or transformation.
We see this played out in the episode we read today in the Acts of the Apostles.
The Apostles preaching about Christ was very upsetting to the religious leaders. All they could see was its adverse repercussions on their own popularity, and their privileged spiritual position. Paul was telling them about the surest way to God, which they all desired to know, but they were not able to hear it through their filters.
How does this Gospel speak to us today? We all have filters. We have learned to protect ourselves with our questions. No one, unless they are completely unconscious, is free of this subtle disorder.
What can we do about it? I’m thinking of how often our Lord said, “Those who have ears, let them hear.” We listen but we do not always hear.
We hear best when we are not wrapped up in ourselves. We hear best when we are willing to die to self and allow God to renew us… His way.
We hear best when we are like children. Listening with a child’s wonder and trust that opens us up to a realm of Godly comfort and strength without bounds. Where we believe that we have a wonderful God who wants us home.
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