If there ever was a catch phrase of our Lord Jesus Christ, this would surely be it. Sometimes in the beginning of a discourse and sometimes at the conclusion, the audience would observe Him pause during the address, glance around His company, and say, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” It was a solemn summons to reflect upon that which was being brought to their attention. It was a deft reminder to those within the sound of His voice to take full responsibility for what they had heard. All were listening, but not all were hearing. Christ knew it intuitively. He could read it from the look on their faces. All ears were subject unto the same words, but every heart was handling the discourse differently.
There was once a lad who responded to his mother, “Sure, I heard you calling, but you didn’t sound like you meant it yet.” Thus, we come to understand that hearing is not a mere physical activity. Rather, it is the reaction of the soul to the audibles which have been placed before it. Just as two men may gaze upon the same event yet see in it very different things, likewise, they may listen to the same set of words and conclude the most dissimilar of perceptions. For it is not with the ear that we hear but rather with the soul. We cannot choose everything that rides the air waves and penetrates our ears, but our soul can pass verdict on it all. What we hear is not only a revelation of the tongue of another, but of our own character as well. It exposes our loves and our hates. It excites or resists our ruling passions. It unveils our character and paves our destiny. Two men looked through the prison bars. The one saw mud, the other saw stars –unknown.
Of course, there is a literal sense in which our hearing is independent of our will. We cannot choose entirely what we hear any more than we can choose everything that we see. Every day there are thousands of vibrations hurled toward us in rapid succession, and we hear them whether we want to or not. Some are bold and obvious. Others are subliminal, and only our subconscious mind receives them. Those who dwell in the city are bombarded by the multiplicity of sounds of the street. Those stationed by the ocean cannot escape the droning music of the sea.
Our minds are accustomed to turn off monotonous tones no matter how loud the input. Still, when matters of import break our realm, we listen with keen interest. While the driver of an automobile may only hear the steady modulation of engine beneath his controls, the seasoned mechanic may hear a dozen other sounds coming from the same vehicle. Is it a blemish in the virtue of the first who cannot hear the misfiring cylinder or the rasping brakes? Yes, for it is not by the ear that we hear, but by the character of our will. If he were to care, he could also learn to hear. So, it is true in spiritual matters. A sermon that litigates the soul is a revelation of the preacher. How we respond to the motivation and challenge is a revelation of the hearer.
Our Unique Personality
Those disinterested in mathematics, motors, or music can get along in life just fine, though they fail to assimilate ninety percent of the sounds that enter their realm of hearing concerning these topics. It is when our major interests fall outside the realm of God that our ability to hear is considered to be handicapped. We may possess the best of intentions to be a sincere believer, but without the innate quickening of the Spirit, we will fail to comprehend the things that God would have us to hear.
The things that we set our hearts upon, and intuitively give our energies to, will determine what we hear. Every temptation we have ever met, and every sin we have ever fought and mastered, determines the kinds of thing that we shall hear as we take our pilgrimage. Live sparingly and you shall hear sparingly, though you be listening to an angel from heaven. Live nobly and you will hear nobly, though all that the ear catches is but mediocrity.
There was a crowd of people who had the golden opportunity to hear the voice of the Creator Himself. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him –John 12:29. It was the same voice that resonated upon every ear, and, yet, to one it sounded like the angels, and to another there was nothing in it save the garbled roll of the thunder in the hills. If only the human ear had been involved, there would be no diversity of testimony. But these men were not hearing with the ear; they were hearing by what they were. Their heart’s orientation, enhanced by all their past, their habits, their traditions, and their manner of taking in the common things of life drew their own conclusion subconsciously concerning the interpretation of the Lord’s voice.
This happens to all on a constant daily basis. Our verdict of others is our own verdict. Often our judgment of a minister or a sermon is really the judgment of ourselves. We are listening, not with the bodily ear, but with our loves and hates, our grudges and preferences. We are listening through the hidden recesses within our heart. When Christ said, …ye cannot hear my word –John 8:43, it was not due to the lack of a microphone. There was no physical barrier. The hurdle was spiritual. Prejudices, jealousies, and antagonisms made the message of Christ inaudible to them, though every syllable fell upon their ears.
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do … He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God –John 8:43-47.
There is an elusive and gnawing factor corroding the moral fiber of this nation. While some would conclude that attention deficit disorder is a disease relentlessly attacking its victims against their will, honesty will surely deem it otherwise. It could very well be considered spiritual attention deficit. This is nominally just selective interest. Place a smart phone or video game before the eyes of most of these individuals and there is no lack of attention given to it. Our interests are trained by our environment. Those who spend countless hours in front of a television and video images are crippling their ability to hear a solemn message. The more our ears are exposed to decrepit signals the more surely we will handicap them from hearing the Word of God.
Fat Hearts
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed –Isaiah 6:9-10.
While some resign themselves to this fate, others will guard themselves from the ears’ greatest enemies…
…Distraction
We live in a society where people thrive on activity and are loathe to sit still. They have been trained to give their attention to the gadgetry of the electronic world and social input. If a text message falls upon their device, it will surely take their immediate attention while any prayerful meditation must wait on the back burner. Those who spend much time before a video screen will have their ears deadened by the encroachment of a new scene every five seconds (on average). Place this up against an hour of in-depth preaching and these souls will be gasping for air. For many of us, solitude has become nearly extinct since the advent of the cell phone and social media, while our attention span has fatefully eroded.
…Perfection
We play only the finest recorded music in our headset. This can deafen our ears to the message of the sincere and humble offerings of common singing. The message often becomes despised and discarded because the package is imperfect. As the intellectual standard is raised, often the heart sinks lower still. Who today would be stirred by the message from the lips of foolish and unlearned fishermen? If an orator must be articulate and schooled in the professional world in order to hold our attention, it is doubtful that we would be impressed by the fuzzy rumblings from heaven. Those who need the gospel offered to them upon a silver platter will surely grow leaner in spirit while their hearts grow fatter.
…Fiction
From movies to novels, we have been bombarded with the ideals of greener pastures elsewhere. A girl feeding on romance stories will surely be disappointed once she’s married. That which is common will never stir our appetite so long as it is being fed by fictitious elements without. …A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house –Matthew 13:57. We know the imperfections of our home minister, brother, or family member. If they should bring us a message from the throne of God, dull ears will miss it. People will flock to hear inspirational preaching and seminar propaganda in an ecumenical setting. While great truth may be presented, the environment is surreal and often only serves to the fattening of the heart and eventual disappointment at home.
…Reputation
Many people will listen to a myriad of voices in order to preserve their self-image. We call it open-mindedness. But heaven knows that the many questionable things that people bring to our attention really depend upon our meager character and would never reach us if Christ were our full devotion. There are those with whom we would never dream of sharing our gossip. They do not hear it because of a principle they hold within. Nobody brings them nasty or lewd tales simply because of their known character. If someone were to tell me an objectionable story, I should be very much ashamed. Not only of the narrator, but of myself also. I should be ashamed that he had such thoughts of me and of the kind of thing that I love to hear that he should venture to bring such garbage to my attention. So, very often, the sort of thing we hear depends on the sort of character we bear. Thus, we are ultimately responsible for what we allow to enter our soul through our ears.
Burning Hearts
As two bedraggled disciples trudged the road to Emmaus, they were overtaken by a heavenly visitor who inquired into their melancholy mood. They had read the prophets, heard Christ speak, perhaps had seen the miracles, and then had watched Him suffer and die. While they marveled at this newcomer’s oblivious ignorance to the current events, He described them as …slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken –Luke 24:25. As the evening continued and they realized that they had been face to face with the resurrected Savior, …they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? –Luke 24:32.
Some may claim that to ‘make hearts burn’ is the responsibility of every faithful minister. This must be reconsidered. There is certainly no room for halfhearted preaching from halfhearted ministers. Those who are called to such a noble position should take the responsibility seriously enough to make it their utmost concern to provide solid milk and meat to their listeners. But those who find it their responsibility to make the hearts of the audience burn will often fall prey to animated preaching (call louder, perhaps they will respond; touch the emotional chords, perhaps they will weep). But speaking techniques can only administer earthly dynamics. It is the truth, alone, that can shake the bedrock of the never-dying soul.
To make the hearts burn is primarily the responsibility of the Holy Spirit and the ears upon which the oration falls. Christ could have spoken the same words to the hardened Roman soldiers and been met with sordid indifference. Had he laid his message upon the ears of a pair of young lovers out on an evening stroll, they would have exited His presence at the first opportunity. Had He revealed Himself to the proud religious zealots, perhaps they would have attempted to kill Him again. No, this sermon fell upon the voracious appetite of devout seekers, and their hearts burned with the rapturous revelation falling upon their ears. So ardent was their love that …they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them –Luke 24:33.
All our hope is in our hearing and all selfishness is in our hearing—all the right that we have ever sought and all the wrong we have ever done. Love a person and his speech is sweet. Hate him and his every word is barbed. It is by love and hate, generosity and envy that we ingest each and every utterance. Thus, it is vital to self-knowledge not only to take heed to the words we say, but also to what we hear. My sheep hear my voice –John 10:27, says our Master—they hear it because they love the Shepherd. Those who will accept this responsibility must purge themselves from the rabble of earth-linked daydreams in order to give ear to the rising Day Star as His glowing rays dawn upon their burning hearts. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: –2 Peter 1:19.
