How you listen matters (Matt. 11:15-19; Luke 8:15, 10:38-39)

Sometimes I admit that I don’t really pay enough attention. Ask my husband—I drive him absolutely insane at times because I don’t truly hear what he is trying to communicate to me. I am also the worst when meeting people for the first time, especially when in a crowd. I am looking at everyone, seeing their faces, hearing their voices, but somehow the new name escapes me in the middle of trying to accumulate and store all the data that my senses are gathering. I am simply not listening correctly, thus I sometimes miss the essential information.

A recurring thought in Jesus’ teachings in the gospel is this: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Often, it is spoken to the multitudes who followed Him, and He makes it clear that many of them do NOT have ears to hear, as in Matt. 11:15-19 when He compares His generation to immature children playing games in the marketplace. Children’s play tends to imitate adult behavior, and Jesus’ simile shows that His grumbling generation always wanted something different. In this case, they weren’t satisfied with either John’s or Jesus’ message, and like spoiled children not getting what they wanted, they rejected both. They listened to the teaching of both men, but they really didn’t have ears to grasp the truth.

In the parable of the lamp, Jesus cautions His listeners to “take care how you listen” (Luke 8:18, NASB). This instruction follows the parable of the sower that Jesus has just laid out for the multitudes as well as His detailed explanation of the types of soil for His disciples. For the multitudes who heard the parable, some would eventually understand the hidden message, but others would not; for the disciples, the better explanation in a smaller setting helped, but even they would not understand everything until after His death. Their hearts weren't fully receptive to the truth being given: how they listened mattered!

Likewise, I have to ask myself some evaluative questions after reading this:

• Do I listen carelessly or with a heart not prepared, thus not assuring the word I hear gets planted into my heart (v. 5, 12)?

• Do I listen shallowly or with a heart that is somewhat hardened, not expecting anything to come from it, not watering it with follow-up time spent in His Word (v. 6, 13)?

• Do I listen distractedly or with a heart that is either anxious with cares or concerned about pleasures, thus no fruit gets borne from listening (v. 7, 14)?

• Or do I listen with a prepared heart that is attentive, unpolluted, focused, tender, receptive, dedicated, a heart that then understands, receives, keeps, and bears fruit because of the Word it has taken in (v. 8, 15)?

I cannot help but think about Mary and Martha (given a few short chapters later in Luke's version) in this context. Martha welcomes Jesus into her home and her sister Mary sits at His feet “listening to the Lord’s word” (Luke 10:38-39). It’s a familiar story for many, but like many women, sometimes I get distracted from Jesus' point by feeling sorry for "industrious" Martha and all the work she is doing for Jesus and His disciples while “lazy” Mary is sitting and soaking up all the words of Jesus. In the context of listening though, Jesus affirms, “Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (v. 42). She heard Him. Really, truly listened and stored Jesus’ words in a receptive and well-tilled soil, an “honest and good heart” that chooses to “hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8:15). Martha persevered with serving (a good thing) but then undid it all with a grumbling and complaining spirit, while Mary chose stillness, sitting before the Word, being at rest, undistracted by all the cares around her. Mary really did choose the better way, the “good part.” Martha was left with resentment, regrets, and reproach, and sometimes we, too, are distracted by the necessary and urgent instead of listening to the message Jesus imparts, which in reality is eternal, a much bigger deal. How we listen matters. Having ears to hear matters. But being still matters, too. 

Now is a good time to dig in and truly listen, and be still,  but know that what you listen to matters. In this COVID-19 pandemic, there is much information floating around the Internet. Most of it is alarming, much of it is distracting, and an ever-growing portion of the world is being asked to be still in quarantine, which they are seriously struggling with. This generation is not a people who know how to (as Psalm 46:10 puts it) “be still and know” that “He is God,” but rather they are like Mary, not only busy, but delighting in their busyness. Take the time to listen to Jeus with a receptive heart. Love people and serve them by putting their needs before your own, whatever that looks like where you are. How you listen matters.