Listen ? / !

Father, most of us think that we're really good at listening,

and most of us think that we're really good at listening to you.

And Father, you know that we delude ourselves and fool ourselves,

and we are unaware of it.

So Father, we ask that you would be very kind and gracious to me

and to each one who is here today,

and that you would gently but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

And Father, you would help us to listen to your word

and learn to listen to other people as well.

And Father, all of this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So I don't know how many of you listen as I pray,

and maybe I said something which was a little bit offensive,

but I don't think there's been a statistic about this.

But would any of us be surprised?

Would any of us be surprised if they did a very, very good opinion poll in Canada

and asked people if they were like terrible listeners,

below average listeners, average listeners, above average listeners,

or excellent listeners?

Would any of us be surprised if they did such a survey like that?

And maybe some of you will tell me afterwards that they did.

Would anybody here be surprised if the survey found

that 80% of Canadians thought they were either above average or excellent listeners?

I mean, I don't think any of us would be surprised with that, would we?

And of course, statistically, that's probably not the case,

that 80% of us could be above average.

That, you know, most of us would be average, right?

In fact, I know that we're all, and I'm not going to ask you to do this,

and now that I'm sitting on the stage, we'd all be very polite about it and modest.

But my guess is that most of us here think that we're one of the best listeners in the congregation.

And some of you are thinking to yourself,

that person thinks they're a better listener than me?

Are they smoking dope or something like that?

But most of us probably think that we're amongst the best listeners in the congregation.

And my guess as well is this, that just about every single person in the room,

and it depends on your context,

but my guess is that just about every single person here in the room

thinks that, you know, whether it's something at work

or something with your boyfriend or girlfriend or your spouse or your family,

that situation would be better if they listened to you more.

That's probably what most of us think,

that if at work they just listened to me more,

things would go better.

If my wife would just listen to me more,

things would go better.

If my dad, if my kids, if, you know,

that probably just about every single one of us here thinks that.

And so, see, here's the problem.

So, okay, yeah, you're going to do a sermon on listening.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I got that covered.

Why do we think that's covered?

Why do we think that's boring?

Why?

Because we're probably part of the 80% or 90% of Canadians

who think they're above average in listening.

Therefore, they don't have to listen to more information about how to listen.

Because we already got that covered.

But if you sort of acknowledge that one moment,

if 80, 90% of the people, like these people around me,

they actually think they listen better than me?

And the shocking thing is they're saying that about you, okay?

The person around you is saying they think that they listen better than you listen.

And if that's the case, then maybe we have a bit of a problem with listening.

And so maybe we need to listen to some wisdom from the Bible about listening.

So this is going to be a day where we're going to say the scripture as well

because saying it will help us to listen.

So, Andrew, if you could put up the first text.

We're going to say it together in a moment.

Or you can read it off the screen or you can find it on your little insert.

And I'm not going through the insert in the order that they're written,

but sort of in a bit of a logical or rhetorical order.

So if you could just, and I'm going to be asking you to say it with me.

So if you could just say this with me, that would be great.

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

And we don't have to say Proverbs 18, 15.

Let's say it again.

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

Now, I started, I thought I'd start with a proverb that's sort of simple.

In fact, it would be one of those examples of a proverb that we'd almost not even want to try to remember

because, you know, I got listening down pat, right?

I'm part of the 90% of Canadians who's above average or excellent at listening.

So I don't have to listen to advice on listening.

And so I thought I'd start with a proverb that sort of is almost like,

how are we going to get into any type of a debate?

Although in a second, I'm going to say something that maybe,

I think this proverb tells us something that will maybe bother most of us in the room.

But before that, I'm not one of these Canadians who doesn't believe that IQ tests measure anything.

And I'm not one of the Canadians who think that IQ tests only measure how well you do at IQ tests.

I just think it's a common sense notion that some people are smarter than others.

And some people are just really good at, you know, figuring out logical type of problems very, very quickly.

And some are just better than others.

So the first thing you want to notice about this proverb,

when it says that an intelligent heart acquires knowledge and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge,

it's not saying that people with high IQs acquire knowledge.

And the ears of the wise, in other words, people with high IQs seek knowledge.

It's not saying that at all.

In fact, the proverb would be quite comfortable with the statement,

you know the problem with that person?

They're really, really intelligent and they're really dumb.

Or they're really, really intelligent or they're stupid.

Or they're really intelligent and they're dumb in the way that only really intelligent people can be dumb.

And the proverb would say, yeah, yeah, that, like that, the writer of the proverb would say,

yeah, that's a common sense thing.

So it's not talking about IQ.

And it's interesting that it uses the word heart rather than mind.

And the fact that it uses heart rather than mind is significant

because it's reminding us that at the heart, which is sort of deeper than the mind,

that's the control or the command center, it's not referring to the seat of the emotions.

It's referring to, in most of the Bible, when you see the word heart,

I've said this before, think of where Captain Kirk sits in Star Trek.

And that's what the heart is referring to.

It's referring to, in a sense, the command center of the good ship George

or the good ship Andrew or the good ship, you know, the good ship Louise.

It's referring to the command center, sort of deeper than the mind and higher than the mind.

And it's referring to something that deals with both relational knowledge,

practical knowledge, experiential knowledge,

and obviously as well the ability to do conceptual knowledge.

And it's referring to that part of us as being intelligent.

And what characterizes that part of us being intelligent is that we seek to acquire knowledge.

And we seek to acquire knowledge through hearing, in particular.

And so there's just several things in this that are a bit surprising.

The first thing here is that the common misconception about Christians,

and a very common belief amongst Christians, is that Christians shouldn't want to know more.

I mean, we've got the answer here in the Bible.

But this proverb says, is basically saying that Christians should always want to know more.

That that's a Christian idea.

You see, it's one of the reasons why science developed in a Christian context.

I'm going to talk about this more in a little bit.

But there's this fundamental idea that if this proverb is true, an intelligent heart acquires knowledge,

and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

It's telling those of us who are Christ followers that we should desire to always know more.

That when we're 80, when we're 85, when we're 90, that we should still have a desire to know more.

The second thing, and this is a whole other sermon topic,

is that if you read the Gospels, it's very clear that Jesus asks questions.

I mean, part of the mystery of the Gospels is that if Jesus never asked questions,

he wouldn't really be a human being, would he?

Because human beings ask questions.

It's obvious, if you look at all the different texts together,

that what happens in Jesus' case is that when God the Father wants God the Son to know something

that he couldn't know by normal human means,

then God the Father gives it to Jesus.

But apart from that, and Jesus would just have to trust that when the Father's going to give that type of knowledge

and when he won't, the rest of the time Jesus would have to...

Jesus probably had to ask directions sometimes when he was going from village to village.

He had to ask people their name.

And he probably had to ask his dad,

how is it that you fit this piece of wood to that piece of wood?

And if he didn't, then he wouldn't have been a human being.

But here's the thing.

Remember that the proverb is,

an intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

And note this, it doesn't say the eye of the wise, it says the ear of the wise.

Does this maybe imply that we should stop watching news on television?

I think it does.

I think it maybe implies that we shouldn't be watching news.

Because in fact, it's a very consistent theme all the way through the Bible

that the ear has a special place in acquiring knowledge and wisdom,

and that in fact, often the eyes mislead us.

And it's far easier to manipulate us with an image than it is with the ear.

So maybe one of the takeaways from this is that those of you who watch the news

should maybe stop watching the news.

I told you that when you actually look at these proverbs,

even the ones that seem very simple can all of a sudden be fairly surprising.

That maybe, maybe we shouldn't watch the news.

The next proverb, now we're going to start to get from these simple ones,

to start to get more into the problem of listening,

is this next proverb is going to say that basically every commencement address

that you've ever heard gives you absolutely terrible advice

that goes against the Bible.

I mean, most of us don't think that we're in a commencement address,

probably even at Christian colleges,

that they're saying things that the Bible says are very foolish.

And maybe you're not going to agree with the proverb,

but that's what the proverb says.

Andrew, if you could put up the next proverb,

which is Proverbs 12, 15.

Could you say it with me?

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to advice.

Let's say it again.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to advice.

What's one of the main things that they always say at every commencement address?

Follow your heart.

Follow your heart.

Do what is, follow your dream.

Stay on the path of your dream.

Don't let people put you down or take you away from your path.

Follow your path.

Follow your heart.

Follow your dream.

And the book of Proverbs says,

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to advice.

Bit of a shock, eh?

It's a bit of a shock.

Obviously, these things have to be nuanced,

but it's hard to believe that this proverb would say that most...

And by the way, I'm a bit of a minor expert on commencement addresses.

Maybe not as much of those of you who are teachers,

but I have now had eight children graduate from high school,

six graduate from university,

and several graduate from university with several degrees or certificates.

I've heard lots of commencement addresses.

I think they always say it during the...

There must be a web page,

things you have to say in a commencement address,

and then they go up and read it.

But here's another thing.

Do you think that these proverbs are written

so that I can feel superior to you?

You're going,

One moment, George.

Did you just say there's a proverb here that was written

so that you could feel superior to me?

George, there can't possibly be a proverb

that would allow you to feel superior to me.

Well, I agree with you,

but let's read the proverb.

If you could put up the next one, Andrew.

Proverbs 13.10.

Proverbs 13.10, you want to say it with me?

By insolence comes nothing but strife,

but with those who take advice is wisdom.

Let's say it together again.

By insolence comes nothing but strife,

but with those who take advice is wisdom.

Now, what do you mean, George,

by saying that this proverb is telling you

that you can be superior to others?

Well, I've just put it in a shocking form.

But you see, the problem is

is that we're going to come to a lot of these types of proverbs,

and the problem is that we're going to take this proverb

and say, wow, Proverbs 13.10,

by insolence comes nothing but strife,

but with those who take advice is wisdom.

I wish my boss would read that.

I wish my wife would read this.

I wish my kid would read this.

I wish my pastor would read this.

One moment, you're reading this to think you're superior to me?

I'm reading it to think I'm superior to you.

What happens if two people are both wishing the other person read this proverb?

How do you think those conversations go?

How do you think it goes if I'm reading this proverb thinking,

wow, I wish Louise would read this.

We'd have far better conversations.

And if Louise is reading it saying,

boy, I wish George would take this to heart,

we'd have far better conversations.

We're both reading it in a way that makes us feel superior to the other person.

In other words, we're reading it in an arrogant and proud way

that does not respect the other,

which is what insolence is.

We're both reading it in a proud way

that does not respect the other.

And when that happens, there's strife.

It's when happens, there's strife.

And the thing about this is, by the way,

no Christian should read this saying

that this only applies to Muslims or atheists or feminists or gays

or NDPers or people who are actually going to vote for Harper.

You pick your outside group.

I mean, the fact is this does apply.

This does apply to feminists.

It applies to women's shelters.

It applies to gay collectives.

It applies to university faculties.

It applies in business.

It applies in bureaucracies.

It applies in gospel halls, in Roman Catholic cathedrals,

in Eastern Orthodox places, in evangelical places.

It's a human problem.

Isn't it a human problem?

It's a human problem.

And just because you've asked Jesus into your life

to be your Savior and Lord

doesn't mean that you don't have a problem with insolence.

It doesn't mean that I don't have a problem with insolence.

The scripture, if we read it carefully,

is inviting us not to look at how it applies to others

but how it applies to myself.

How much of the strife in my life

is caused because I think

I listen better and know better,

way better than the other person?

How much of it's going on?

Here's, in fact, another very...

You know, when I told my wife last night,

she has good reason for this reaction.

When I told my wife last night

that I was going to do a sermon on listening,

I was looking at her face

and she said,

Oh, that would be interesting.

She has good grounds for this, by the way, okay?

And she said,

Too bad I'm going to be in the nursery

to hear what I...

You know, George on listening.

That could be a variant.

My kids would probably be thinking the same thing.

Dad on listening.

It's a human problem, folks.

And I'm probably getting a little bit red right now.

So maybe if you could make the lights a little bit

so I don't look like I'm blushing when I say this.

Too bad we can't do it quickly.

The other thing is that these Proverbs

tell us that we should be open to new ideas.

In fact, the sad fact is that in many churches,

if you were to say that the Bible tells you

to be open to new ideas,

a lot of people will instantly feel,

Oh!

Oh!

Christians don't need to listen to new ideas.

George, that's a dangerous thing to say

that Christians should listen to new ideas.

Let's look at the next Proverb,

if you could put it up.

It's Proverbs 18, 18-2.

Do you want to say this with me?

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

but only in expressing his opinion.

Let's say it again.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

but only in expressing his opinion.

Understanding means you're learning new ideas, folks.

That's what understanding means.

And this is, you know, once again,

this is a very powerful proverb

that it's very, very easy for us to say,

Wow, does this ever describe my professor or my boss

or my husband or my dad?

And it, you know, it doesn't,

we have a harder time thinking it might apply to us.

I mean, the fact of the matter is

is that we've all probably talked to people,

and you can tell that the only reason they stop talking

is that they have to catch up with their breathing,

and they're actually, but graciously,

will allow you to continue talking

while they catch up and replenish the oxygen in their body.

But what you say is completely and utterly irrelevant.

Or that even when they appear to listen,

because their eyes are on you,

and they have functioning ears,

but you can tell that when you're talking to them

that what's going on inside their brain

is that all they're doing is marshalling new things

they're going to say to you

once you finally stop speaking.

And the challenge is, does that describe us?

Because, you see, the fact of the matter is

is that most of us wouldn't say that we're fools.

In fact, my guess is that if we did a little survey,

you know, are you really foolish?

Below average fool?

Average fool? Above average fool?

Really foolish?

Probably most of us wouldn't put ourselves

in the above average fool.

In fact, most of us probably wouldn't even put ourselves

as average fools.

But how many of us in our conversations,

actually, maybe not in all of them,

all we're actually interested in doing

is expressing our own opinion.

And we're not actually interested in listening at all.

And how can you learn?

How can we learn?

How can I learn,

if that's all that's going on

with what I've already thought?

Now, this all sets up another one of these proverbs

that probably when we're looking through the book of proverbs,

looking for something really interesting

that'll help us,

we'd skip over this

because it sounds sort of hokey

and probably wrong.

But if we've come through

listening to Proverbs 18.15

and 12.15 and 13.10 and 18.2,

then maybe we're ready to actually listen to Proverbs 13.8

and see that it's actually a lot wiser than we think

and we need to hear it a lot more than we think.

If you could put it up, Andrew,

that would be great.

13.18.

You want to say it with me?

Poverty and disgrace come to him

who ignores instruction,

but whoever heeds reproof is honored.

Say it again.

Poverty and disgrace come to him

who ignores instruction,

but whoever heeds reproof is honored.

Now, just before I say anything more about this,

you'll notice we're going to do this all the way through.

We're going to say the Proverbs twice

because it's far more important

that you remember the proverb

than you remember me

or what I have to say about it.

Right?

The Proverbs wise.

Hopefully I don't get in the way

of the wisdom of the proverb.

And so some of these you might want to take back

and memorize yourself

or meditate upon them

or something like that.

But here's the thing about this.

At first glance,

if I hadn't tried to lead you to the point

where you acknowledge,

hopefully with me,

that there's a listening problem going on within me

and that, in fact,

a lot of strife and other problems

and ignorance and everything

comes from our lack of willingness to listen,

if we hadn't sort of gone through that,

we would maybe think that this proverb is wrong.

I couldn't find it in my bookshelves easily,

so I couldn't check it up.

But a man by the name of Stephen Covey

that probably many of you have heard of,

he's not a Christian,

but a few years ago,

I don't know, 15, 20 years ago,

maybe more than that,

for his PhD dissertation,

he did his PhD dissertation on,

he read all of the books,

the main books for the past,

I think it was 150 years in English,

that talked about success and effectiveness.

And when he read the 150 years worth of literature

on the subject,

he came to the conclusion

that the advice could be narrowed down

to seven statements.

And he ended up turning that PhD dissertation

into a book that sold millions of copies,

and it's called

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

And that, with the book by Alan,

Getting Things Done,

are probably the two most important books

in literature around how to use your time

and how to be effective.

And one of those seven things

that he found key to effectiveness

was in fact,

he didn't word it this way,

I'm going to give you a different way

to word it in a moment,

but it's basically this,

that he found that listening

is key to success.

He found that

if you ignore listening to people,

if you ignore correction,

if you ignore listening,

things like poverty and disgrace

will come to you.

But if you listen to correction

and listen deeply to others,

you'll be honored.

Now, just think about it for a second,

because, you know,

just think about my,

you know, a marriage or a family.

Like, what's it like with a marriage

if the husband never listens to the wife?

What's it like in a marriage

if the wife never listens to the husband?

What's it like if all of these proverbs,

the husband and the wife,

think it applies to the other?

What's it like for a husband

and a father and his kids

or a mom and her kids?

What's it like in a workplace

if you absolutely never,

ever, ever, ever feel

that you're listened to?

Well, the marriage is going to suffer.

The marriage will be poorer.

The marriage won't be an honorable marriage.

The workplace will be poorer.

People will call in sick all the time.

They won't give their best.

They'll be backbiting and slander

and they'll be stealing

and there'll be all of these types of things.

And in fact, Stephen Covey found

that one of the seven habits

of highly effective people in that,

and as I said,

the book by Alan in secular

and in Christian circles

are often used

to try to teach people

to be more effective.

He's discovered in 150 years of literature

something that this proverb says,

which we will simply often read

and not even think it's true.

Isn't that amazing?

That a non-Christian,

after all the research,

would come across a proverb

that we would dismiss

as being one of the seven keys

to living an effective life.

Andrew, if you could put up

the first point,

I've slightly reworded it.

I actually do have points

in the sermon today

and this is a simple one.

Seek to understand something

or someone before you seek

to be understood.

Slightly rewording how Covey put it

and that's what this advice here is.

Seek to understand something

or someone

before you seek to be understood.

How will that change

your conversation with your wife

if you go into it saying,

you know what,

I'm actually going to spend time

talking to my wife.

You pray that I can do this, okay?

Pray that I can do this.

And I don't want to spend

my time talking to her

just so I can talk

and talk and talk and talk

but I want to really try

to understand her

and I want to try to make sure

I really understand her

before I try to make myself understood.

I want to try to have as my goal

that I will understand her

like very, very deeply

before I make any attempt

to be understood.

And, you know,

the problem with the Stephen Covey book

is that it's very easy for people

and this will sort of go

into the next one.

It's very easy for people

to take these habits

of highly effective people

as a way to exalt themselves

but not really take it to heart.

It's like that old saying

that, you know,

in business and in life

if you can fake sincerity

you've got it made.

You don't have to actually be sincere

just fake sincerity.

You don't have to actually care for people

just fake that you care for people

and things will go smart.

It can also even do that

just fake that you're actually

really trying to understand

the other person

but you're really just doing it

because you know that Covey

says that you do it.

But for us as Christians

this is to cut us to the heart.

I mean, this is now God

saying this to us

that that's how I should live my life

that I should seek to understand

before I want to make myself understood.

One of the things you can pray

for me and for Daniel

and for anybody who opens

the Bible in this church

let me tell you

this is a great besetting sin of clergy.

A huge, huge, huge

unaddressed sin of clergy

and I would love it

if you pray that I not practice it.

I would love it

if you pray for Daniel.

Daniel will not be upset

if you pray this for him

or anybody.

It's your small group leader

or whatever.

It's very easy.

Oh, you have to do a Bible study

on Luke chapter 5 verse 1

Luke 5:1

chapter 5 verse 1

and you read it over quickly

and you scan and you say

okay, I scan it

ta-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Okay, I understand this.

I got it.

And all you've done

is done a quick scan

and you've got it.

I'm going to be able

to talk about this.

I'm going to be able

to talk about this.

I'm going to be able

to talk about this.

I'm going to be able

to talk about this.

And before you know it

the Bible study leader

the clergy, the pastor,

the evangelist

they haven't actually

listened to the Bible.

They've just quickly

looked at it

to see what they can

grab out of it

because wow,

I've been really wanting

to talk about this.

We never say this

to ourselves out loud

but that's what goes on

in our spirits.

That's often what happens

in studies of a lot of clergy.

Whoa!

Okay, I can talk about this.

I can talk about this.

I want to talk about this.

I've been wanting

to talk about this.

This is a great opportunity

to talk about this.

Or even when we approach

the Bible

pray that this doesn't happen to me.

Pray that it doesn't happen

to Daniel.

It's a great temptation.

Pray that it doesn't happen

to your Bible study leader

that all throughout the week

I'm thinking to myself

oh, what do I?

What do I really want

to say to my congregation?

What do I,

I,

I

want to say to my,

my, my

Bible study group,

my Sunday school class,

my congregation?

Maybe I can find something

in the Bible

that will allow me

to talk about it.

Whoa!

This will allow me

to talk about

what I want to talk about.

We don't realize

that we do that.

Pray that we don't.

Pray that that doesn't happen.

Pray that when

we slip into it

because every minister

slips into it.

Pray that,

that when we start

to slip into it

that the Holy Spirit

will convict us of sin

and,

and we'll say,

you know what,

maybe I should spend

80% of my time

trying to understand

what the Bible's saying

and 20% of my time

how to explain it

or talk about it.

One of the things

which is,

I'm not going to try

to betray my,

my political things,

biases.

Probably some of you

would guess some of the things

and be wrong

about a lot of the other things.

But,

you know,

one of the things

that happens is

if you watch John Stewart

or if you watch Bill O'Reilly

or Rush Limbaugh,

take your pick,

left or right.

I remember a few years ago

that John Stewart

talked as if he didn't

actually think

he was left wing.

And I thought,

whoa,

doesn't think he's left wing?

Sorry,

I made somebody laugh

there for that one.

And,

and a lot of people

would say,

no,

Bill O'Reilly's not,

the guy,

you know,

Rush Limbaugh,

he's not right wing,

he's just right.

And a lot of what goes on

is we can end up

becoming part of a tribe,

pro-Harper,

anti-Harper,

NDP,

conservative,

you know,

green,

whatever.

And,

and what we don't do

is we don't actually

listen.

What we do is we mock

people who differ from us.

And we're not aware

of the fact that

much of what happens

with Limbaugh

or John Stewart

and you,

or Colbert,

you can take your

different picks,

is that a lot of what

is their humor

is actually just

mocking and scoffing.

And,

the book of Proverbs

say that that's

actually not good.

Let's,

Proverbs 9,

Proverbs 9:7–10

verses 7 to 10.

Andrew,

if you want to put it up.

I don't know if it all

made it on one slide

or not.

Two slides,

okay.

I will just say this one

once because it's

actually four Proverbs.

If you want to join

with me in saying it.

whoever corrects a scoffer

gets himself abused

and he who reproves

a wicked man

incurs injury.

Do not reprove

a scoffer

or he will hate you.

Reprove a wise man

and he will love you.

Give instruction

to a wise man

and he will be still wiser.

Teach a righteous man

and he will increase

in learning.

The fear of the Lord

is the beginning

of wisdom

and the knowledge

of the Holy One

is insight.

Here's this thing.

You know,

if you try to correct

Limbaugh,

instruct him,

he'll,

I mean,

I wouldn't try

to match wits

with John Stewart

or with Rush Limbaugh.

I wouldn't try

to match wits

with him.

And I would probably

have to,

you know,

depending on either one,

I'd have to sit there

with mocking invective

that would overwhelm me.

But this isn't just

a proverb

that makes fun

of what we may be,

some of us might say

are extreme people.

This actually is an important

litmus test for us.

Andrew,

if you could put up

the Venn diagram.

So hopefully

you can read that.

I have to make sure

I don't fall off

the screen,

the stage

while I talk to you

about it.

Here's,

here's what happens.

So,

most of us

will say,

no,

I'm pretty good

at listening to people

who disagree with me.

I'm actually

pretty good at that.

In fact,

you know,

George,

if you had a poll,

I would say

I'm above average

in listening

to other people

who disagree with me.

In fact,

we might discover

that 90%

of Canadians

think they're

above average.

Which,

once again,

you know,

unless it's

a modal distribution,

sorry,

statistic geek

comment,

it's probably

not the case.

But,

see,

what happens is

that we have

my thoughts

and then there's

the other person's

thoughts

and there's

a bit of

an intersection.

My guess is

with John Stewart

and Rush Limbaugh

it would be

a very tiny area

that they agree on.

I don't know,

maybe they both

like dogs

or something,

I don't know.

But,

apart from that,

it would be

a very tiny little area.

And,

and some of us

it's bigger areas.

The hard part

isn't the fact

that we can listen

to that area,

the part of the

intersecting circles

which is number two.

The hard part

is listening to that

which is number three.

Doesn't intersect

with us at all.

Doesn't intersect

with us at all.

And when we come

across that,

is there a propensity

within us?

Is there a time

within us

that we want

to make fun of it?

We want to joke?

We want to belittle it?

That,

this,

this ends up

being a bit

of a,

of a litmus test

for us.

Because the,

the fact of the matter

is,

is if I was to say

how many of us

have a problem

with mocking

and scoffing,

my guess is

that none of us

would actually feel

even remotely

convicted about it

before we read this.

But I,

I think mocking

and scoffing

is a human problem.

And once again,

just because you

gave your life

to Jesus

doesn't mean

you have a problem

with mocking

and scoffing.

Just because

I'm a pastor

doesn't mean

I don't have

a problem

with mocking

and scoffing.

And the fact

that I might

listen to one

of those guys

and,

and it happens

to fit with

something I already

believe,

but it's the things

that I don't believe

and if,

if I have a tendency

to just want

to make fun of them,

then Proverbs 9

Proverbs 9:7–10

verses 7 to 10

is talking about me.

It's not talking

about some other person.

It's a litmus test.

And you know,

here's one of the things

by the way.

Just sort of pause

before we're going

to wrap this all up

with a couple

of the final Proverbs.

If,

if people

weren't able

to take in

completely new

information

and new ideas,

there'd be no science.

If people

weren't able

to take in

completely new

information

and new ideas

and not just dismiss it,

there would be

nothing that,

I mean,

some people,

you know,

social science

isn't really

very scientific,

but that's,

there'd be no

understanding.

There'd really

be no growth

in anybody's life

or in whole

disciplines like science.

And it's interesting

here that it's

also saying

that there's

actually no,

no growth

in our walk

with Jesus.

That there's

a type of

a seamlessness

between being able

to listen

to new data

and not say,

no,

no,

no,

I really

think the data

has to go

this way.

And then you

just keep

trying to do

the data,

you know,

the experiments

over and over

and over again

before you get

the data

that you like.

And that's

not how science

works.

You know,

it's not how

in social sciences

you should actually

be sort of interested

in trying to figure

out what the actors

say and what's

going on in the

country and the

culture.

And actually,

you have to be

prepared to be

surprised.

Some of you

remember,

there's a few

while ago,

I used to be,

I used to do

sociological research.

That was what I

did before I was

a minister,

amongst other

things.

And I was

involved in a

research project

and that this

time when the

Holy Spirit

convicted me,

I was doing

some research

about the

effect of

income transfer

policies in

different nations,

capitalist,

advanced capitalist

nations,

and the impact

of transfer

payments on

income inequality.

And the

United States

wasn't finishing

the worst.

And I kept

using all of my

cleverness with

statistics to try

to bring in

different variables

because I was

driven to believe

that the United

States would be

the worst.

And it was one

of those times,

it's an odd time

when in my

sociological research

that it was as if

the Holy Spirit

spoke to me and

said,

George,

George,

what are you

doing?

Why are you

driven by this

hatred of the

Americans?

Many,

many years ago.

And I realized

that's what I was

doing.

I wasn't actually

just trying to

actually understand.

I had an

agenda.

And so it's

very,

very interesting

here that the

same type,

it's all connected

to the fear of

the Lord,

that there's

no,

it's not a

scene,

you know,

you think,

fear,

God is vastly

different than

me.

His thoughts

are not my

thoughts.

And if I'm

not prepared

to listen to

thoughts that are

different from me

in another person,

if I'm not

prepared to listen

to three with

you,

what makes me

think I'll

listen to

three from

God?

Like,

what makes me

think I would

listen to three

from God if I'm

not willing to

do it,

even listen to

it with you?

How does that

work,

George?

How does that

work?

I mean,

it can't work.

just a couple

of final ones.

One of the

reasons that we

have a hard

time listening

to instruction

from others is

that we know

they hate us.

We know they

hate us.

So if you could

put up the

next one,

it's I think

the second to

last of our

Proverbs.

You want to

say this with

me?

It's Proverbs

Proverbs 3:11

3,

verses 11 and

12.

Let's say it

together again.

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof,

for the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights.

I mean, one of the things that you have to get away from this proverb is,

remember I didn't put it down as a point, but it's like an important takeaway for us,

is that one of the reasons that people who really like John Stewart

don't want to listen to Rush Limbaugh is they believe that Rush Limbaugh hates them,

and vice versa.

So one of the things, you know, if one of my first point was that seek to understand

before you want to seek to be understood, like one of the first,

another sort of takeaway which I didn't put as a point is that if you don't like somebody,

if you maybe hate them, maybe you shouldn't offer them advice.

If I really don't like somebody, then maybe I shouldn't offer them advice.

I mean, the thing here about all of these proverbs is on one hand,

the proverbs are all a bit, just because somebody hates you doesn't mean their comment

on your driving isn't true, which is why we always have to be willing to open,

to listen to advice.

I mean, the fact of the matter is they might hate me, and the fact of the matter is I might

drive badly.

And maybe a person who hates me is the one who's going to talk to me about it,

and maybe I have to listen to them.

But, you know, generally speaking, if we think somebody hates us,

we're going to probably not want to listen to their advice.

And so we should try to put that into practice ourself.

And if you really don't like somebody, if you really, really, really don't like them,

probably don't offer them any advice.

Pray instead.

Pray instead.

Pray.

But here's the thing for us.

This is a shocking thing, because this is directly connected to God.

That means that when we listen to the Bible about hell, when we listen to the Bible about tithing,

about money, about homosexuality, about sexuality, about Jesus being the only way,

about a whole range of things, nothing, this text is telling us that nothing in the Bible

that's God's Word written, that's come to us, is written because God hates us.

Every word, every word emerges from the love that has dwelt before the planets were formed or created.

From all eternity, the Father has loved the Son, and the Son has loved the Father.

And the movement of the love from the Father to the Son, and the Son to the Father,

is one way to understand who the Holy Spirit is.

And from all eternity, there has been love, and every word in the Bible addressed to us

is a word of love addressed to us, even the hardest parts.

Even the hardest parts.

So here's just a couple of points, and then we'll wrap it up.

True love, and if you could put it up, true love truly corrects.

True love truly corrects.

Any attempt to think that there's a type of spirituality or religion that's never going to try to correct us,

it's a spirituality or religion that doesn't love us.

Granted, some correction comes out of hatred,

but true love always corrects.

My wife corrects me because she loves me, and because I need correction.

True love truly corrects.

Another takeaway.

God always has more to teach me in his word.

I mean, here's the question for you.

When did you stop listening to God?

Why did you stop listening to God?

And some of you will say,

George, okay, this is a church.

I didn't stop listening to God.

Well, how often do you read your Bible this week?

For those of you who have been Christians for more than five years,

it's an uncomfortable moment.

How many of you have never read the Bible cover to cover?

Well, why did you stop listening to God?

Like, how would it work with Louise if I came home and Louise wanted to talk to me about it?

I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Don't read Numbers.

Don't read Leviticus.

Don't read First Chronicles.

I don't want to talk to you about these topics either, Louise.

How do you think it would go if I said to my wife,

these are the areas of our life together that I don't want you to talk to me about

because I'm not going to listen.

That would not go very well.

And it shouldn't go very well, by the way, right?

I'm not saying it wouldn't go very well because there's a problem with Louise.

It shouldn't go well.

So if you haven't tried to read the whole Bible,

like, so why did you decide you're going to stop listening to God?

When did that happen?

And how come you're fine with it or how come I'm fine with it?

All of these proverbs are telling us that God always has more to teach me in his word.

And one more takeaway.

Lord, have mercy upon me.

Help me to never stop listening to you.

Lord, have mercy upon me.

Help me to never stop listening to you.

And that's just, it's not all work.

There's grace in all of this.

True love truly, true love truly corrects.

There's grace in the proverbs.

It's not just about our ability to listen.

The Bible is going to convict us of listening, but it wants to convict us of grace first.

If you could put up the final proverb, Andrew.

If you could say it with me.

Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself,

but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life

that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Let's say it together again.

Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself,

but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life

that one may turn away from the snares of death.

I pray because I believe God listens.

I pray because I believe God listens.

And it's not always been the case,

but I know that the listening problem in God and me and our relationship,

the listening problem isn't on his end, it's on my end.

God is always more willing to listen than I am to speak.

And I'm never as willing to listen to him as he is willing to speak to me.

But I pray because I know God listens.

And God just doesn't only listen to the cry of our hearts,

he listens to our rage.

He listens to our blindness.

He listens to our self-deception.

And that's why he sends his son to die upon the cross.

As a power of God for salvation for all who believe.

And why it's something just very, very, very tiny that we do

that allows the power of God for salvation to enter into us

and for us to enter into him.

And this proverb tells us the word.

It's very, very interesting.

Actually, if you want to put up the final point, Andrew, that would be great.

By his grace, God's word is life-giving life.

Or James, I guess it is.

If you could put up the final point.

By his grace, God's word is life-giving life.

It's very interesting because, you know, if you read John's gospel,

you know that the word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.

And you know that in the same John in the gospels that Jesus preaches the word

and he is the word made flesh who preaches the word written.

And so there's this wonderful double meaning in this proverb.

To despise Jesus, to despise the word, brings destruction on ourselves.

Just as, in a sense, to despise the word from my wife brings destruction to our marriage.

To despise the word of my children brings destruction on my family.

To despise the word of your employer or your neighbor will bring destruction to the relationships.

And the very, very same type of thing is to despise the word of God brings destruction on himself.

To despise the word made flesh brings destruction on ourselves.

But he who reveres the commandment, who has an affection for it,

doesn't understand all of it but has a desire to honor it, to affection for it.

And when I became a Christian, I didn't know everything that Jesus did,

but I knew that I had to trust him as my savior and as my lord.

And God takes that tiny bit of revering of him

and the power of God for salvation comes and enters into us.

That life comes into us.

Life-giving life enters into me and I receive it and I enter into it.

And in fact, a whole way to understand the Christian faith,

if you have a hard time understanding, repent and believe,

just take the last part of this proverb to say that to turn to Jesus is to turn to a fountain of life.

And if you turn to Jesus who is the fountain of life,

you are turning from death and it snares towards a fountain of life.

And that's the heart.

God, by his grace, gives life.

And my call and my cry to try to learn to listen to God

and to learn to listen to others is not now something that I have to do in a certain way before God loves me

because God, who is life-giving life, offers life-giving life to me,

who is incomplete and self-deluding and self-deceiving,

and he's not weighing my merits.

He offers me this gift.

And now my journey to listen is not a journey that I have to walk on by myself,

but I can walk with Jesus.

And the love of Jesus for me is not an abstraction, but it's real.

He died on the cross.

He drank the cup that I deserve of my doom

and offered me his cup of destiny.

It's not an abstraction.

It's not an idea.

It happened on Calvary.

It's real.

Every word in the Bible is a word of love

that will turn me, hopefully,

to life-giving life,

a fountain of life-giving life

that I might turn from death

and the snares of death

to enter into life

and learn to listen

to life-giving life.

Please stand.

Let's just bow our heads in prayer.

Father,

we confess before you

that probably we didn't think

we had to hear any proverbs about listening

because we had that covered

and we had it matched.

We never struck us, Father,

that maybe there's whole areas of our lives

where we don't want to listen to you

or that we read the Bible

in a way that will make us feel superior to others.

Father, we thank you

that your word has the power

to cut us to the heart.

But we thank you, Father,

that your word has the power

to cut us to the heart,

not so that you will mock us

or scoff at us,

but so that we will cry out to you

for mercy and come to Jesus.

We thank you, Father,

that in Jesus and his death upon the cross

that you offer life-giving life,

a fountain of life-giving life

that we can plunge into

and that can enter into us.

Father, turn our hearts to Jesus.

Help us to listen to you.

Help us to want to listen to you.

Help us to want to learn more from your word.

Help us not to feel that we have arrived,

that there's not more for us to know

and more of us to learn

and more for us to try to experience.

Father, grant us a hunger and thirst

for the fountain of life-giving life.

Father, grant us an ability

to turn from death and the snares of death

to life-giving life,

your son Jesus, to your word.

And Father, as we enter more deeply into that,

help us to listen to others,

unafraid to listen to others,

without mocking, without superiority,

to listen to others.

Father, we ask that you would help us.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus,

your son and our savior.

Amen.