Brotherhood

Man, I love Tuesday mornings.  Every Tuesday morning I meet with a friend of mine named Pete.  Pete and I have been meeting every Tuesday at 6am for almost a year.  We are both Springs in different contexts.  We started the breakfast as an open invitation to the Springs men.  While it worked for a while, only Pete and I still meet every week.  These times are some of the richest times in my week.  Pete is a brother to me.  He is a friend who will say kind things when needed and difficult things when needed, but you can always count on Pete to say...something!

Over the past six months, I have shared a common lament with him about my life.  Somewhere along my spiritual journey I felt as though I had lost confidence in my spiritual ears.  By that, I mean that I didn't trust my hearing well enough to know whether or not what I was hearing was God, me or something more sinister sometimes.  I read a passage of Scripture like this:

 John 10.3 (MESSAGE) The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  4 When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice.  5 They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.” 

and then I wonder why I am not familiar with his voice.  Why can't I recognize it when I hear it?  What's wrong with my ears?

This morning, something changed.  I was thinking about my children.  Garin and Graysen don't have trouble recognizing my voice.  They don't sit around and wonder if they will recognize it when I call them.  They simply live with me, and listen often.  The more they listen, the more familiar with my voice they become.  Could it be that it is just that simple?  Could it be that the more time I spend with Papa, the more familiar I will become with his voice?  Of course, isn't that what we've been taught in church our whole lives?  Yes, but...

Listening to Father is not so simple to me as listening to Pete.  Listening to God is more complicated, isn't it?  I mean, he won't meet me for breakfast or call me on my way home from work.  He doesn't look me in the eye when we talk.  In order to listen to God there are things I must do.

James 4.8 (TNIV) Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double–minded. 

This has been an oft-quoted passage when it comes to spending time reading God's Word and being with God.  I'm uncomfortable with this translation though.  It seems like God is distant until I come to him.  This doesn't seem to jive with the rest of Scripture that teaches God is always close.  I prefer the Message translation of this passage...

James 4.8 (MESSAGE) Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. 

God has offered a question to us about our abiding in him and when we say yes, he is there in no time.  When I stop and say "yes" to him, I engage in a relationship that has its origin in Father, not in me.  It's then that I recognize that in no time has he not been there!  I love this.

In light of this, I say yes to God.  I say yes to reading his words, because that's how I listen to him.  I say yes to engaging other Christ-followers, because that's how I listen to him.  I say yes to keeping my eyes open to see and my hands open to serve, because that's how I listen to him.  If all of these activities are not predicated by the "yes" to God, then I may read words, engage people, see things and do things, but I will not "recognize his voice."

Thanks for listening to my rambles today.  I would love to hear some of your thoughts on listening to God's voice.  I'm anxious to hear how others "listen" to Father.

Barely Listening

This morning I was alerted to a song I had downloaded from iTunes about a year ago. The band is Pilot Speed and the song is "Barely Listening." As I listened to the song this morning, I asked myself some questions. Who do I feel barely listens to me? Who do I want to hear me? Who doesn't seem to get me?

These can be haunting questions. I think about my friend David who is struggling with Cancer and has been stuck in the hospital for 30 days straight this time. I think of a family member who is battling the disease and trying to raise her grandkids because her daughter is in prison. I think of friends that don't respond to phone calls or emails, and it seems like you could go forever without talking and they would be okay with that. I think of kids that don't listen to their parents and parents who don't listen to their kids. I think of Christ-followers who don't listen to their friends who believe differently than they do. I think of a lot of people, but ultimately it comes back to me. Who is "barely listening" to me?

The answer varies from day to day. There are times when my kids definitely don't seem to be listening. There are times right now where others don't seem to listen when I talk to them about The Springs - fundraising sux by the way. I have days when my wife is barely listening, if at all. There are even days when I feel like God is barely listening.

I have found over the years that who is listening to me is less important than who I am listening to, though. There are days when I don't listen to my kids, days when I don't listen to my neighbors or my friends, days when I don't listen to my wife and yes, days when I don't listen to God. Funny thing about listening that I struggle with really learning: When we listen it seems to open the ears of others. If you've tried to talk to me and I was "barely listening," I am sorry. I want to listen.

Jesus often used this phrase with his followers: Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear (Mark 4:9; 4:23; Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35). "Are you listening to this? Really listening?"