Can You Hear Me Now? a sermon on John 1:22ff.

It’s amazing what we can hear and what we can’t hear isn’t it. I remember my grandmother, whom we called Ma Maw and how her hearing was late in her life when I was a younger boy. It was just so convenient for her. She would just look at you like she couldn’t hear a word, especially if it was some thing she really didn’t want nor care to hear about.

But then there would be those moments, you could be in the back room of the house barely speaking above a whisper in some conspiratorial tone with your cousin, planning some mischief and by God if Ma Maw didn’t suddenly demonstrate hearing worthy of the bionic woman. And she would swoop in on you devestating all your best laid plans. Only to pretend a little bit later, when you were asking her for some extra ice cream, like she just couldn’t hear you at all. Amazing how hearing works isn’t it.

Jesus speaks to hearing in this mornings gospel lesson.

I can see Jesus in my minds eye on this one. He’s walking on the temple mount. It’s December because we’re told the feast of dedication, that is the dedication of the temple, is about to happen. This is what has become known to us as Hannakuh. In December in Jerusalem the wind blows out of the east chilly and dry sucking the warmth right of you. Jesus is walking along one of the covered porticos, I imagine listening to the wind beat against the outside wall and whistle around the footings of columns that hold up the temple structure. I’m sure he’s thinking about what is in the near future, his impending confrontation with the powers of his day.

And suddenly through the whipping wind the leaders of the temple arrive to question him about what he’s doing. About what his intentions are, about who he is.

Contemplating the days of conflict staring him in the face I can imagine Jesus is a little impatient. His tone is a little exasperated. “I’ve been telling you all of this. It’s been three years of me telling you this. but you’re just not listening.”

Oh they hear what they want. All the stuff they can use to get Jesus, to set him up, and to tear him down, but they haven’t really heard. And so the have to ask again.

Sounds like my house. I don’t know how many times I’ve been guilty of pretending to listen when really I’ve been focused elsewhere. Kimber asks me about doing somthing for Theo or finishing some commitment I have, and there I am, focused on the ball game, or the book I’m reading, or what ever and I kind of grunt, “uh.” Which is supposed to be my “yes” I guess. But I haven’t heard. And so, sheepishly, an hour later, a day later, I have to come and ask, “what was that again?

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life.

Jesus tells the Jews that he is the Christ, the Messiah. He tells them that he has told them over and over again who he is, but they will not believe. He speaks, but they do not hear. They grunt a little bit. But they don’t hear.

Like the two men I heard about walking down a busy city street one day: Suddenly, one of the men remarked, "Listen to the lovely sound of that cricket," But the other man could not hear the sound. He asked his friend how he could hear the sound of a cricket amid the roar of the traffic and the sound of the people. The first man, who was a zoologist, had trained himself to hear the sounds of nature. He didn’t explain to his friend in words how he could hear the sound of the cricket, but instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a half-dollar coin, dropped it onto the sidewalk, and watch intently as a dozen people began to look for the coin as they heard it clanking around amid the sounds of the traffic and the sounds of the crowded city living. He turned to his friend and said, "We hear what we listen for."

Maybe that is our problem with the voice of Jesus as he is trying to get us to follow him, we hear everything else but him because we aren’t willing to listen. We hear the tales of fear as woeful immigration laws are passed but we don’t hear Jesus’ voice to care for the sojourner, the visitor among us. We don’t want to hear his voice, we tune it out instead of focusing our attention on it.

So how do we tune in? That’s the million dollar question isn’t it. And it’s important because I’m hear to tell you that what we hear from Jesus can change our lives dramatically for the better. Jesus has holy wisdom that cure what ails us. If we cultivate our hearing, if we listen closely.

I guess ultimately it’s about relationship. I mean, that’s why a grandmother hears the important stuff right? A lifetime of relationship building. My Ma maw could hear us planning mischieve from a mile away and keep us out of trouble even when she couldn’t hear our pleading for sweets.

And that’s what we have to cultivate with Jesus Christ and with God. A true and living relationship that helps us tune our ears to the important stuff. God’s out there, like the guy from the Verizon commercial, “can you hear me now?” And we need to be tuned in so we can.

There was an older woman who’s hearing had largely failed and so experienced much difficulty understanding what was being said to her. Persons trying to communicate would draw close and shout loudly. They would cup their hands and scream into her ears. And even with all of this, the dear old one would often shake her head and sighed that she was unable to hear.

But she was married to a kind and patient man with whom she had shared love and life for more than 60 years. It was strange to many that she could hear him when she was able to hear no one else. He would take her frail hand in his, look deeply into her eyes, and speak distinctly in a tone which seemed only a trifle louder than normal. And the wife he loved always heard and understood.

There was no strangeness about this, really. It was a matter of relationship, a basic kind of understanding, a sense of love, compassion, a link connecting these two people. There was a bond of understanding, trust, mutual love and a sense of kindness that let the man have patience with his hard of hearing wife, and let her surrender herself to him for she knew he wanted what was only the best for her.

One of the consequences of the resurrection that is pointed out in this text, one of the things Jesus is asking us to understand about our risen Christ, is that we need to hear his voice and follow it in this world. Though we might have a difficult time hearing his voice because of our crowded noisy world, though it might seem we are deaf to his voice, Jesus is reminding us that he wants to be patient with us, he wants a bond of trust and understanding between us so that we can hear his voice, so that we can trust in him so that we will know he wants what is best for us.

Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Last night I snuck out the church dinner here a little early to go and visit with Carol because I could tell yesterday afternoon that time was short for her. She was resting there, non responsive and still. We all gathered and prayed and I said the words of that Jesus said to his disciples as the came to mind. “I go to prepare a place for you, would I have said so if I was not?...” And as said those words I could see Carol relaxing in her sleep, here respiration calming. She heard. She heard the words of Jesus. She, a sheep of his fold recognized them. And it was good.

Do you hear Jesus voice? You are a sheep of Jesus fold. It was confirmed at your baptisms, it is confirmed by your return here Sunday after Sunday. Do you hear it?
Listen for it. In your prayers, in the reading of scripture, in the silent proddings of your conscience, in the direction of this community of faith as we discern together where God calls us, listen. Listen for it. And it will lead us home. Amen.