“STOP, LOOK, and ...WAIT”

Matthew 13:1-23
 

This week we mailed you an “Imagine” brochure. Raise your hand if you received it. … GOOD!

Now, how many actually looked it over? …GOOD!

Now, how many of you still have it – haven’t already thrown it away? GREAT!

I say “great” because I want you to look at it again today when you get home, but look at it with maybe a fresh vision and a new perspective.

On the back of the brochure you will find a list of twenty “Forward Step Suggestions.” The idea of the list is that you pick out 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 things to work on that will enrich your life and bring you closer to God.

And, by the way, did you notice that none of them … NOT ONE …has anything to do with money? What kind of stewardship campaign is this, anyway?

The list does include things like: Put God first, Pray instead of worry, Take time for daily devotions. Things, I think you’d agree, clearly have a spiritual connotation.

Then there are some things on the list that may strike you as merely “self-help” suggestions, but I would contend that they’re spiritual as well.

For example, some of you husbands (and I include myself here) may think the suggestion, “Help around the house,” isn’t very spiritual, but just ask your wife and see if she doesn’t say a loud “Amen” to that – right honey? J

To appreciate the spiritual issues involved, I’d like for us to take a new look at the list. We’ll do that, in part, by turning every item into a question instead of a mere suggestion.

This isn’t hard to do. You simply start by asking yourself: What does it mean … and then add the item to the end of the sentence. 

It goes like this:  What does it mean … to put God first? What does it mean … to pray instead of worry? What does it mean … to delight in your work? What does it mean … to be tolerant? What does it mean … to help around the house?

You see, by turning the list into questions, you are more apt to search your mind and your heart for truly meaningful answers … which means you have to think a little deeper … which means you have to “Imagine”  -- which just so happens to be the theme of our Stewardship Campaign this year. 

We all could use a little more “imagining” in our lives, don’t you think?

Imagine what it would be like to be more patient.  Imagine what it would be like to smile and laugh more.  Imagine what it would be like to be an encourager – these are all on the list.

Okay, let me illustrate how this works. We’ll to take just one item from the list and look at it from a couple of viewpoints.

The item I want to discuss may well be the most important, because it is directly related to everything else on the list and has great spiritual consequences for almost everything we do in life.

I think I can safely predict that this item applies to all of us, that we would all benefit, AND become better persons by practicing it regularly, especially where God is concerned.

So, any guesses to what I’m alluding to here?  …

Let me begin by turning this item into a question. The question is this: What does it mean to listen, really listen? Or, put another way, imagine what it would be like to listen, really listen.

Now, I imagine that most of us think we know how to listen to other people pretty well.  I mean, we do it every day, right? But the truth is, when you come right down to it, we pretty much suck at it.

I recently typed in “how to listen” in Google … do you know how many responses I got?  13.9 million.  Apparently, there is a lot of information out there. 

It is impossible to sort through all of that – especially in 15 minutes … but how about we begin by covering the basics? I’ll lump them together under what I call the “Stop, Look, and Wait” approach to conversation.

Stop: The first rule of effective listening is, STOP TALKING. This sounds so basic, yet it is the number one thing we violate in listening.

We all know people who just talk, talk, and talk. You’ve all heard the saying that goes: God gave us two ears but only one mouth -- which means we are supposed to listen twice as much as we speak.

And that is hard for most of us to do, isn’t it?  We are so tuned in to talking that even when the other person is talking, all we are really doing is trying to figure out what we are going to say next. Rarely do we REALLY LISTEN. 

So, stop all other activity and focus on the speaker. Close the door. Turn off the TV. Stop doing any of the thousand and one things that distract you from listening.

 Next, Look: Look at the other person. Make eye contact. That gives the other person visual assurance that you are listening. If you are hearing, but not listening, it will show in your facial expression and your posture.

You’ve experienced that, haven’t you?  Go to a party and start a conversation with someone – you can always tell if they are paying attention by the eye contact. Are they engaged?  Or are they distracted by the noise, the people, the music. 

If we aren’t looking, often we’re not listening!

And then finally, Wait: After you have “finally” finished talking and the other person has started … wait for the other person to finish, really finish, before you start talking again.

Nothing sabotages communication more quickly then trying to talk over each other. You’re likely to miss something important. So listen.  Slow down.  Let the other person get in their two cents worth.

Then, let the person know you want to understand. Ask a question, or repeat back an important point to let them know you heard correctly.

That’s just a start.  Definitely, there is more to listening than just hearing. Body language, and reading between the lines, are other elements for being a good listener.

It takes practice to become a good listener, and the first rule of practice is remembering to practice.

That’s the purpose of the “Imagine” brochure. It encourages practice and provides a check off for recording your progress.

This brings me to the other point I want to make about listening: What does it mean to listen … to God?

Well, first of all, it means that you have to talk to God. We call that prayer. When you have a conversation with other people, how do you start? You start by saying something, right?  You don’t just go up and stand … waiting …  You get their attention.  You talk to them

The same is true with God. The difference is that you don’t even have to talk out loud. You can talk to God anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances – just like a good friend.

Of course, as with any conversation, you must both speak and listen. Otherwise it isn’t a conversation at all.

How do we listen to God?  Here again, let’s try the Stop, Look, and Wait approach.

Stop: Present your concerns to God in prayer, but once you have gotten it all out … STOP TALKING! It’s time to listen. Here’s where most of us get tripped up. I mean should I really expect God to talk with me?

I don’t know many instances where God has spoke to me in human language.  I haven’t had a “burning bush” experience of God. But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t talking to me.  Not at all.   

But God does speak to us in a variety of ways.  Let me talk about just three.

First, God speaks to us through scripture. Ever tried to read a book by just reading a few words here, a few words there?  Not possible. 

In the same way you can’t comprehend the meaning, depth, and richness of God’s love, by skipping most of the verses in the Bible.

And here’s the wonderful thing about scripture: The more you learn about the meaning as it applies in your life, the more you want to learn.

Hopefully, you don’t see the Bible as this archaic book that lacks relevance in our time. It can seem that way – IF you don’t spend time with it. 

The truth is, the more you read the Bible, the more intimate an experience you’ll have with it, and the more it will actually speak to you.

Folks, there is a word for each of us – if we take the time to get to know it, to read it, to immerse ourselves in it.  There is answer to prayer in the scriptures.  

Secondly, God speaks to us through the church. Worship, fellowship, Sunday School – for children AND adults, mission, and virtually all the ministries of the church, are channels God uses to speak to us.

It can come from something we learn, something we experience, something we glean from another person.

We miss so much when we try and box God in only traditional ways of speaking to us.  When you miss church, you maybe missing out on God’s side of the conversation.

And third, God speaks to us through our thoughts, mental images, and circumstances. That little voice we so often hear, that thing we call conscience, might be God speaking.

We may resist what God is telling us to do, because we don’t like change or it sounds too hard or it sounds too boring.  But try it, you’ll like it!

Then, when we submit and do God’s will, whatever that may be, we will have a deeper spiritual relationship.

Look: Now, I don’t imagine many of us will have eye contact with God in a physical sense, but we can see God in our mind’s eye.

On a physical level we can see God through the wonders of creation that surround us, and in our own creation as well.

We live such busy lives that we simply forget to sit quietly and listen to the rain, enjoy the beauty of a flower, or think of the sun that appears like clockwork. In all of these things God is speaking to us. We just forget to listen.

Finally … Wait: Many of the problems we face in life are problems that developed over a long period of time … finances and health to mention only two. When faced with a crisis, we want God to provide instant answers.

Yet, many of the answers were given to us many times over. We just weren’t listening. God will see us through all circumstances, but we must be patient and “practice” our faith.

God has perfect timing and will provide answers when He knows we are ready to listen. Trust God’s perfect timing.

I sincerely hope that when you return home today, you will take a fresh look at the “Imagine” brochure. Out of 20 suggestions you are bound to find at least one item that stands as a roadblock to a more enriching relationship with God and those around you.

With a little practice, and by putting yourself on God’s side, you can do more than you could ever imagine.   AMEN