Too Much Talk, Not Enough Listening

REFLECTIONS
January 18, 2009

How we listen and what we hear, or rather think we hear, has a great impact on our perception of the world around us. There is a wonderful old story about a man concerned about his wife’s hearing, so he devises a text. Starting from the other side of the room and behind her as she is sitting in her chair reading, he says in the same tone and timber, “Do you love me?” The first three times there is no response. The last time he hears her say clearly, “For the forth and last time, of course, I love you!” Sometimes, we are concerned with others hearing when we might be having some difficulty of our own. Yet hearing things we do not wish to can be painful and life altering. A few years back, I went to a new doctor or at least she was new to me. After my intake interview and physical, I asked for her evaluation. She said, “Well Joey, the truth is, you are just too fat, and you need to lose weight.” I said Dr. I think I would like a second opinion. To which she replied, “Certainly, you’re ugly as well.” Sometimes the information is more than we needed or wanted. How we respond can make a difference.

I Samuel 3:1-10(11-20) is a story about the call of Samuel. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, has sent her young son to serve as an assistant to the Priest Eli. She has done this because it was in the temple which Eli served she prayed to God to end her bareness, now she has dedicated Samuel to God and asks Eli to prepare him for a call into God’s service. While living with Eli, Samuel hears voices three times in the middle of the night. Samuel believes Eli has called to him and goes to him. The fourth time it happens Samuel realizes that it is God speaking, revealing the demise of Eli’s house because of his son’s behavior. What is interesting about the passage is in the midst of judgment is a powerful word of grace.

After receiving the call from God and the revelation, Samuel collapsed on the floor and lay until daybreak. At this time Eli called to the boy and demanded to know what God had said. “So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he (Eli) said, ‘It is the Lord, let him do what seems good to him.’” How poetic and powerful in terms of faith that Eli would acknowledge in the face of grave circumstances that the world belongs to God and not him. The final line of the text is a gentle reminder that even in the face of harsh circumstances or words, grace can be present and even prevail. “As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.” On the other hand, there are those times when grace seems overrated. I never went to that stinking doctor again.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601