Parable 23 - Listen

Bret thought Clarice was an idiot. They had worked together for years in an office that sold construction supplies.

Clarice was often doing something stupid, like forgetting her lunch that she made, running out of gas in her car, or wearing a wrinkled shirt on the day she was to give a presentation to the executive team of the company.

So Bret was surprised to find that he agreed with Clarice on several political positions. These positions were unpopular with other co-workers, and they chided Clarice about them, but mostly they belittled Clarice herself. One of them said, “Clarice, I don’t blame you for being stupid. I’d be stupid too if I didn’t have a brain.”

Everybody laughed at that comment, including Bret.

One day, a thought kept flashing through Bret’s mind: “Express your opinion in support of Clarice’s stance. Step up and say something.” But Bret didn’t want to get involved. He certainly didn’t want to associate himself with Clarice. So he kept outwardly quiet. But inwardly, he could not shut up the voice telling him to share his viewpoint.

That day finished with Bret saying nothing. And weeks went by with him continuing to say nothing, even though he felt a prodding that he should say something.

Before the election in November, things turned ugly. One of the workers actually beat Clarice up for her political views. She picked a fight with Clarice, pushed her against the wall, hit her in the gut, punched her in the face, and spit on her.

Other co-workers pulled them apart, but Bret did nothing. Inwardly, he felt he should help Clarice. But Bret managed once again to ignore that voice. He just didn’t want to get involved.

Meditation

This scripture reading today expresses God’s frustration with people not listening to him. Time and time again they ignore God. They dismiss the messages of the prophets. Jeremiah is being told about people who will simply not listen. For many of us, it seems appalling that God’s people didn’t follow God’s instructions.

But following God’s word is not so easy. Rarely is the message clear. We have to discern what that message is. We have to trust that we are worthy of God communicating to us. We have to believe that it is possible for God to give us instructions. For many of us, this gets difficult quickly.

It is uncomfortable to let people know you are talking with God. We worry that others will think we are weird, or are being presumptuous, or mentally unstable. Perhaps we might also think these things about ourselves. Whatever the case, the outcome is that there is motivation not to pay attention to the internal instructions of God. We are more caught up in what others will think than what God will think.

Here is a tip. Test the message that you seem to be getting from God. If it doesn’t harm others or God’s creation and if it does some good, it is a message you can trust. Go ahead, try to follow those instructions. If the message, though, leads to anger, revenge, or unlawful behavior, don’t listen to it.

It just so happens that one day Bret spoke up in sharing his agreement with Clarice. It didn’t seem to make a big difference. People still treated Clarice poorly, but one co-worker also expressed support for this viewpoint, and Bret felt relief, even hope.

Try it for yourself and see what happens. Go ahead, listen.

Water the seed and ask yourself...

What do I hear when I listen to God?