History tells us Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) hated the long receiving lines during his time in the White House. He often complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. As each person passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir.” It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were heard. He heard the President say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning” and responded, “I’m sure she had it coming.” That story reminds us that listening does not come naturally. Listening is a true art.
It is my experience that people don’t listen for several reasons. Some don’t hear because their ears are damaged or broken. According to the Rochester Institute of Technology, nearly 11,000,000 Americans consider themselves deaf or hard of hearing. That is 3.6% of our population. Some don’t hear because of what my father called selective hearing. That happens when we hear the words, but we dismiss them because we don’t like or value what is being communicated. Like when the doctor tells you to lose weight and exercise. Or, like when your minister says you are to love everyone unconditionally. You hear the words, but you dismiss the words. Some don’t hear because they are preoccupied. I find myself in that category. I cannot tell you how many times I was physically present to hear the words but mentally I was a million miles away. How many times have you said, “Can you say that again? I wasn’t paying attention.” That is what is happening in our scripture lesson.
We are in the thirteenth chapter of Acts. The first three verses of that chapter explain the rest of the book. According to those verses, it all began in the church at Antioch. The teachers and prophets had assembled when the Holy Spirit began to move. There were seven people present and each one got the same message. They were to set Barnabas and Paul apart to begin their lives’ purpose. They were created to win the world for Jesus.
According to our reading, Acts 13:4-12, Barnabas and Paul began their missionary journey on the island of Cyprus. They are accompanied by Barnabas’s cousin John, who later wrote the Gospel of Mark. Their method of teaching was straightforward. They walked into a local synagogue and proclaimed the word of God. People responded to their message in every congregation. In one of those congregations, they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet by the name of Bar-Jesus. “Bar” is Aramaic for “son of”; “Jesus” is derived from the Greek word for “Joshua.” In verse 8, Bar-Jesus is called “Elymas”, which is the Greek word for sorcerer or magician. Bar-Jesus was the assistant to the proconsul, or governor, of the entire island. The proconsul’s name was Sergius Paulus, who is remembered as a gifted man. He sent his assistant, Bar-Jesus, to Barnabas and Paul for one reason. Like many, he too wanted to hear the word of God. The story would have gone unrecorded except for one thing: the sorcerer Bar-Jesus (or Elymas) tried to turn the governor away from the faith. In the end, a show-down occurs between the sorcerer and God. Bar-Jesus is no match for the Almighty and finds himself temporarily blind. The whole event becomes a great witness for God. No one present could question God’s powers.
When I first read the story, I thought it was odd. When was the last time you met a sorcerer? Then, I read the story a second, third and fourth time. In the end, I read it countless times and every time I read it, the point became clearer. Every day, we play the part of the Roman proconsul. He wanted to hear the word of God, but he was frustrated by Satan. We too want to hear the word of God, but Satan frustrates us. The problem is not that God mumbles. The problem is our lives are filled with so many distractions. Satan uses those distractions to prevent us from hearing God’s words. How many distractions has Satan put in your life to prevent you from hearing God?
Years ago, I had breakfast with a friend. He told the story of going to a funeral of a woman who had died from a drug overdose. As he stood in the back trying to support the grieving family, someone walked up to him and said, “The devil is sitting over there.” He must have looked confused because the person said the same thing in a different way. This time the person said, “The drug dealer is over there.” The drug dealer came to pay his final respects. Do you consider drug dealers the devil?
Years ago, I stood at the back door leading out of the sanctuary and said, “Good-bye,” to everyone. One person looked at me and said, “Russ, you will never guess what I am going to do this week.” I didn’t have a clue. I thought, go to a ballgame, or go to dinner at an expensive restaurant. She looked at me with a big smile and said, “I am going with a friend to a psychic reader!” My head spun around a few times, and I didn’t know what to say. She caught me off guard. Psychic readers are wrong at so many levels. The Bible takes a hard stand against such things. Leviticus 20:27 says, “spiritualists should be stoned to death.” There is nothing entertaining about psychics. They are simply sinister. I do not question their insight. I do question the source of their insight – Satan, himself. Have you ever been to a spiritualist? Every community has several psychics. Let me say this clearly, Satan loves it when you do such things, because they distract you from God. Satan doesn’t want us to hear God.
Can I state the obvious? Our world is filled with “dark” distractions. Satan has filled our world with all kinds of addictions. Our local, national, and international news is filled with all kinds of addictions. We have people who are addicted to alcohol. We have people who addicted to drugs. We have people who are addicted to pornography. We have people who are addicted to gambling. Every community seems to have a place to gamble. Thirty states have statewide lotteries. According to WalletHub, Americans lose $100 billion annually gambling. We are losing children to human trafficking. It is easy to attach those things to Satan, because so many lives have been destroyed by them. Some of our distractions are “dark.”
Some of our distractions aren’t so dark. Our lives are filled with “positive” distractions. There is a website called livingforjesus.com. It says there are seven things that distract us from hearing God. None of them are sinister in nature, but each one prevents us from hearing God. This is their list:
- Money – That is why proper money management is important. Money makes a wonderful slave but a horrible master.
- Media – How much time do you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend reading secular material. How much time do you spend on social media?
- Church – Have you ever gone to church and failed to experience God because you were consumed by some other church activity? Have you ever gone to church and failed to experience God because you were too busy socializing?
- Relationships – Family and friends are time consuming. How much time do you spend with people in your life? How much time do you spend with God?
- Routine – Is spending time with God part of your daily routine?
- Work – How many people do you know work more than 40 hours a week? Time management is important, and life must be lived in balance.
- Hobbies – How much time do you spend entertaining yourself? Hobbies are important but they cannot consume your life.
This is the point. Our lives are so full that we have very little time left to hear God. When was the last time God spoke to you? When was the last time you gave God an opportunity to speak to you?
One of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century was a man by the name of Fred Craddock (1928-2015). I have written about him in the past. No one influenced my preaching more than Fred Craddock. He taught homiletics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. However, I will always remember him as a great storyteller. I have told you some of his stories in the past. This is another one.
He once sat in a group of incoming seminary students. Each student was asked to tell their story, how God had led them into the ministry. One by one the students spoke. Each story was different, but each story was the same. One story stood out. A man in his late thirties told the group he had been a teacher. He worked with children who had a hard time hearing. He said his work was both heartbreaking and exhausting. Every student struggled hearing anything. He said he just couldn’t do it anymore. The end came with a little girl by the name of Susan. She was as cute as a button. One day she was in the playground, and he tried to talk to her. He walked up to Susan and looked at her square in the face. He said, “Susan, what do you want to do when you grow up?” Susan responded, “My shoes are red!” She didn’t hear a word. The incoming student said it was so heartbreaking that he had to leave. Fred looked at the student and said, “If you are going into the ministry, then you’d better get used to people not listening. Every church has a surplus of people who just don’t listen.”
Sometime later, Fred was on vacation in Texas. Sunday morning came and he was in a strange community. He just walked into a convenient church to see if God had a word for him. He sat alone in the back and was pleasantly surprised. Everything about the worship was perfect. The preaching was solid. The music was inspirational. The prayers were sincere, and the spirit was moving. He was sad to see the benediction come because God was speaking to him. After the benediction was given, he just stood there with his head down and his eyes closed. He wanted to absorb the last spiritual crumb. When he finally looked up, a man was standing next to him. The stranger stuck out his hand and said, “Do you think the Cowboys will win today?” Fred said, what the man was really saying was, “My shoes are red!” Like it or not, our lives are filled with all kinds of distractions that prevent us from hearing God’s word. The question is not if God has a word for you. He does. The question is, are you listening?
Russ Adams 