Are You Listening?

This sermon was given at our morning service on Sunday 10th September. The Gospel was Matthew 18:15-20. I hope you enjoy reading it!

 

Are you listening?

No, but are you listening?

That’s what Jesus is asking us this morning. Listen – there’s that word again – listen to his words from our Gospel again and see how often that word comes up:

 

“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.”

 

So – are you listening? Not necessarily to me prattling on up here on a Sunday morning. I’m not particularly bothered about that really. Are you listening to each other?

If we were asked to list the features of a good church, we might call out things like singing great hymns with lots of gusto, a great organist or – if it floats your boat – a fantastic worship band; sound, inspiring preaching; charismatic, approachable leadership; a large, friendly congregation – you might have other things on your list; I would hope you do. But, if I had asked you to compile this list yesterday, would you have written down ‘people who listen to each other’? Would that have been top of your list?

 

I don’t listen to my kids. Oh, don’t get me wrong – I do sometimes – but when Isaac starts to tell me in detail about the base he has built in Minecraft, using blocks of dynamite to build a trap to protect his chest full of all sorts of precious items he can simply pull out of his limitless inventory from a horde of ravaging creepers that will never actually attack him because he plays in creative, or safe mode… or when Miriam is too busy talking about the intricate life of her dolls and whether they are currently sleeping, or dancing, or playing, or doing all three at the same time, to put her shoes on when it’s time to come out to Church on a Sunday morning when Daddy is supposed to be preaching, so for goodness-sake, hurry up and put your shoes on your –that is the wrong foot, again—

—But that’s because I’ve got more important things to do. It’s true. We all do. We’re all busy people, and making the time to listen to each other takes us away from all the things we are supposed to be doing at that moment in time.

But Jesus says listening is the mark of the Church.

 

 

And the key element in our Gospel today with that listening is that it’s not just for when things are going well. It’s not simply about making the time to listen to how someone’s day has been, or finding time to allow someone to tell you about their hobby or passion that you really aren’t that interested in (and yes – I will find some time to ask Isaac about his Minecraft base later on today!). Those things are – of course important. But Jesus says the listening needs to kick in – and I’m talking dialling that volume up to eleven – when there’s a problem; when you have been wronged. And when someone else feels that you have wronged them.

 

Let’s just take a beat there, because that is hard. It’s hard enough to pick up the courage to go and speak to someone one-to-one who has hurt you, isn’t it? It might not actually even be safe. And if it might not be safe, do not do it. If it is not safe, you skip all of this, and go straight to the appropriate authorities.

But – assuming it is safe, and the only fear that needs to be overcome is that of rejection, then that is still a very real fear. Me? I find it hard enough to give constructive criticism to someone who is actually asking for it. But if I have to go to speak to someone about how they have hurt me, well that takes me summoning up a great deal of courage.

 

And from the other side? Actually listening to someone who is telling you how you have hurt them, without resorting to excuses or flat-out denial? Well, that is not an easy situation to find yourself in. None of us enjoy being in the wrong. We all always have a reason for our own behaviour; a reason that may seem much more reasonable to us than to anyone looking in from the outside. Our own sense of pride is never easy to swallow.

But that place, says Jesus, where fear of rejection and foolish pride are put aside, and two people actually listen to each other is a holy place. What you agree there together matters. Jesus says it himself in our Gospel, and this quote is directly related to this place of reconciliation – “truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

That place of reconciliation, of real listening, where a true apology happens and forgiveness is sought and given, where two or three people are gathered in the name of the Prince of Peace, that is where Jesus is. That is where God’s work happens.

 

That is where the Church is. 

And that is where real miracles actually take place.

 

So, listen up.

 

Amen.