Plugged Ears - Sermon idea on the OT Prophets
Plugged Ears Sermon idea on the O.T. Prophets Idea: Frank Page
(look for word “ignore” or “reject” God’s word.)
Recently, I had a cold and accompanying that cold was a great deal of fluid
buildup in my eardrums. This became very obvious when I was traveling by air a great
deal. The constant going up and down in altitude combined with the dry air of the
airplane made my travel extremely painful. My ears hurt like I have never felt them hurt
before. I simply could not get relief from the pressure that led to great pain.
The downside of that was not only the pain, but the inability to hear when people
spoke to me. It made communication very difficult.
There are times in every life when we fail to listen. While there may be a
physical reason that inhibits some from hearing, one of the great maladies that afflicts
all of us is an intentional effort to block out true communication.
Several times in Scripture, Jesus used these words, "He who has ears, let him
hear." Would you not say that this makes an assumption, that some listen while some
do not? Jesus knew reality, and He knew that there were some times we chose not to
hear or listen to His voice, to reality, and to truth.
After a high school basketball game, the coach spotted a cell phone lying on the
floor. "here," he said to the ref, "I think this is yours."
"What makes you think it's my phone?" asked the ref.
"Easy," the coach said. "It says you have ten missed calls."
Could that have been you? Are we missing calls because of selective inattention
or purposeful obtuseness?
Of all the characteristics of foolishness, the most prominent and troubling one is
plugged ears - when you're not really listening. All other descriptions of foolishness
eventually find themselves under this one.
If you come across a fool - at work, at church, in your neighborhood, in your
extended family - don't try to tell him he's headed in the wrong direction with his life
unless you're fully prepared to get your head bitten off. A fool is always deeply
persuaded that what he's doing is right. He's not going to listen to anybody else
about it.
This concept is actually wrapped around the most common Hebrew word for
"fool," which appears forty-nine times in the book of Proverbs - keciyl. These kinds of
people are literally "blockheads" - they have a dull and closed mind, and they're too
thick-headed to realize it. They are utterly convinced that they know what they're doing,
and anyone who disagrees with them is just dead wrong.
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Know anybody like that? I'll bet you do. Ever been like that yourself? Some of
us have been, for sure.
What makes this so terribly dangerous is that this plugged-ear foolishness
is the first thing God must get rid of if he's going to give you a heart of wisdom.
Foolishness is so hard to destroy because it's so hard to detect. You can't detect it in
your own life, in fact, if your ears are plugged up. So before you can become someone
known for godly character and trustworthy advice, your plugged ears need to be
scrubbed out.
As children, when someone was trying to say something to us that we didn't want
to hear, remember what we did to shut them out? We'd clap our hands over our ears
and talk (or hum or sing) or make nonsense noises like "La-la-la-la-la loudly enough to
drown out their voices. As adults, we've developed our own more sophisticated ways of
not listening.
Suppose someone says he'd like to meet for breakfast, and they share with us
some things we need to hear about ourselves. We listen carefully. We say "Thank you,
I appreciate your input very much." As we get back in our car, we make a mental note
never to say yes again if he asks to get together. Then we just go on living as we were.
Perhaps someone jots us a note that says, "You know, I love you in the Lord and
feel the need to challenge you in this area." We say, "yes, thank you, I appreciate that
so much." But we say to our spouse or another friend, "Can you believe what she said
to me?" Plugged ears. We're foolish when we don't listen to other people.
Most often when I have heard the voice of God, it has been through someone
who cared about me and loved me enough to sit down with me and say, "It goes like
this." May God keep our ears from being plugged up when others are talking truth.
Proverbs 18:15 says, " The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge;
the ears of the wise seek it out." Proverbs 12:15 says, " The way of a fool seems
right to him, but a wise man listens to advice."
To find the true antidote to plugged ears, turn with to Luke 14:25-35.
When Jesus left the Pharisee's house, great crowds followed Him, but He was
not impressed by their enthusiasm. He knew that most of those in the crowd were not
the least bit interested in spiritual things. Some wanted only to see miracles, others
heard that He fed the hungry, and a few hoped He would overthrow Rome and establish
David's promised kingdom. They were expecting the wrong things.
Jesus turned to the multitude and preached a sermon that deliberately thinned
out the ranks. He made it clear that, when it comes to personal discipleship, He is more
interested in quality than quantity. In the matter of saving lost souls, He wants His
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house to be filled (Luke 14:23) but in the matter of personal discipleship, He wants only
those who are willing to pay the price.
GOD'S CALL IS A CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP. A "disciple" is a learner, one who
attaches himself or herself to a teacher in order to learn a trade or a subject. Perhaps
our nearest modern equivalent is "apprentice," one who learns by watching and by
doing. The word disciple was the most common name for the followers of Jesus Christ
and is used 264 times in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
Jesus seems to make a distinction between salvation and discipleship. Salvation
is open to all who will come by faith, while discipleship is for believers willing to pay a
price. Salvation means coming to the cross and trusting Jesus Christ, while
discipleship means carrying the cross and following Jesus Christ. Jesus wants as
many sinners saved as possible ("that My house may be filled"), but He cautions us not
to take discipleship lightly and in the three parables He gave, He made it clear that there
is a price to pay.
To begin with, we must love Christ supremely, even more than we love our own
flesh and blood (Luke 14:26-27). The word hate does not suggest positive antagonism
but rather "to love less". Our love for Christ must be so strong that all other love is like
hatred in comparison. In fact, we must hate our own lives and be willing to bear the
cross after Him.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CARRY THE CROSS? It means daily identification
with Christ in shame, suffering, and surrender to God's will. It means death to self, to
our own plans and ambitions, and a willingness to serve Him as He directs (John 12:23-
28). A "cross" is something we willingly accept from God as part of His will for our lives.
The Christian who called his noisy neighbors the "cross" he had to bear certainly did not
understand the meaning of dying to self.
Jesus gave three stories to explain why He makes such costly demands on His
followers: the man building a tower, the king fighting a war, and the salt losing its flavor.
The usual interpretation is that believers are represented by the man building the tower
and the king fighting the war, and we had better "count the cost" before we start, lest we
start and not be able to finish. But I agree with Campbell Morgan that the builder and
the king represent not the believer but Jesus Christ. He is the One who must "count the
cost" to see whether we are the kind of material He can use to build the church and
battle the enemy. He cannot get the job done with halfhearted followers who will not
pay the price.
Jesus had already told His disciples that they were "the salt of the earth"
(Matthew 5:13). When the sinner trusts Jesus Christ as Savior, a miracle takes place
and "clay" is turned into "salt." Salt was a valued item in that day. In fact, part of a
soldier's pay was given in salt. (The words salt and salary are related; hence, the
saying, "He's not worth his salt.")
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Salt is a preservative, and God's people in this world are helping to retard the
growth of evil and decay. Salt is also a purifying agent, an antiseptic that makes things
cleaner. It may sting when it touches the wound, but helps to kill infection. Salt gives
flavor to things and most of all, makes people thirsty. By our character and conduct, we
ought to make others thirsty for the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that He alone
can give.
Our modern salt is pure and does not lose its flavor, but the salt in Jesus' day
was impure and could lose its flavor, especially if it came in contact with earth. Once
the saltiness was gone, there was no way to restore it, and the salt was thrown out into
the street to be walked on. When a disciple loses his Christian character, he is "good
for nothing" and will eventually be "walked on" by others and bring disgrace to Christ.
LISTENING TO THE CALL IS SERIOUS! Discipleship is serious business. If
we are not true disciples, then Jesus cannot build the tower and fight the war. "There is
always an if in connection with discipleship," wrote Oswald Chambers, "and it implies
that we need not [be disciples] unless we like. There is never any compulsion. Jesus
does not coerce us. There is only one way of being a disciple, and that is by being
devoted to Jesus."
If we tell Jesus that we want to take up our cross and follow Him as His disciples,
then He wants us to know exactly what we are getting into. He wants no false
expectancy, no illusions, no bargains. He wants to use us as stones for building His
church, soldiers for battling His enemies, and salt for bettering His world, and He is
looking for quality.
After all, He was on His way to Jerusalem when He spoke these words, and look
what happened to Him there! He does not ask us to do anything for Him that He
has not already done for us.
To some, Jesus says, "You cannot be My disciples!" Why? Because they will
not forsake all for Him, bear shame and reproach for Him, and let their love for Him
control them.
And they are the losers. Will you be His disciple?
Are you listening? Are your ears plugged? Wisdom is listening and responding.