Is Anybody Listening?
4
Worship Aid
A Chancel Drama suggestion for the sermon, "Is Anybody
Listening?," is titled "Can Anybody Really Hear Me?" It is an
original drama by Arley K. Fadness.
Synopsis: Mary Delight is a young lady representing Generation X
who is bewildered about her future. Mary goes to trusted
individuals for a caring ear but is not listened to and gets
frustrated. Finally she blurts out her dilemma to a little child,
and the child seems to hear and care.
This chancel drama is a setup for preaching to the theme of "The
Need To Be Listened To And Heard."
Can Anybody Really Hear Me?
Text: Luke 8:8b
Theme: The Need To Be Listened To And Heard
Characters: Narrator
Mary Delight
Pastor Lovet, wearing clerical collar
Sam, Mary's employer at the Deli, wearing apron
Mr. Harpie, band teacher
Scooter, little child
Tone: Thoughtful, humorous
Setting/Props: All characters on stage are frozen until spoken
to. When each character finishes his dialogue with Mary, he or
she then resumes the frozen position.
Approximate time: 5-6 minutes
Narrator: Once upon a time there was this young lady, Mary
Delight, who came to that juncture in her road of life when she
wondered, "Should she, Mary Delight, marry Harry, or should she
seek knowledge and go to college, or might she at nineteen pierce
her ears and work for Sears?"
Mary was in that common quandary so many who are called
Generation X find themselves in. You know what a quandary is? A
quandary is a puzzling predicament requiring a decision and a
focus. Let's ponder with Mary Delight and see how it is going.
Mary D: (Dressed in a brightly flowered outfit, Mary sings, hums,
whistles a happy, carefree song. She appears on stage with high
energy, doing cartwheels, or rollerblading, or some youthful,
active action. She picks a flower and gives it to a person in the
audience, flits here and there, and then suddenly sits down and
becomes pensive, and ponders) It's been a blast. Cool. That's for
sure. (Thoughtfully) But now I'm in a real bind. Tomorrow is my
twentieth birthday -- I'm getting old! (Laughs) Not really old
old. (Seriously) But I do need to make up my mind.
Should I marry Harry? He says he loves me and I love him,
too, but ...
Or should I get some more knowledge and go to college? Folks
want me to. They said they'd help me anyway they could. Dollars
for scholars.
Or should I take that job at Sears? You know it would be
interesting. Oh, what shall I do? (Wrings her hands, twirls her
curls)
I know, I'll talk to our new pastor -- The Rev. Dr. Emmet J.
Lovet. (To Pastor Lovet) Hi, Pastor Lovet.
Pastor Lovet: Hello, Mary.
Mary D: Pastor, I know you haven't been at our parish very long,
but I do have a personal question to ask you ...
Pastor Lovet: Personal?
Mary D: (Laughs) Personal about me, not you!
Pastor Lovet: Oh. Go ahead.
Mary D: I'll be twenty tomorrow.
Pastor Lovet: So?
Mary D: (Set back by his abrupt, insensitive demeanor) Well, I
must make some decisions for my future.
Pastor Lovet: Fine. Go on. I'm listening. (Reads a book)
Mary D: What I mean is, should I marry Harry, or go to college
and get some knowledge, or pierce my ears and work for Sears?
Pastor Lovet: (In stained-glass voice, insensitively) That's a
real dilemma, Mary. When I was your age I already knew what I
planned to do. Why, when I was twelve years old, I managed the
neighborhood paper route, went on to college, majored in English
and Hebrew, all the while working, working my way through
college, and then seminary ... And furthermore ...
Mary D: ... but I feel ...
Pastor Lovet: No matter what you feel, Miss Mary, here's what I
think ... The Bible says ... (Pastor Lovet freezes)
Mary D: (Turns away, disappointed) No help there. Wish Pastor
Truett was around. He seemed to know exactly how I felt and never
"preached" at me. Maybe I'll talk to my old boss at the Deli.
Sam: Hi, Mary. (Jokingly) You're late or very, very early for
work. (Laughs)
Mary D: Hi, Sam. (Laughs) No, I'm just stopping by to say "Hi"
and ...
Sam: Good to see you, Mary. (Continues to work at baking a
pastry)
Mary D: ... and I just need to talk to someone who will listen to
me.
Sam: (Interrupts) Thanks for staying over the noon hour
yesterday. We sure were rushed and with Nancy gone and all.
Mary D: Oh, no problem. (Pause)
Sam: You're the best.
Mary D: Why, thank you. (Pause) I've been wanting to talk ...
Sam: (Interrupts) I've had three quit on me this year.
Mary D: Oh ... ah ... I'm sorry to hear that ... ah, Mr. Sam,
I've been struggling with ...
Sam: I'm planning on setting up a new department.
Mary D: Oh ...
Sam: Pharmaceuticals -- customers need drugs. They'd really like
that convenience. Can't help but improve business. I could even
give my clerks a raise. (Laughs)
Mary D: Oh, that'd be great. Ah, Sam, I really ...
Sam: Store across the street is my fiercest competitor ... and
... where are you going, Mary?
Mary D: (Mary turns to leave) I need to go. Thanks for listening.
(Rolls her eyes sarcastically)
Sam: Bye. Wonder what she wanted. Little unusual to stop by like
that on her day off. (Sam freezes)
(Mary sees her old teacher)
Mary D: Mr. Harpie!
Harpie: Hi, Mary Delight. Long time ...
Mary D: no see. (Laughs)
Harpie: Been out two years now?
Mary D: Yep. And I do miss the band.
Harpie: That was a great year. Your clarinet solo was awesome.
Mary D: You really thought so?
Harpie: Sure -- I've got eighteen clarinets this year. We're
going to Chicago and then New Orleans for the National Band
Festival. Want to chaperone?
Mary D: Wow, that's great. No, I don't think so. (Pause) Ah, Mr.
Harpie, I was wondering ...
Harpie: Get your way paid.
Mary D: Oh? (Blurts out) I'm trying to decide to decide, do I
marry Harry, or go to college and get some knowledge, or pierce
my ears and work for Sears?
Harpie: (Obviously not listening) Be gone two weeks. We've got a
superb repertoire. All of Sousa's greats. Carl Orff's works, and
some fun pops stuff.
Mary D: I don't think ...
Harpie: I can just see the Towerville High School Band performing
and me directing. (Directs; becomes oblivious to Mary, then
freezes)
Mary D: (Disillusioned) Oh, what am I going to do? (Wrings her
hands, then shouts) Can anybody listen for a minute? Hear me out?
Scooter: Hi, Mary.
Mary D: Oh, hi, Scooter. What do you want?
Scooter: Nuttin'
Mary D: Well ... (Waits for Scooter to talk)
Scooter: I miss talking to you, Mary.
Mary D: Oh, I miss talking to ... really?
Scooter: Yep, you're my pal.
Mary D: And I'm your friend. Say ... ah ... I've got a problem.
(Waits to see if she gets interrupted)
Scooter: I'm all ears.
Mary D: (Looks around in bewilderment; smiles and sits down)
Okay, Scooter -- I have been wondering, tomorrow is my birthday
and I've been thinking ... (conversation fades away as concluding
music is brought up)
The End
Is Anybody Listening?
Luke 8:8b
"As Jesus said this, he called out, 'Let anyone with ears to hear
listen!' "
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
A mother and her small daughter were discussing the dolls in
a department store. "What does it do?" the child would ask about
each one. The mother would answer as each doll was examined, "It
talks," or "It wets," or "It cries." The dolls were rather
expensive, so the mother tried to direct her little girl's
interest toward a plainer doll that was more reasonably priced.
"How about this one?" "Does it do anything?" the child asked.
"Yes," the mother replied. "It listens." And the little girl
quickly and eagerly reached for the doll.1
The Gallup poll, which we are using thematically in this
sermon series, identifies the need to be listened to, to be heard
and understood as the fourth important spiritual need of modern
Americans.
In prior sermons I have dealt with our need for meaning and
purpose, our need for a sense of community and deeper
relationships, and the need to be appreciated and respected. Now
the topic is the need to be listened to and to be heard.
I attended a synod planning meeting recently in Owatonna. It
was a task-focused meeting. We gave reports, we made plans, we
made decisions, and we left. And as we walked out to our cars in
the parking lot, I turned to Bob, the organist from Albert Lea,
and I said, "How's it going for you?" He looked at me and said,
"My father-in-law died this week. No warning -- suddenly died --
in his late fifties." And it struck me like a blow to the head
how nine of us came together for this meeting -- we worked, did
our tasks, and went home, and never took time to listen to the
real issues of our personal lives. So I took a few minutes out
there in that parking lot and listened to Bob's loss and sadness.
In our congregation we are teaching L L D D -- Love, Learn,
Do, and Decide -- as the staple format for our gatherings. We let
the first "L" stand not only for Love but also for Listen.
Paul Tillich said the first duty of love is to listen. And
psychologists say that deep listening is indistinguishable from
love.
Our need to be listened to is critical. Ever feel like you're
talking to a wall? Sometimes your spouse seems like a wall. Or
your child is a wall. Your employee is a wall.
We can sympathize with the little boy who needed a minor
operation. His ward in the hospital had an intercom system which
enabled the floor nurse to talk to her patients. That night,
however, her efforts to reach the boy were in vain. "Timmy," she
said into the intercom, "I know you're there. Why don't you
answer me?" There was a long pause. Then a small, quavering voice
asked, "What do you want, Wall?"2
One day I walked into a department store in the Mall Of
America in the cities and I casually turned to this lady and
said, "It's an amazing store, isn't it?" No response. Thought I
was talking to a wall. But I wasn't. I was talking to a
mannequin. Embarrassing.
Perceptive doctors report that frequently they will see
patients who really have nothing physically wrong with them. They
merely need someone to listen to them.
I know of a bartender who claims that although customers are
billed for their drinks, they are really paying for someone to
listen to them. "Lonely people don't come to a bar just to
drink," he says. "They can drink at home and a lot cheaper. They
come in to my bar to find someone who will listen to them and
usually I'm it."3
Jesus says in our Gospel reading this morning, seven simple
words: "Let anyone with ears to hear -- listen."
Have we lost our ears? On Prime Time recently they carried
the sad story of children born with no eyes. It's a rare disease.
What a tragedy to go through life with no eyes. But I wondered
about a greater tragedy: Are we becoming a generation of children
and adults with no ears? We neither listen nor are listened to.
And when we're not heard, we feel unimportant and discounted.
"Let any one with ears to hear -- listen." I need to be
listened to and heard. Hear my dreams, my frustrations, my joys,
my troubles.
You and I can be encouraged this morning to know in the first
place that God listens. God is not earless.
In Psalm 66:16-19, it is clear:
Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has
done for me. I cried aloud to him, and he was extolled with my
tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would
not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has given heed
to the words of my prayer.
God listens.
And I love that passage in Ezekiel 3:12-15 where the prophet-
priest Ezekiel came to the people of Israel in exile by the river
Chebar and said, in essence, "I sat where they sat." I lived with
them. I felt with them. I wept with them. I sat where they sat.
This is a picture of God, a preview of God coming at Christmas in
the incarnation of Jesus. God came to sit where we sit, to feel
what we feel, to weep when we weep.
A little girl sobbed, "Mother, Susie dropped her doll and
broke it."
"Did you help her fix it?" her mother asked.
"No," said the girl. "But I helped her cry."4
God listens.
We are most blessed when we have a friend, counselor, pastor,
or confidante who listens. How lucky to have a friend who listens
deeper than the words to feelings and aspirations and the wildest
dreams -- what a friend! It's pure bliss to be listened to.
I have a cousin who listens to me. I know he's interested. He
draws me out. He says, "Tell me more." He asks questions; he
probes. He listens. He makes me feel worthwhile. I feel like I am
somebody.
The late Dr. Karl Menninger wrote about the effects of being
listened to in his book Love Against Hate: "When we are listened
to it creates us, makes us unfold and expand ... it makes people
happy and free when they are listened to."
As Christians we are called to the ministry of listening. We
are called to listen in two directions: to God and to others.
First, we listen to God. Luke 19:47-48 says, "Every day Jesus
taught in the temple ... all the people kept listening to him,
not wanting to miss a single word."
A golden opportunity to listen to God is at worship. That's
why we put such a high priority on worship around here. That's
why we emphasize celebrative traditional and contemporary
worship. It is at worship that we listen to God with our ears and
our hearts.
A man lost his watch in a pile of sawdust. Workers went
through it with rakes, but could not find it. When they left for
lunch, a little boy went to the pile and came out a little later
with the watch.
"How did you find it?" they asked.
"I just laid down and listened," he answered.5
When you and I lose something -- happiness, peace of mind, a
sense of forgiveness -- we need to wait on God and listen for the
ticking in the sawdust.
We are called, in the second place, to listen to others.
"Bye, whoever is listening," my son Tim said one morning on his
way to school.
Martin Luther insisted that every Christian is a priest.
Luther listed among the priestly functions of the laity: to pray
for each other, to listen to their sisters' and brothers'
confessions of sin and cries of distress, and to speak God's
cheering word of forgiveness and consolation.
We are called to listen to each other.
But how is this done? Luke 8:18a says, "Then pay attention to
how you listen ..." We listen well when we take the word E A R S
as our guide.
Let E stand for eye. We listen best with our eyes. Eye
contact is unbeatable. The eye lock is a powerful magnet for
connecting with people.
I have a friend who, when she talks to me, is always on the
hunt with her eyes for someone more important or more interesting
to enter the room. She's distracted. But when one's eyes say,
"You are the most important person in my presence at this
moment," it's dynamite. We listen best with concentrated,
connected eyes.
Let A, the second letter in the word EARS, stand for
affection. I listen best when I communicate love for the speaker.
My love moves me to empathy, which is "to feel with someone."
When I sit where he sits, when I feel what she feels, I listen
well. When I say to myself, "God loves this person and I love
him/her, too," it makes a big difference. I listen best with
affection.
Let R stand for reliable. Good listeners never break
confidence. They are trustworthy. They zip the lip.
An inebriated man came stumbling out of a bar and almost
knocked down his minister, who happened to be walking past.
"Oh, Pastor, I'm so sorry for you to see me like this," he
said.
"Well, I don't know why you should be sorry for me to see you
this way, Sam. After all, the Lord sees you now, doesn't he?"
"Yeah," said the drunk, "but he's not such a blabbermouth as
you are."
Good listeners keep confidence. They are reliable.
Let S stand for sparing with advice. People seek not curing,
as Dick Meyer says in his book One Anothering, but caring. It is
more blessed to care than to cure. The good listener is sparing
with advice.
The world is to be listened to and heard. The world needs
EARS.
Listen to the Children
Take a moment to listen today
To what your children are trying to say.
Listen today, whatever you do,
Or they won't be there to listen to you.
Listen to their problems, listen to their needs.
Praise their smallest triumphs, praise their smallest deeds.
Tolerate their chatter, amplify their laughter;
Find out what's the matter, find out what they're after.
But tell them that you love them,
every single night,
And though you scold them, make sure you hold them,
And tell them everything's all right.
Take a moment to listen today
To what your children are trying to say.
Listen today, whatever you do,
And they will come back to listen to you.6
Amen.
____________
1. Source unknown.
2. Faith at Work, Volume 106, No. 4, Fall 1993, p. 3.
3. William Diehl, "Our Ministry of Listening" from Faith In
Action, p. 14.
4. Michael Guido, Guido Evangelistic Association, "Seeds From the
Sower."
5. Ibid.
6. Source unknown.