Luke 18:35-43
One time Jesus was questioned by a teacher as to “the most important law, the most important thing”. His answer: “Love God, Love Neighbor.” Recognize that you are created and live and breathe because of God’s power. Honor and love God. Recognize that all humans are created by God’s power and share the same Heavenly Father. Treat all humans as your sisters and brothers. Treat them… as you would wish to be treated. Love God, Love Neighbor. Jesus stated this as the most important thing that we should be doing.
But if we forget who God is….. and if we forget who our neighbor is…. Things can go very wrong. We experience this presently in our politics; where people of different political parties don’t even recognize each other as mutual citizens of the same country. We resort to name-calling. And if we can’t even recognize each other as fellow-Americans, how can we possibly see each other as brothers and sisters, created by the same heavenly father?? We see faces, and words, and attitudes that result from ignoring God, and saying “you are NOT my neighbor.” We’re stunned, we’re saddened, we’re sometimes frightened by the open hostility and violence.
In the middle of this anger and hatred… how do we as Jesus followers live out the “golden rule”? How do we love God and love our neighbor?
Two weeks ago we began a sermon series called “BLESS”. It is based on Genesis 12:1-3 where God said to Abraham “I will bless you… in order that all nations will be blessed by you.” It, too, is a way of saying “Love God, Love Neighbor.” Recognize how blessed you are by God. And then reach out and bless those around you.
We are loved by God….. so that we can love others.
We are reached by God…. So that we can reach out to others.
We are saved by God… so that we can participate in the saving of others.
We are blessed by God…. So that we can be a blessing to others.
How can we love our neighbor? How can we bless our neighbor?
How can we do that? We often feel so weak and unable to do so.
This is the theme of our sermon series: BLESS
1. Begin with Prayer. 2. Listen with care 3. Eat together 4. Serve with Love 5. Share your story
Our theme this week is LISTEN. LISTEN with care…..
Listen with Care
Our text this morning is from Luke 18:35-43.
Jesus is traveling with his disciples to Jerusalem, passing through Jericho. On their way to the Passover feast. Huge crowds, lots of noise. A blind man calls out. “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!!” Others try to shut him down, but Jesus hears him and says, “bring him to me.” Then Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?”. “Lord, I want to see” he says. Jesus then heals him saying, “Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you.”
LISTENING TO PEOPLE
Jesus listened well. “What is it you want me to do for you?” He didn’t assume that he already knew what the blind man wanted.
Listening really well to another person requires skill and practice. It is not something that is easy for everyone.
When we think of the chaos and problems that we often see around us, and see people clashing in the streets and fighting with sticks and fists we know one thing for certain….. no one is really listening to the other.
But we have to admit that it’s difficult to really listen even to the people that are closest to us. Even among couples, perhaps “you’re not really listening to me!” is one of the most common complaints.
Sometimes we may find that rather than really listening to someone, we are merely rehearsing what we want to say next. The opposite of listening is not speaking, but “waiting to speak”. Have you ever experienced that?
To understand where a person is emotionally, the following questions may help:
“What are you most excited about?”
“What are you most anxious about?”
These may be questions that help us ascertain a person’s “emotional location.”
They may lead us to the question Jesus asked:
“What is it that I could do for you?”
“How can I bless you today?”
This kind of listening and responding has often been referred to as “playing catch”, as opposed to playing tennis or ping pong, where you’re trying to score a point.
LISTENING TO PLACES
Reading the paper, attending community events, being part of the PTA, or volunteer groups, or political action groups – all of these allow us to “listen” to a place. How could we “listen carefully” here in our neighborhood? Most of us no longer live here. What could we do to “better hear” where our neighbors are?
CONCLUSION
Please close your eyes with me. Picture people around you who are needy. Imagine a God who desires to reach out to each of those folks. Last time we began with prayer. We prayed to be available.
Are you available today? Are you willing to pray that way?
Today, we have talked about listening well. “Lord, how can we really listen well to those around us? Help us in our conversations to be good listeners Lord. Let us ask more questions, and offer less answers. Let us truly understand the emotional location of people. Finally, help us to listen to our neighborhood here as well. How can JCC bless this part of Seattle?”
(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on July 9, 2023. It is part 2 of our 5-part sermon series entitled: BLESS. BLESS is an acronym describing 5 things that we do in order to bless those around us: 1. Begin with prayer 2. Listen with Care 3. Eat together 4. Serve with Love 5. Share our Story)
Japanese Congregational Church 