Delivered May 25, 2008
by Pastor Marilyn Henderson
His friend was astounded, "What? You must be crazy. You couldn't possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!"
"No, I'm sure of it," the Native American said, "I heard a cricket."
"That's crazy," said the friend.
The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed.
"That's incredible," said his friend. "You must have super-human ears!"
"No," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours."
"But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in this noise."
"Yes, you could," came the reply. "Here, let me show you."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within 5 metres turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs.
"See what I mean?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on what's important to you, on what you're listening for."
The author of this psalm, Asaph, was not only a musician but a seer or prophet as well. It's pretty obvious Asaph was listening to God.
"I hear a voice I had not known ..."
Various people in the Bible heard the voice of God but didn't know who it was at first - like Abraham and Jacob, Moses, some of the judges, Samuel, David, all the disciples, Paul and on into the present day. Most of the time these folks weren't listening for God exactly, but they were paying attention to what they heard - just like our Native American friend.
Last week Eric handed out this blue half sheet that gives some helpful hints for reading and understanding the Psalms. The second sentence states, "They are words spoken to or about God, not from God." Well, when I read our text for today, 6-16 of Ps. 81, the voice is God's. So, like most things, there are exceptions to the rules. The first phrase that jumped out at me is in 8, "O Israel, if you would but listen to me!" It's repeated again in 13, "O that my people would listen to me ..." As I thought about the phrase, it seemed to emote a sense of desire and longing - even yearning - on God's part for people to pay attention to Him, to take their relationship with God seriously. Some scholars believe this psalm was used to help the Israelites of Judah remember what had happened to the former northern kingdom of Israel. Because Israel and her kings continually broke their covenant with God and didn't listen to Him, God allowed the Assyrians to conquer and scatter the northern kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians were so thorough that we continue to refer to the former inhabitants of the ancient northern kingdom as the ten lost tribes.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said.
So one day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who 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 till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Surprised and taken aback, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming." The Bolivian ambassador was the only person in that whole receiving line that was paying attention to the host and "listening for the cricket."
President Roosevelt knew that most of the people weren't paying attention or listening to his greeting because they responded inappropriately to his outrageous greeting. God knew the Israelites weren't listening to Him because of the second phrase I noticed in 13. "O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!"
Listening, in God's opinion, is not merely an auditory activity. True listening involves a thoughtful response to what God has said. In this text, God longs for the children of Israel to hear and do what God has commanded - the Ten Commandments. He even states the first commandment in 9: "There shall be no strange god among you ..." In order to be followers of God, in a right or righteous relationship with God, the Israelites needed to not only hear God but respond appropriately.
When our relationship began to get serious, Eric and I didn't think about dating other people. We were in love with each other and not interested in anyone else, so much so that we married each other. It was great fun getting to know each other's likes and dislikes. It was enjoyable to find things to do and make things to eat that the other preferred. In a way, we were "listening for the cricket" because we were so tuned in to each other.
God wanted His relationship with His people to be similar to a marriage in which each partner listens to the other and cooperates with what the other prefers because of their love. I believe that continues to be what God wants in His relationship with His people. In order to be disciples of God, to be followers of God in a righteous relationship with God, we need to not only hear God but we need to respond to God appropriately.
So, if God was calling the ancient Israelites to a right or righteous relationship with Him by wholeheartedly following His ways, what does this mean for us today in Petitcodiac and Moncton and Shediac and Fredericton and Coles Island and Alma and Havelock and all the other places we live and work? Psalm 81 was written a long time ago. Are we "listening for the cricket?"
In choosing to be disciples of Jesus, in essence we have said that we will follow God so closely that God's likes and dislikes will become as familiar as our own. If we are serious about this, we must deal with the fact that God desires that we return His love for us in tangible expressions of action as responses to "His ways" or commandments. There's no input without output! Jesus explains what loving him means in John 14:
15 'If you love me, you will keep* my commandments.
21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.'
23Jesus answered him, 'Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
The commandments were summed up by a lawyer in his interaction with Jesus:
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.* 'Teacher,' he said, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
26He said to him, 'What is written in the law? What do you read there?'
27He answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself. Jesus said, You have given the right answer. Go and do it.' Loving God, loving the other and loving oneself.
In Matthew 5 God gives his disciples a new spin on what's required of a follower of Jesus-Who-Is-God. Remember, a disciple is someone chosen by a teacher to follow that teacher so closely that they eventually think and act and speak like their teacher.
3 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 'Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for their right relationship with God
11 'Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely* on my account.
12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
"Listen for the cricket." The beatitudes paint a picture of what the reign of God will be like, when those in the kingdom have fully realized their God-given characters and have become the beatitudes. In God's kingdom all God-lovers will find their ultimate reward.
But ... we need to "listen for the cricket." The Native American proved to his friend that one doesn't need silence to be able to hear a cricket. One does need to be listening, however. One may even need to practice.
I've had good intentions for quite some time of regularly being silent and listening to God. I've been successful sporadically. This week, about Wed., I decided that I would spend 10 minutes in a chair away from my desk just being quiet.
The amazing things that came into my mind while I was in that chair! I couldn't believe some of the incredibly insightful and profound thoughts I had while I was supposed to be listening to God! The "inner" noise was tremendous! I think I was successful in being truly present to God maybe a third of the time.
"Listening for the cricket ..." can be done, but it might take some practice. I'll continue to sit in that chair for 10 minutes every day and keep tossing out all the spam that flies into my mind until I get better at this thing of listening and being present to God.
True listening also requires appropriate response. Perhaps God has been tugging at your heart this morning or this week or for a time about something. We show our love for God by willingly following the ways of God, by obeying His commandments.
It seemed that making time today for a personal response to God's message to us would be appropriate. I've provided pink paper on a couple of tables here in the front. If you care to participate, I'm suggesting that you come and tear off a piece of paper, listening to the sound as you tear. Perhaps you want to write whatever God has been saying to you on it. Stick it wherever you'll see it regularly this week as a reminder. And now, let's "listen for the cricket!"
Petitcodiac Mennonite Church