My phone tells me how much sound has come through my earphones over the last week. Apparently, Apple cares about my hearing health. What do we do when a sound is just too loud? Someone told me of a church that issues earplugs for guests to shield them from the sound of the service. Seriously? I walked into an auditorium as the microphones resounded with deafening feedback through the system. I instinctively covered my ears. Finally, I stepped out of the room. What makes you cover your ears?
Not everyone who can hear wants to hear. When Stephen shared his vision of heaven with the religious “who’s who” of Israel, many of them covered their ears. They didn’t want to hear about Jesus standing at the right hand of God. They left the room and picked up rocks. Dragging Stephen out of town they began to stone him to death. But who would hold their jackets? A young scholar named Saul offered to help out. He gave explicit approval to those who stoned Stephen.
The truth hurts, sometimes! Can you believe Saul heard Stephen’s whole sermon about God’s work in the history of Israel? But he approved of those who killed Stephen. Jesus said, “Let him who has ears to hear . . .” Do we have ears? Let us listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church today.
If there were a gauge on our phones to tell us how loudly we had heard the voice of the Spirit this week, what would it say? Our greatest danger is not hearing too much about Jesus, but too little. When we open our ears, we may open our hearts, and hear God’s still, small voice. God’s message through God’s messenger never seeks to harm us but to heal us.
