The Simplicity of Listening

In one paragraph

Pastor Brian was away, and Joy spoke in his place, with contributions from the congregation throughout. The message picked up where Brian left off the previous week on simple obedience, and it turned on one idea: the Hebrew word shema means both listening and obeying at once, and you cannot have one without the other. Tribe's word for 2024 is finding clarity in increasing complexity. Joy opened by...

Read together

1. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 the Shema, read in multiple translations as the central text on listening and obeying
2. Exodus 19:5-6 God's conditional promise to Israel, used to show shema translated as both obey and listen
3. James 1:22-24 being a hearer and not a doer compared to forgetting your face in a mirror
4. Matthew 7:26-27 building your house on sand, closing the Sermon on the Mount, used to illustrate hearing without obeying
5. 1 Kings 19:9-13 Elijah at the cave, God speaking in a gentle whisper rather than wind, earthquake or fire
6. Exodus 20:20 Moses telling the people God tests them so the fear of the Lord keeps them from sinning, shared from the congregation

Talk about it

1. The speaker said that in Hebrew, the word 'shema' means both listening and obeying at the same time, not one without the other. Where in your own life have you been doing a lot of activity that you haven't actually stopped to listen about first?
2. The speaker drew a contrast between the crowds who followed Jesus and the apprentices or disciples who actually did what he said. Honestly, which of those two does your life look more like right now, and what does the difference look like day to day?
3. Elijah heard God not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in a gentle whisper. What are the loudest inputs in your life right now that might be making it hard to hear something that quiet?
4. The speaker suggested starting with a ridiculously small amount of time, sitting quietly with pen and paper, and simply asking God 'what do you want me to know about...' and writing down the first thing that comes to mind. What gets in the way of you doing something that simple, and what would it take to actually try it this week?
5. Someone in the group shared that when they get a strange word or picture while listening, they don't dismiss it but don't try to figure it out either. They hold it and keep coming back to it. Have you ever had an experience like that, and what happened when you sat with it instead of rushing to define it?