A God Who Listens

A God who Listens

 

Aidan and I took Alice, (pictured above) our Australian Shepherd puppy, to her first obedience class last night. She did really well, I am happy to report.  She’s a smart pup. What makes Alice smart, however, is not so much that she is obedient. What our trainer, Allison, told us last night was that Alice watches and listens. When we tell her to “sit” or lie down, she looks us in the eye and awaits her next instruction. When we look at her, we can tell she is waiting to hear what we have to say. Alice is a good listener.

Keep in mind, though, that she is pretty keyed in to the fact that the whole time we are working on her obedience stuff, I have a treat concealed in my hand. The technique we have been taught is all reward-based, so whenever she sits, or lies down, or stays, she gets a nice treat. As long as she thinks I have a treat in my hand, Alice’s eyes never leave mine.

The young humans we live with are no different many times.  One of the things I have noticed about young humans is that requests for assistance in the kitchen, or with the laundry or with the trash, must be repeated several times. I cannot throw any stones in the listening department, however, because I sin frequently. I usually have to ask someone his or her name at least twice. I also will catch myself during intense conversations thinking of what I will say next to my conversation partner. I don’t know about you, but I am not always a great listener.

How great it is, then, that we follow a God who always listens. Unlike many of us, God does not have “selective hearing.” In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus hears and sees people who are sick, and he responds with deep listening. Namely, he heals them. In our Gospel reading from Mark 5 this week, he walks through a crushingly large crowd and he “feels the power go out of him” because a sick woman touches the hem of his garment. “Your faith has made you well…” he tells her. She brought her need literally “out in the open” and tugged not only on Jesus’ ear but on his robe!

What might you share with Jesus if you were in the crowd? We cannot always listen well, but God can and does. A listening God is one who urges us to be honest and open with our pain. Many times, we feel as if we cannot share some things like anger, broknenness or sickness with God, but our Gospel for this week shows us that we can! We do not have to hold "treats" in our hand, either. We feel many times that we must be righteous, or prayerful or good in order for God to listen to us. God does not listen selectively- God listens, all the time!  AMEN