Acts 3; Listen

I am struck by two different things in this chapter. First, there is Peter's statement to the blind man. “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you." How often do we think that change can only be made by those with big budgets? How often do we think in terms of "The silver and gold that I do have, I give you." The sad thing is that we then go on our merry way feeling as if we had done something outstanding. We miss transformation moments because we give people financial assistance rather than Jesus.

Second, Peter preached the words of Moses which basically said "listen to the Messiah or be cut off." Those words made me think of the many people who have never heard of the Messiah. They made me think about people I knew that have died without hearing them. They also made me consider the time we spend bickering over how to interpret some of those words. When its all said and done, perhaps the most important thing it made me think of was "am I still listening?"

I was raised with the mindset that God spoke and it was recorded. The revelation was concluded and now we refer back to those words. Yet I believe there is more. The timely words of a friend, the advice of a coworker, the recorded words of a wise author -- surely the words of God take shape in human voice. I imagine he speaks much more than I listen. In addition to the recorded word, he has a history of speaking through prophets, dreams, burning bushes, and even donkeys. Scripture rarely refers to a deficit in his communication; rather, it is the phrase "he who has ears to hear, let him hear" that seem to show up with frequency. So if he still speaks and Peter calls us to listen or be cut off, the question of the day is "Am I listening?" Are my ears attuned to his voice? Do I hear a phrase or receive a message and perceive who the real author is? Do I allow him outside of the book? Am I listening?

Mark 4:21-25; Contemplate

Contemplate. It is a word that we don't use much anymore. It brings up images of people sitting in one spot with their eyes closed and maybe even humming softly to themselves. For others it sounds like hard work or even frustrating work. For all of us it means exiting the fast lane for a period of time. Perhaps that is why it is so infrequently practiced.

Jesus called his disciples to contemplate or consider carefully what he was saying. It was not "just do it" but rather "if you don't focus on this now, you may never understand". He called us to deeper knowing.

It is an intriguing and perhaps scary to know that by contemplation I can come to understand much more but that without it, I will actually lose what I have already understood. Therefore it is impossible to "arrive" at a spirituality that does not require ongoing effort. To be spiritual requires listening. To listen requires effort. To truly live requires effort. It requires the effort of focus and the effort of not "just doing" until we have truly heard.