Are You Listening To Your Father?

Some people would think it cute as they point to the corner where a mom is saying something to her son. In defiance this little man sits both hands over his ears. Cute and comical, but not to the lad and less to the mom.
Fast forward a few years. Remember those times when the older a children gets, the less they want to listen? They want to do their own thing. Rules do not sit well with them. Oh, there are times they listen and even acknowledge we exist and we might know something they don’t, but don’t be deceived, it’s only a cover. The best one of all is asking the teen to turn down their stereo. They reply, “Can’t hear you”. Go figure.
As we raise our children in a society that told us there is always a scientific reason for everything, we ask what the science is behind a child ignoring their parents. Just to let you know, I ignored my parents a few time. Okay, a good number of times. “Don’t play with fire!” Okay, but we did put it out in time. “Don’t play on the construction companies bulldozer”. The nice police man turned it back off. “Do not, I repeat do not smoke or drink, it’s not good for you”. They were right, so I found out. There are probably more but you will have to catch me off guard to find out the rest. Like, the shotgun shell and the screwdriver.
The more mature in this crowd will admit, there were times, intermingled with the defiance when they did listen a lot of times. The irony of this whole thing is, you even tried things your parents never even dreamed about. I’ll let you in on something, they tried things you children never know even existed, “way back when”.
So why do we point a finger at Adam and Eve who didn’t listen? Is it not strange that one of the first stories our bible contains is a child of God figuratively covering their ears? We can all trace our ancestry back to Adam and Eve. Don’t try, but we can. Some would say we are chip off the old block.
Move ahead in time a few years. There we meet the preacher, Jonah. Nice guy, knew all the stories, even the Adam and Eve one. He probably had daily devotions where he read his bible and could even recite memory verses and passages of scripture. The congregation liked him. Many listened to him and some even put to practice some of the things he suggested. If he was around today, he would not only have a big church holding 20,000 people but he would have books, tapes, CD’s, radio shows and of course, a prime time tv show. But the greatest things about this evangelist was, God talked to him. And what did he do, he put his hands over his ears.
God said, “Go preach in Nineveh”. He said he want to go to Tarshish. God told him to walk over and he said he wanted a boat ride. Took him a while to get the picture. And when he did what God asked, he complained because the people repented.
It doesn’t take us long to list others, the spies, Saul, David, Peter, Me . . .
But then we turn the page. We read of the high points where people do listen. We read of Noah, of David turning the corner. We visualize the events of Job’s life and know that Peter came around. The disciples fled and hid themselves in a locked room. Until the women came to tell them Christ arose. This is what is says, “Peter got up and RAN to the tomb.”
By reading all these stories we are not discouraged. We will listen as well. We will, when we are tired of making mistakes and doing our own thing. Hear the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, I will give you rest.” It is something akin to our change of heart. Baptism is one of those events. Baptism is when we declare to the world what has already happened in our hearts.
When Jesus presented Himself to be baptized by John, John did not want to listen. But in that sacred moment, standing face to face, John heard these words, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this . . . ” John wanted to be baptized by Jesus. Picture it. Imagine in your mind this amazing scene. John is standing waist deep in the Jordan River, His heart must have been racing a mile a minute. He takes Jesus in his arms, says a prayer and lowers him into the water. The voice from heaven concludes, “with Him I am well pleased.” Are you listening?