Having Ears to Hear: How to Listen to a Sermon

By Rev. William M. Cwirla

“Don’t preach to me!”

That usually means something like, “Don’t lecture me! Don’t tell me what to do! Get out of my face and leave me alone!”

Let’s be honest. Listening to a sermon is not one of the more exciting activities in our lives. The apostle Paul called preaching an exercise in foolishness. The Greeks of his day were impressed by rhetoric; his fellow Jews were persuaded by miracles. But preaching a dead and risen Jesus? Foolishness! Don’t shortchange that foolish sermon, however, or that foolish preacher. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10).

So how do we tune those ears to hear on Sunday morning? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Ears to hear are God’s gift.

We’re all born deaf to God’s Word. You can thank Adam and Eve for that. The ears screwed onto the sides of your head may work well enough, but they are not naturally inclined to hear God’s Word. Like the deaf mute in the Gospel, Jesus needs to stick His fingers into our ears and speak His ephphatha. “Be opened!” Don’t think you can improve your Gospel hearing with seven easy steps.

Ears that hear the voice of Jesus are His baptismal gift to you. They used to stick fingers in the ears of the newly baptized and say, “Ephphatha.” It probably tickled. We don’t do that anymore, but the Lord still tickles our ears with His Word to open them. It is His doing, not ours. Our “doing” is to get out of the way so the Lord can have His way.

2. Recognize that we are culturally hard of hearing.

I don’t mean that ringing in your ears caused by blasting your iPods. I’m talking about what all that screen-staring does to our brains. TV, computers, DVD, Powerpoint, video games , movies—we’re a visually-oriented society. We don’t listen nearly as well as previous generations.

Because our brains aren’t tuned to listen, we need to work a little harder to hear. Put away all those distractions—bulletins, books, cell phones, Gameboys. Be sure to get a good night’s sleep. It also helps to read the assigned Scriptures ahead of time. Surprises are for the movies, not sermons.

3. Listen for the Law and the Gospel.

Listen for the Law. It won’t make you feel good about yourself, and you may not like what you hear, but you need to hear the truth. Take what the preacher says personally. He means you, even if it seems that what he says has nothing to do with you.

Listen for the Gospel—the Good News of Jesus’ death and life for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. Take the Gospel personally too. Jesus had you in mind when He hung on the cross. If you’re in doubt about that, go to individual confession and absolution. Absolution is a personal sermon preached to you alone.

4. Think.

Sermons don’t expire after the Benediction. Discuss what you heard in youth group. Jot down a few insights when you get home. You might even want to keep a journal of what you hear from week to week. Discuss your insights with your pastor. We preachers love to know someone is actually listening out there.

5. Don’t expect entertainment.

Sure, preachers tell stories and some use humor, but proclamation is a matter of life and death, not entertainment. Remember, this is God’s Word for you. God specifically arranged for you to hear this sermon, including dragging you out of bed, funneling some breakfast into you, and bringing you to church. Ask yourself, “What is God trying to say to me today?” Expect an answer.

6. Chill.

Preachers have bad days too, just like everyone else. Hall of Fame hitters get on base only one-third of the time. Not everything Picasso painted was a masterpiece. Same goes for preachers.We’re talking ordinary means here. I’ve noticed that my off Sundays are often those days when Jesus is most clearly heard in my preaching. As John the Baptizer once said of cousin Jesus, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” How many times have you heard a sermon from which you recalled all the jokes and stories, but couldn’t remember what the point was?

7. Pray.

Pray for your pastor, especially on Saturday night. Pray that he preaches Jesus, even if all he does is bore you to death with the death of Jesus. He could do worse. And pray that your ears would be opened to hear the life-giving Word that creates and keeps faith in Jesus Christ. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

Rev. William M. Cwirla is pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights , California. The address for his blog is http://blog.higherthings.org/wcwirla/. You can email him at pastor.holytrinity@verizon.net.