“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Matthew 13:43
Yesterday, I was sitting in a room full of pastors and leaders as they talked about their various ministries in the community. I was setting beside a ‘priestly’ friend of mine and did what I USUALLY do in settings such as this. Instead of listening to every word of the speaker, I leaned over, tapped my friend on the shoulder and asked him a question. I KNEW I had committed a grievous error when the next words out of my mouth were, “HUH?” I felt like a dummy!
I own a REALLY nice set of ‘state of the art’ hearing aids. It took a long time for me to realize that I needed them and even longer to finally make the appointment to get them. Their expense ALONE should be a painful reminder to ‘never leave home without them! But I have… far too often! Then, when I am in conversation, just like Pavlov’s dog, my head immediately drops in shame when I HEAR the word “HUH?” escape my lips. What kind of fool forgets something so important? You guessed it!
I try to rationalize my forgetfulness. It is true that I DO spend a LOT of time alone…studying, praying, working around the house or church… resting! When alone, I don’t NEED assistance in hearing MYSELF! I hear ME ALL the time… and sometimes I nauseate myself! But when I KNOW I am going into a meeting or to talk with someone, I NEED to have those hearing aids if I want to listen and communicate well. Nodding yes to an unknown statement someone said, in counseling, can be a VERY bad thing! I know… I’ve done it!
When I read this verse today I smiled. It is a good one to me because, to some people’s chagrin, ‘I’ am one of ‘The Righteous’ this verse talks about. And one day ‘I’ will shine like Jesus says. But this verse starts with the word ‘then!’ Which means it is connected to a something before it. So I looked it up! Verses before this one say, “at the end of the age… the Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Do you hear that?
Children are good a playing the ‘nya nya’ game…a Japanese term for the sound of a cat. “Nya Nya.. my house is better than your-ors! My daddy’s stronger than your-ors!” The purpose is to make the other person FEEL bad… even if the statement isn’t true. But THIS verse isn’t meant for comparative purposes. It is a FACT of judgment that should give even the NEWEST Christian a supernatural motivation!
EVERYONE has ears. That is the point Jesus is trying to make. If we HAVE them… He EXPECTS us to make USE of them! To LISTEN and APPLY what He, the Lord of the Universe, is saying. The war of the universe is raging and casualties are stacking up! If I have been redeemed, I have no right or time to ‘nya-nya’ ANYONE. The Business of the Father MUST become MY business. And HIS business is to seek and save those who haven’t heard the Good News yet. THAT would make ME…a HEARING AID! To forget THAT… would make me a fool!
