Everyone's Entitled to My Opinion: About Hearing God's Word

You make your way down the dusty street. It’s late afternoon and the heat of the day is at its height--it will be good to finally sit down and rest. Your soul is tired, worn out, and thirsty as well. The home you enter smells of fresh bread, perspiration and dye--this last smell because the woman who lives there deals in cloth and fabric. She greets you at the door. Some of your family has already arrived so you take your place quickly. You don’t have to wait long. The leader of the small group carefully unwraps a papyrus sheet and begins to read out loud.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: grace and peace to you from God our Father . . .

The sound of the pastor’s voice gently works it’s way through the room and the words find deep passage into your ears. The sound of the words engage your mind, they vibrate into your spirit as well: you are hearing the word of God.

Since the very beginnings of the church most believers have received the scriptures by listening. How many of us listen to the word of God today?

Our common experience of sitting down and reading a Bible we hold in our hands is something relatively new. For centuries church services included reading from both the Old and New testaments because books were expensive and consequently rare. Believers trained themselves to attend to the word of God as it was spoken, to capture the words with their minds and digest them with their heart. And they did so together, in community.

I’d like to suggest that God designed us in such a way that we benefit by hearing the words of life. Does that seem strange to you? Imagine husbands and wives reading out loud together; friends gathered in a room with but one copy of the Bible--all of them receiving the spoken word. Imagine an assembly of people hungry to hear the voice of God.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with reading the Bible: I recommend it! But in my opinion we should find a way to let the word of God enter through our ears as well.