“THE FEAR OF OPEN EARS”

LUKE 20:27-38

27  Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him

28  and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.

29  Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless;

30  then the second

31  and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless.

32  Finally the woman also died.

33  In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."

34  Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage;

35  but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

36  Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.

37  And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

38  Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."

39  Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well."

I don’t want to hear it.  When was the last time you said that to someone?  Maybe you said it when you were in the supermarket, standing in the checkout line, and your toddler kept nagging you for a candy bar.  Maybe you said it when you had a really bad day and someone started telling you all their problems.  Or, maybe it’s something you’re going to say next year when you all those Yankee fans shouting that irritating chant of “1918.” Oh wait.  They can’t do that any more.  Well, you get the idea.

There are lots of different situations where you might be tempted to let someone know that you don’t want to hear it.  Sometimes you want to say that even though someone is trying to tell you the truth, even though they’re trying to tell you something you need to hear.  It could be something you need to hear about a friend or a situation you’re in or your attitude about something.  Instead of listening with an open mind though you wave the person off.  You let the person know in no uncertain terms that you don’t want to hear it.

Of course that could only be delaying the inevitable.  That’s because most of the time the truth is always going to catch up to you whether you like it or not.  Take the robber out in Los Angeles who found himself standing in a police lineup one day. The robber did his best to avoid the truth. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse when the detectives told each of the men in the lineup to say the words, “Give me all your money or I’ll shoot.”  That’s when the robber lost his cool and shouted, “That’s not what I said.”

When you look at the conversation that the Sadducees had with Jesus outside the Temple you see that they were doing their best to avoid the truth.  It all started when the Sadducees when to Jesus with a question about the resurrection.  Now the Sadducees didn’t believe in life after death.  The Pharisees did, but the Sadducees didn’t.  So, they came up with the hypothetical situation.  It involved a woman who had seven husbands before she died.  What the Sadducees wanted to know was whose wife the woman would be in the life to come. 

Jesus answered the question by letting them know that things in heaven are going to be very different than the way they are here on earth.  Relationships in heaven are going to be very different from the way they are here on earth. So, the question was really irrelevant.  Jesus then went on to point out that when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush God spoke of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as though they were still alive.  That answer really flustered the Sadducees.  It flustered them so much that the only thing they could do was walk away while muttering to themselves.  It was such a good answer that even the scribes, who often argued with Jesus themselves, praised Jesus for the way he handled the question.

Sometimes it’s hard to listen to the truth.  You wave the person off and make it clear that you don’t want to hear it.  Sometimes it’s because it means you made a mistake and you have to change your mind about something.  It means you have to admit that you were wrong.

Some time ago Theatre Arts magazine printed a letter from a subscriber.  In the letter the subscriber talked about his attempt to call the magazine.  Since he didn’t have the number he dialed information.  “I’d like the number for Theatre Arts,” the man said.  “I’m sorry,” the operator replied.  “but there is no listing for a Theodore Arts.” “No. No,” the man said.  “It’s not a person.  It’s a publication.”  Unfortunately, that attempt to clarify things didn’t help.  The operator just raised her voice a little and said very firmly, “I told you.  There is no listing under the name Theodore Arts.”  “Look,” the man said.  “The word is theatre.  T-H-E-A-T-R-E.”  “Sir,” the operator said indignantly, “that’s not the way to spell Theodore.”

Sometimes it’s hard to listen to the truth because it means you have to admit that you were wrong.  Sometimes it’s hard to listen to the truth because it hurts. It hurts you’re your son comes to you because you’re getting along in years and tells you that it really isn’t safe for you to be driving anymore.  It hurts when someone comes to you and tells you that someone you love really can’t be trusted.  It hurts when the school calls because your son is in trouble and you really don’t want to accept the fact that the problem really is his fault.

Jesus said once that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.  While that may be true author Aldous Huxley was also right when he said you shall know the truth and it shall make you mad. 

When you come face to face with the truth you always have to make a decision.  Am I going to be open to the truth even if it makes me angry?  Or, am I going to let the person know that I don’t want to hear it?

The Sadducees answered that question by walking away from Jesus.  In doing that though they only cheated themselves.  Because they didn’t want to hear what Jesus had to say they lived their entire lives with the belief that once you’re dead that’s it.  No heavenly banquet. No everlasting joy.  No peace that passes all understanding in God’s kingdom where God will wipe away every tear and neither shall there be weeping or cry or pain any more.  (Revelation 21:4)

God is always reaching out to you with the truth that you need to hear.  Sometimes it comes to you through someone who loves you very much and sometimes it comes to you through someone who’s a complete stranger. 

It could be a message that you need to let go of your bitterness about something that happened years ago.  You need to let go of it so you can get on with your life. It could be a message that you need to face up to a problem that you’ve been trying to avoid.  It could be a message that you need to let go of a hope that a relationship or a job situation is going to get better.  You need to do that so you can go out and find someone who is really going to love you or a job that is really rewarding.  It could be a message that you need to make some major changes in your life.  Maybe you’re putting too much emphasis on material things and not enough emphasis on spiritual things.  It could be a message that you need to stop being so hard on yourself and so God can love you.

The Sadducees didn’t want to hear the truth.  Jesus was right, but instead of listening to him they just walked away.  That’s the choice you always get to make when it comes to the truth.  Am I going to listen to the truth or am I going to hold on to my prejudices, my false hopes, my irrational fears and my selfish attitudes?

When you open your ears and your heart to the truth that’s when God comes into your life to do amazing things.  Many years ago when I was in Maine I had an elderly parishioner who was diagnosed with cancer.  The news was devastating not only to himself but to his wife of almost sixty years and his entire family.  Over the next several months the elderly man battled his cancer with great courage and concern for his family.  Eventually he ended up in the hospital.  One day when I stopped in to see him he asked me to come back the following Tuesday at 2 o’clock.  He wanted me to be there to talk to his doctor about his treatments.  I was a little surprised by that request but agreed to be there.  Well, things got really interesting when Tuesday rolled around and I walked into his room.  The elderly man’s wife and daughter were there.  “The doctor’s down the hall,” he said.  By now I was really confused.  I walked down the hall though and introduced myself to the doctor.  I told him that I was the elderly man’s pastor and said, “He wants me to talk to you about his treatments.”  At that point the doctor looked at me with a puzzled look on his face and said, “What do you mean?  There are no more treatments.  We’ve done everything we can do.”  Immediately, the fog lifted and I knew why I was there.  I walked back to the elderly man’s room and said to him, “You don’t want to fight this anymore do you?”  “No,” he whispered.  I then turned to his wife and daughter and asked,  “Can you love him enough to let him go?”  With tears streaming down the sides of their faces they both said yes with a nod of their heads.  I then left them to being saying their sacred good-byes to each other.

Sometimes the truth hurts and you really don’t want to hear it.  It is only by letting the truth in though that you can find God’s amazing grace and God’s awesome goodness.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 7, 2004