Listen

       One thing about humans, we have a penchant for wanting to get in the last word. We want to testify to our truth and be the last to say it, to proclaim that truth and own it above everyone else.  So much for two ears for listening and only one mouth for speaking. There appears to be little room for listening these days. Life is like a bad argument. You can barely wait while the other person talks ( or yells ) but not to actually listen to them but to then bombard the opponent with a fierce rebuttal or simply go off with a disconnected response to support our own agenda, argument, thesis or whatever.  Listening seems a lost art. Listening is sorely needed. Funny thing? I thought it was one of my best classes in Seminary. Just on listening.

       So, Paul finally gets to testify to King Agrippa. Paul gets his say, his 15 minutes of fame in front of the authority. Is that what we want?  What is it we wish to testify to? In earnest, if called upon to answer for our life, what would be your defense? How would you explain yourself? What truth would you convey as a believer or as a 'saint' of the church or simply as a person?  

        There are so many acts of violence that testify to how unfaithful we are, in almost every religion from Christianity to Judaism to Islam and onward.  How will we answer to a God who has shown us love?  I suppose too, how would we answer for a lack of respect for the 'other', God's other chosen child? How do we answer for not loving others the way God loves us? 

         As the line in Hamilton goes, "Smile more, talk less". How about 'listen more, talk less'. Listen with a full heart of thankfulness, praise for God an an earnestness to learn. Know God loves them at least as much as God loves you.

Acts 26:1-23

Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You have permission to speak for yourself.’ Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:

 ‘I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defence today against all the accusations of the Jews, because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.

 ‘All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

 ‘Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

 ‘With this in mind, I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

 ‘After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’