The incident I described yesterday wasn’t the last time I messed up as a church pianist. Sometimes a song had to be cut out from the service due to lack of time, and I missed the memo and started playing it anyway. Sometimes the director would change hymns by holding up fingers for the new number – but I couldn’t see that far away without my glasses. Sometimes the music minister would ask for the congregation to sing the last chorus a capella (without instrumental accompaniment), and I would keep playing. Ears, eyes, paying attention – all important body parts and skills for a church pianist.
The prophet Isaiah spoke about listening and paying attention in the passage printed below, indicating that God is well aware of our tendency to not really hear Him. So often we don’t truly listen! We hear, and we know what we’re supposed to do, but we don’t do it. This passage is quoted multiple times in the New Testament as well.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus quotes Isaiah when He tells the parable of the sower. In Matthew 13:11, Jesus says, “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
He explains that some people don’t understand what they hear in the first place. Other people hear about God’s kingdom and are filled with joy – for a while. But they don’t let God’s word take root in their lives, so when trouble comes, they give up on God. Some people hear, but their worries about life and money take precedence in their lives, and they never produce any fruit for the kingdom – they never help anyone else, but just focus on their own lives.
But then there are the people who do truly listen. They hear the word of God, they understand it, and they produce a bountiful crop of blessings for others! Jesus praises his disciples for being this kind of person in verse 16: “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Isaiah 6:9-10