Ears Before Eyes

When it comes to vision, the ears have it.

The great patriarch, Abraham, was a man without vision – he had no idea where he was going. But he had really big ears.

There is something in the nature of faith that is fundamentally blind. Instead, “my sheep HEAR my voice and they follow”.

Churches spend an excessive amount of time on ‘vision casting’. I think that it is because we like to have a clear idea of where we are going. It helps us to feel like we have things under control.

Perhaps we should close our eyes more and listen: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

The rhythm of God’s revelation and our listening response is essential to the life of the church. This is what we practice in our worship times and what, we hope, translates into our everyday lives.

Over the next seven weeks at Southpoint, we hope to cultivate opportunities to listen. A number of voices will be sharing during the message time from the first three chapters of Revelation where we hear Jesus speaking to the seven churches. We will have opportunity to practice listening during the worship time through listening exercises. Each Sunday, three communion stations will be available and you can find someone to listen (pray) with you when you receive communion. Many of the Southpoint Leaders are planning to attend a special seminar at the Carey Centre on the practice of corporate listening. And we also hope to restart Southpoint Central on Wednesday, January 13th as a time to gather, eat and listen together.

And so the focus needs to be more on direction than on the final vision with the expectation that God will lead us to a great, good place that is beyond our imagination. And that direction is given by God when we need it and as we listen to the still, small voice.