Hearing and listening

I finished with my sermon on choices and the paths that we choose and the ability God has of opening new possibilities in our lives. I discussed like Paul what would be the blinding light that one would have to experience to open ourselves to God's grace. I also talked about Ananias who could have chosen a path of vengeance and hatred for an enemy and instead traveled that least traveled path of forgiveness, love, and mercy.

This week the lectionary continues with the gospel of John. It focuses on chapter 10:22-30. The entire chapter deals with Jesus as the shepherd and the one who the sheep know. He is the true shepherd as compared to Ezekiel 34 which focuses on the evil shepherd. The image of the good shepherd had messiah overtones. This pericope begins to focus on the confusion about Jesus as to whether or not he is the Messiah. The concern is are the people able to hear the voice of the Master.

I began to reflect on the idea of the hearing versus to listening and to whether or not there is a difference between the two. Tomorrow I will be presenting the Greek for this but I would like to suggest that maybe there is a difference even though we use both words in English to mean the same.

I decided to look up both words at Dictionary.com. For listen as a verb it means to pay attention in order to hear. To hear means not only to listen but to perceive. Maybe what we can discern from the scripture is that the sheep don't just hear the words but they perceive the messenger for who he is.