Introduction:

 Will you allow me to make a quick survey?  Raise your right hand if you are that type of person who is bothered by silence.  I mean how many of you feel restless when you’re not hearing anything?
 Whether we have realized it or not, we are accustomed to noise, and we grow restless, we can’t stand it when we are not hearing a noise.  Surely, there is a degree of tolerance.  Some don’t want too much sound or noise but anyway they don’t want pure quietness.  Our world is filled with the noise of endless music.  In order not to miss the sounds, we bring walkman and bring it everywhere.  I find it hard to find a place where all I can do is reflect and be refreshed.  There is a noise everywhere!  From the bus to our offices, in the cafeteria, in our house and it is not only confined in one place but we put speakers in every room and corner so we won’t miss the sound.  Television is not just in the living room.  It infiltrated all the rooms in the house.  We turn on our radio in the morning right after our habitual, traditional, unmeaningful morning prayer.  We can’t stand the quietness and the solitude.
 What’s wrong with the noise especially when it is moderate?  Gordon MacDonald said, “It would not be hard to believe that the archenemy of God has conspired to surround us at every conceivable point in our lives with the interfering noises of civilization that usually drown out the voice of God.  He who walks with God will tell you plainly, God does not usually shout to make Himself heard.”  We surely cannot deny that the most meaningful and deep thought or reflection comes during those times of rhythmic withdrawal when we break from routines, from other relationships, from the demands and noise of the outer world.  Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “We need to find God and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of the silence.  See how nature--trees, flowers, grass--grow in silence; see the stars, the moon and sun, how they move in silence. . .the more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.  We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

  I.  Example from the Scripture of those who take time to listen to God.

 We recall the account when the angel visited Zechariah to tell him that his wife Elizabeth will bear a son because his prayer has been heard.  They were to become parent of the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist.  During the course of the angel’s announcement,  Zechariah raised a potential question or concern.  Let’s pick it up in Luke 1:18-20.  Verse 20 says, “And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens. . .”  Why such an immediate and strong rebuke?  One possible reason for such an immediate and strong rebuke is the fact that God wanted Zechariah to think and reflect of what He can do; that old age would never be a problem to give them a son.  It is true that when we never stop bringing out what is in our minds, we hardly hear God.  The problem is when we don’t stop speaking and airing our alibis and excuses, we only hear ourselves.  Along the process, we don’t hear God and reflect what He can do.  Mary was different.  When she heard words of confirmation through the Shepherds that she was the privileged woman to bear the Savior who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:19 said, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  Like Mary, we should give silence and solitude a space in our hearts.  Let’s allow silence and solitude occupy those open spaces in our hearts.  Once we decided to do such a thing, we can hear God speaking clearly.  If you have not yet tried this spiritual exercise seriously, you may find silence and solitude (or listening to God) very difficult.
 You may consider these spiritual exercises with laziness and unproductivity.  But once you have sown the fruit of listening to God through His Word, you will look for it and long for it.  Why?  Because it is silence and solitude that bring order to our private world; it is silence and solitude that can eliminate the noise pollution in our minds.  Once you’ve decided to listen to God through the meditation of His Word, I’ll assure you, it won’t come easily.  It would be very difficult.  The moment you start it, your mind will explode with a lot of things:  works to do, jobs to finish, letters to write, phone calls to make, cars to wash, sermons to prepare etc.  But because there’s always that emptiness and deep longing within our inner private world, we will all do our best to concentrate to overcome all kinds of resistance because those noises are coming from the archenemy of God.
 

  II.  Ways to make our moments of listening to God productive.

 I heard about a heart-piercing comment that sways, “Most Christians learned at an early age how to talk to God, but they did not learn to listen as well.”  We listen to God every time we open the Scriptures and begin reading it.  Then we will interact by asking questions base on what we’re reading.  Listening through His Word will not be meaningful if you just learned and understood what it says, we must interpret God’s Word by asking good questions.  We could use the acronym SPACE PETS to guide us in the meditation of God’s Word.  Productive listening to God’s Word would be possible if we could ask questions like SIN to confess; PROMISES to claim; ATTITUDE to change; COMMAND to obey; EXAMPLE to follow; PRAYER to pray about; ERROR to avoid; TRUTH to believe; SOMETHING to praise God for.
 Let us also never underestimate the significance of journal keeping.  It is possible that we have asked good questions to understand what we’re reading; that we have utilized the acronym SPACE PETS to digest God’s message for us and yet our private world is still noisy and so disorganized.  What could be the possible reason?  Let’s admit it--we easily forget.  I remember the parable of the sower when it says, “some seed fell along the path and the birds came and age it up.”  (Matthew 13:4).  That could mean that the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart (Matthew 13:19).  We easily forget!  Before we know, the application of God’s Word, the things we have meditated are all gone.  Our solution is journal keeping.
 What other things could we include in our spiritual journal?  You could include in there what you have accomplished in the preceding day, your times of discouragement and even of despair, where it came and what did you do or plan to do to overcome it.  Everything could be included as long as you think it will bring some kind of progress in your private, inner world.
 I’m getting an impression from my study of God’s revelation that every time He has a message that He wanted to be impressed in the hearts of His people, He wanted His prophets and apostles to write it down.  He wants His Word to be permanent so that people will have no excuse that they have forgotten His Words.  Let me give you tow examples of what I’m saying here.  One is from O. T.:  Jeremiah 30:2; N. T.:  Revelation 1:19.
 I hope that you’re not getting an impression that you will go to heaven if you do this and will not enter the gates of heaven once you failed to do.  This is not the point.  What we are after here is quieting and reducing the noise and longing of our private, inner world.  We’re not offering here a new set of law.  What we’re offering here is freedom.

III.  Reward of listening to God.

 There is no greater joy in the lives of those earthly fathers and mothers than to hear their children are learning the art of listening.  If this is true to us as earthly fathers and mothers, this will also be true to our Father God in heaven.  I still remember when our son was just a year or two.  During those years he had never realized yet  the importance and the joy that parents feel when their children learned and adopted the art of listening.  There is that sense of joy and intimacy and fulfillment when we realized that our son is learning little by little the art of listening.  He came to learn what we expect and what we don’t expect and what does not bring trouble.  That process of revealing and listening brings joy and intimacy in our relationships.  We bring joy into the heart of God when He sees His children listening to His voice.
 I heard from many experienced parents that this art of listening will be reduced as children grow older wanting to be the one in total control of their lives.  This is a very sad thing on the part of parents.  It will break your heart.  Rebellion is always a disaster.  It destroys relationships.  If this is true to the relationship of earthly parents and children, the same is true with our relationship with God.  It breaks God’s heart when we don’t listen to Him; when we go against His will and desires. The reward of listening to God is that He will continue to be honored which is the reason why we exist; to give glory and honor to Him.  God is going to be pleased when we listen to Him. He will, in turn, arrange the “gardens” of our inner world.

Conclusion:

 There is only one solution to the problem of noise pollution.  We need to spend time in quietness and solitude with God believing that He alone can arrange the disorderliness in our noise polluted hearts and minds.