Jesus liked to tell stories. I imagine he did for the same reason other people like to tell stories. You see, words create worlds, and stories can create the worlds in which we can look at things differently…mainly ourselves. Jesus tells a story about a farmer scattering seeds. It goes like this:

"Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." Matthew 13:2-9

But everyone always had questions. Jesus liked to use a specific type of stories, called "parables" to draw people into looking at themselves and their worlds differently. At the end of this story, His disciples asked him for an explanation.

His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?"

He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,

'When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it. Matthew 13:10-17

The kicker to both of these stories is found in verses 9 and 17. It's about us having ears to hear things. It's a favorite way for Jesus to talk about the way we can tune ourselves to hearing and understanding what God is doing around us. This weekend, we are going to talk about this hearing (and seeing). What it takes to do this, how we might often not be able to do it well, and several other things.