Nanna Moore used to keep a motel in
Borrego Springs in the middle of the desert of southern California. She
owned a pickup, a dune buggy, an Airstream trailer, and a cat. She also
worked part-time as a waitress at the only restaurant in Borrego
Springs. At least once a year, she left her little oasis in the desert
and made a trip towing her Airstream to some scenic part of the country.
Being a Canadian citizen she frequented Ontario where relations lived,
made trips to Alaska, to Nevada, to Maine and on a couple of occasions
to Tennessee where her displaced grandkids lived (of whom I was one).
Nanna had a C.B. radio in her pickup and her handle (a C.B.er’s alias
or nickname) was "Silver Submarine" because of the shiny aluminum
Airstream trailer she towed. My sister and I took a shine to the C.B. We
were experts having seen "Smokey and the Bandit" and all of the
necessary training films which had contributed to the C.B. fad of the
70s. So as our family camped around the Smokeys, we rode in the cab of
Nanna’s pickup and made sport with all the truckers hauling their loads
and vacationers their playthings over and around the Appalachians.
Among other colorful expressions, we learned that a C.B.er looking
for a familiar voice on the airwaves would say, "Silver Submarine" or
some other appropriate handle, "You got yer ears on?" That’s C.B.
language for "Is your C.B. turned-on and tuned-in to this channel, and
are you listening?" When addressed to us, me or my sister would
excitedly respond in the slowest and most nasal southern drawl we could
possibly fashion, "10-4, good buddy. What’s yer 10-20?" In other words,
"We’re listening, friend. What’s your location?"
The C.B.er’s "Got yer ears on?" query illustrates the common sense
principle that successful communication demands three things: a sender,
a message and a receiver. The C.B.er who asks "Got yer ears on?" wants
an audience. Even more, he wants a conversant. He wants someone with
whom to carry on a conversation and pass the time on the road or someone
with whom to exchange information relating to his travels.
Frequently, Jesus was heard to say to the multitudes who listened to
His sermons and parables, "He that has ears to hear, let him ear." What
Jesus was saying to the multitudes and to us, the readers of His gospel,
is "Got yer ears on?" His message is of no value unless we’re tuned-in
to the same channel and we’re paying attention to His broadcast. The
preached message is not effective just because it’s preached.
Exhortation is not finished when a pulpit is furnished for the
proclamation. The message wants an audience, an audience with "their
ears on" on and their hearts open to receive the message and to put it
to work in their lives.
So, how ‘bout you? When the gospel is preached today, and the message
is broadcasted—have you "got yer ears on?" He that has ears to hear, let
him hear.