If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear

Also he said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Then he said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Then he said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds of the earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."

And with many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable he did not speak to them. And when they were alone, he explained all things to his disciples.

- Mark 4:21-34

Jesus continues his preaching of parables, which we explored in yesterday's reading. Parables are important to understand as teaching tools, and here Jesus expands on his use of them, and why they are used in order to teach a certain way. We recall that parable in Aramaic or Hebrew can be translated as "riddle" or "allegory" or "proverb."

Also he said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Parables have a function; what is contained in them is to be revealed. Riddles are not told in order to hide things, but to reveal to those who have the ears to hear. Then he said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given." All depends upon the hearing of the listener. The parables are ways of revealing spiritual truth and reality, its mystery, but it all depends upon the ears of those who hear. So, we are to take heed what we hear: with the same measure we use it will be measured to us - and to those who hear, more will be given. We are here to learn to hear, in a sense. We cultivate spiritual hearing in our hearts, our ability to receive the word, hidden in these parables given to us for our understanding. A receptive ground is what the seed needs (see the parable of the Sower from yesterday's reading). So much depends upon where we are in our spiritual lives. The truth is disclosed to us in these word pictures, but we must be able to hear it. "For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." We must be careful to cultivate hearts capable to receive. "Hardness of heart" is that which denotes the inability to perceive and to understand. But once we make the effort to receive this word, this seed of the Sower, more will be given. My study bible has a note that includes a quotation from St. Mark the Ascetic, a 6th Century monk, "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you."

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." I find this quotation quite wonderful, because it speaks of this mysterious growth of the kingdom. And it's not only reflected in the tremendous growth of the kingdom in terms of the early ministry and the growth of the Church. My study bible points out that the Gospel is at first a mystery explained only to the disciples, but will be revealed to all (as in the Gospel we now read on the World Wide Web). Also, that the ministry of Jesus begins with poor fishermen, but in a few years will spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. But more importantly to me, perhaps, is the personal sense of this beautiful parable, which is found only in the gospel of Mark. This is the way the kingdom also grows in us. In a commentary I read yesterday by an Eastern Orthodox Bishop, he points out that prayer works this way in us, as depicted in the parable. We are not aware of the mysterious growth of spiritual life in ourselves, we don't govern the laws of this nature, but we do what we must and the growth happens "even as we sleep."

Then he said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds of the earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." I truly love the picture of the mustard seed, and the great shrub that even the birds of the air can nest in and find shade. I believe the kingdom works this way, as a great growth spreading through all of us, in ways in which we can't control or know or have charge of. It has its own nature. In my little blog here on the web, which I've kept up for a year, there are now 70 of you signed up for direct subscription one way or the other, and I've done practically nothing to publicize it. On Twitter and through other lists it's been placed on, there are far more readers than I can count. All I did was put this out on the web; nobody is sponsoring me, nobody is seeking much to publicize the site. My church website has put up a link. But I'm grateful for all of you who read and presumably find something worthwhile, and to those who pass it on. As far as I can discern you are from all denominations and backgrounds and even continents, and if this bread feeds any one of you, I am so grateful. The mustard seed is a tremendous analogy to the ways in which the kingdom works, one from the other, through each of us to the other, and within ourselves as well.

So, what are we to do today with this parable of the kingdom's growth - the hiddenness of its mysterious mechanism and workings, and the faith with which we pursue how we hear, and what we do in the name of this kingdom and its pursuit? We pray. We continue in faith. We nurture the growth in our hearts, which is the very first place the kingdom begins, no matter what it grows into. Remember that Jesus is appealing first of all to the place right in our hearts. We start there. We take care to hear and how we hear, and to cultivate the ears to hear. From there, we will be taught what is our job to do in that faith. But without that, there are empty works! Remember Jesus' great appeal: "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." But, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." How do you cultivate the capacity in the heart to hear?