Take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him

 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

- Luke 8:16-25

Yesterday we read that after a confrontation while dining in the home of a Pharisee, Jesus went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.  And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things he cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'  Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."

 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."  Jesus continues His talk regarding the interpretation of the parable of the Sower.  His encouragement is for living the life we're called to live, living our faith.  To take heed how you hear is to seek spiritual discernment, to be alert to the illumination and mysteries of the Kingdom, and to grow in the light.  This would include an ongoing sense of repentance, a willing to change in accordance with the discernment.  The warning is that for one who ceases to pay heed to the proper care and nurturing of their spiritual life, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  My study bible says that it is not Christ's will here to deny His mother and brothers.  What we are to understand from this passage, according to St. John Chrysostom, is that He is correcting both them and His hearers "to the right idea concerning Himself," that the family of His own Kingdom "is not by nature but by virtue."  (See also 11:27-8.)

 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"  My study bible explains that Christ deliberately permitted this windstorm to arise while He's sleeping, in order to perfect the faith of the disciples, and to rebuke their weaknesses.  In this way He prepares them to be unshaken by life's temptations.  In these senses of development of faith, this example parallels the teachings that have been given through the parable of the Sower, above.  My study bible adds that here their faith remains mixed with unbelief at this stage in their discipleship.  They showed faith when they came to Him, but unbelief when they said, "We are perishing."

In an interesting reading, we're given an example of the development of faith in action and in our lives that Christ's parable was about, given just before (see yesterday's reading, above).  In other words, the parable of the Sower gives us the understanding that our faith is about a fully lived life, discipleship is an ongoing, experientially challenging life mission.   We have our ups and we have our down, we have circumstances that draw out the best of what we have within us and also the worst.  And everything -- absolutely everything we live and experience -- becomes part and parcel of the life of discipleship, the struggle for our faith.  The disciples find themselves challenged by their natural fears of perishing in the storm.  But Christ is with them, although He is asleep.  In our own lives, as well, He may seem to be sleeping, to pay no heed to the severe dangers and fears we find ourselves going through.  But everything is about mission in the light of our faith.  Is He really sleeping, or are we going through a time of struggle in order to further develop our faith?  Do we forget about Him?  Do we panic?  Do we think of the goal or destiny, or even the command that is taking us along this route in our lives, the faith by which we'd been seeking to live up until the time of great panic and fear?  All of these become questions of the struggle for our spiritual lives, for the melding of that life of this world into the one of the Kingdom, so that we live both simultaneously, in and through one and the other.  And that is the depth of the struggle, to realize always that although He may seem to be sleeping, we are His and He is with us.  We are on mission and directed and guided by Him.  We call on the Lord for help, we await in faith, and we can be confident that no matter what it is with which life confronts us, whether that be loss or setback, terrible senses of failure, or great exaltation, even fear of death -- all of it is part of the mission should we choose to remember our Lord, and that we are indeed His.  Where is your mission today?  Where does it take you?  Are you being stretched past your flaws and fears?  Can you put your faith in Him when it seems lost?  What's the mystery into which you enter when you don't have all the answers?  Like the great windstorm, our faith lives in paradox, not seeming perfection -- and through absolutely all of it, He is there, even if He seems to be asleep to our pleas.  Let us remember that He has had the disciples set out for different territory with which they're unfamiliar, across the Lake (the Sea of Galilee).  Even when we don't know where we're going, our mission is always ongoing.