Lamps, Ears and Hands
The sayings of Jesus aren't easy.I sometimes wish Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had taken the time to arrange Jesus' teachings in a more orderly way. If only they had compiled a chapter on love, a chapter on money, one on marriage, another on forgiveness, and so on... That would have been so helpful!
But instead, they present Jesus' teachings in what seems like a haphazard stream of consciousness. And I think that's because that's exactly how He taught. People were drifting in and out all the time. There wasn't a neat church service with a clear beginning, end, and a half-hour sermon. Instead, people milled around Him - sometimes even pressing Him into a boat. At other times, He taught as He walked or sailed. I think He repeated many of the sayings we find in the Gospels as He moved from town to town and situation to situation. And so the Gospel writers recorded His words as they remembered them and as the Spirit prompted them.
Mark 4 is all about parables and ends with the calming of the storm. Toward the end of the chapter, the parables focus on the Kingdom of God. But at the beginning, Jesus talks about seeds and the sower. This seems to be His "flagship" parable, perhaps because how we respond to the parables reveals the kind of "soil" we are.
| He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." (Mark4:21-25) |
This chapter is packed with parables. And parables are unusual vehicles: they carry large cargo but often sneak in through the back door. We can be entertained by them and still miss what they're carrying.
But here Mark remembers four powerful truths about truth:
- Truth is like a lamp.
Think of the lamps in Jesus' day. They consisted of a a flame, wick and oil. Put one under a bowl and the flame dies. Put it under a bed, and the bed could catch fire! Truth must be put where it can shine. - Truth reveals.
Whatever is hidden will be exposed. Truth has a way of bringing things to light - sometimes even things we'd rather keep in the dark. Are you listening? Truth is powerful. - Truth expresses itself in generosity.
We can't proclaim love, devotion, or faithfulness and not live generously. Jesus (and those who have walked in His footsteps) always gave freely of Himself: Time, Talent and Treasure. Generosity is one of the side-effects of truth. - Truth grows in us and through us.
The more we embrace truth, the more we're entrusted with. But when we resist it, we become less trustworthy and therefore less able to receive or even recognize more truth. This shows up in our hands - in what we do, what we give, what we hold on to, and what we let go of. Our actions reveal how much truth we're living by.
Each of these sayings is powerful on its own. But together, especially in the context of the parable of the sower, they give us a compelling picture of the impact and importance of the truth of the Gospel.
