SUNDAY, JANUARY 14 2024 - LISTENING AND HEARING
January 14, 2024
Deborah Laforet
Listening and Hearing
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by
your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Listen; do you smell something? Sorry. This is a phrase my husband, Jeff, often uses to
be funny. It’s actually from the movie, Ghostbusters. I don’t know if it’s funny but it’s an
interesting way to start a sermon!
Today, we heard stories from the fourth chapter of Mark. Up to this point, Jesus is
meeting different people, healing, breaking fasting and sabbath customs, and making these short
and sometimes shocking declarations to followers and critics. Like many of us, he is going,
going, going. Mark’s gospel is a short one and one that is always moving. In this chapter
though, Jesus actually settles in for a while to share some parables with this crowd that
constantly seems to be gathering around him. He gets into a boat, and pushes himself away from
shore, which seems to be the best way for him to speak to these large crowds, probably to keep
them from crushing him but also possibly to amplify his voice. His first word from the boat is,
“Listen!” almost like a teacher clapping their hands, getting people’s attention, alerting them that
it is time to settle down and settle in - time for the teacher to talk.
He then jumps right into this parable of the sower, one who plants seeds. He talks about
what happens to the seed that is scattered, depending on where it lands - some on the path where
birds come and eat it up, some on rocky ground, where the sun scorches it, some fall among
thorns and are choked, and some, hopefully most, fall into good soil, where it grows abundantly.
Now, these parable aren’t always easy to understand, but many would have expected
Jesus to speak in this way. They knew he wasn’t talking about actual seeds. They followed him
because he was a well known rabbi with miraculous healing powers. They knew that Jesus was
talking about God and spiritual matters, but that doesn’t mean they understood what he was
telling them. “Listen!” he says, but to what are they listening. What is Jesus trying to say? He
says, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!” and “[They] may indeed hear but do not understand.”
and “Pay attention to what you hear.” OK, Jesus. We have ears. We are hearing. We are
listening. We are paying attention. What are you trying to tell us? What is it you want us to
understand? Maybe, we need to stop talking and truly stop to listen.
I grew up in the Catholic Church. There are many reasons I found the United Church a
better fit, but one aspect of the United Church with which I struggle is the amount of words and
the amount of talking. I know. Ironic, because I’m now a preacher.
In the Catholic Church, the homily, or what we call the sermon, was usually very short.
The focus of every service or mass is communion. People genuflect, or bow; they sometimes
have kneelers for prayer; beads, or rosaries, are used for prayer. They use incense, candles, and
bells. The mass is a full body experience and not always dependent on words.
A United Church service is mostly words. There are not many ways to connect with our
other senses. Even our eyes tend to have little to engage them. It’s one of the reasons I love
Christmas. We have lights and candles and different rituals. If you were to become involved in
United Church meetings at other levels of the church, you would realize just how much people
like to talk. They write long reports, they word smith these reports, they set time limits to keep
them from talking too much. Sometimes the words get in the way of real action.
In the United Church, there is little room for silence. I actually think people are afraid of
silence, afraid of finding where their thoughts might go, afraid of discovering what God might be
calling them to do. Our world is filled with words, in the news, in social media, from politicians.
Our food is labelled with words. Most of our music has lyrics. Nowadays we’re concerned
about being politically correct because our words carry weight but this also means we talk about
how we talk.
Then there are those practices where we are invited to stop talking. Meditation is hard
for many of us. Sit in silence for how long? Impossible! In fact, some faith traditions will teach
that meditation is dangerous and that it’s an opportunity for Satan to get into your thoughts, but I
think these traditions are afraid of having people think for themselves, afraid of thoughts entering
that might be subversive and contradictory, or afraid that people will think they can connect to
the Sacred without the church.
Let’s imagine listening to this parable of the sower in this context. We might hear it like
this: The sower tosses the seeds. Some seeds land on the path, where the many distractions keep
the seed from rooting. Some land on rocky ground, unable to dig deep, so they stay on the
surface where they are scorched easily by life’s struggles and challenges. Some fall among
thorns, where to-do lists and the pace of life choke them. Some seeds, hopefully most, land in
good soil, soil that has been tended to with prayer, silence, deep thoughts, and open minds, where
faith grows abundantly.
Now, I’m a preacher and I love to write and I love to read. Writing usually helps me to
process my thoughts and helps me articulate my ideas. Words are my friends. Sometimes
though, I need a break. As an introvert, as someone with a hearing loss, as someone who
struggles with too many words and too much noise, I lean towards making space for silence.
Meditation is still very hard for me. My brain doesn’t want to shut up. I’m still learning what
works for me and trying to find time to practice, because I want to make my soil rich. I want to
be open to what Jesus might be trying to say to me or what the Spirit might be asking me to do.
If I don’t intentionally make space for that to happen, I’m relying on my own distracted brain
and the messages of the world around me, which don’t always carry the wisdom I need.
Jesus says, “Listen!” “If you have ears to hear, then hear!” “Pay attention to what you
hear.” Are we listening? Are we paying attention? When we come to church, we sing, we pray,
we read scripture, and we preach. We are either speaking words or we are listening to them.
And that’s OK. If this is how we choose to gather and it works for us, then I’m not suggesting
we change, but I do know that we, as individuals and as a community of faith, need to also be
listening, paying attention. Sometimes we need to get out of our own way, and open up space for
the Spirit to guide us, teach us, and offer its wisdom. Listen. Hear. Pay attention. Stop. Slow
down. Be open. Be silent. Jesus has something to say, and he isn’t often direct.
May we discover how to open our ears, open our senses, open our hearts and minds, to
the message we need to hear. May we never stop listening for the wisdom Jesus is sharing. May
we pay attention when we hear within that still, small voice, telling us to “Listen.” May that
voice never be silenced and always be persistent. May it be so. Amen.
Mark 4:1-25, 33-34
(Introduce yourself.)
Mark’s gospel is a fast-paced gospel where we focus more on the actions of Jesus
than on his words. Chapter four of this gospel is an exception. In this chapter,
Jesus shares parables with a large crowd. He mentions listening or hearing a dozen
times. It’s a long passage, so I invite you to lean in and listen to each instance
when Jesus says “Listen” or “Hear”. I’m reading the first 25 verses of chapter
four, and verses 33 and 34.
Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around
him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was
beside the sea on the land. 2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and
in his teaching he said to them: 3
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path,
and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did
not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And
when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it
yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing
up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
9 And he said,
“If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked
him about the parables. 11 And he said to them,
“To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside
everything comes in parables, 12 in order that
‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”
13 And he said to them,
“Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the
parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where
the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the
word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground:
when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no
root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on
account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are those sown
among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the age
and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word,
and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear
the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
21 He said to them,
“Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket or under the bed and not on
the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is
anything secret, except to come to light. 23 If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
24 And he said to them,
“Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get,
and it will be added to you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given, and
from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it;
34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in
private to his disciples.
May God grant us understanding of our sacred text. Amen.