Having ears that hear!?

Reflecting on Mark 4:1-20

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” (Mark 4:9)
As a follower of Jesus, I need to have ears to hear.
This sounds odd; don’t most people have ears that hear?
Yes, our ears may hear, but do they actually listen?
Anyone who is married or has kids know the difference.
We can hear the sound, but do we understand it or pay attention?

There is a blindness and a deafness we all share.
When our eyes can see, yet do not perceive what we see.
When our ears can hear, yet we do not understand what we hear.
Like when someone yells ‘duck’ as a stone is hurtling towards us.
And we turn towards that someone to see the flying bird!
We heard, but we did not understand.

Jesus uses stories (parables) to illustrate His message.
At first glance, we will not perceive their meaning.
The first time we hear it, we will not understand it.
It will take effort, discernment, pondering, to get it.
Sometimes the meaning is quickly found, other times it takes a while.
And for some who don’t even try, the meaning may be lost on them.

“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.'” (Matthew 11:25=26)

The problem is not that we don’t understand.
The problem is when we don’t try or want to understand.
Jesus’s stories sounded like children’s stories, simple and simplistic.
They did not sound profound or theological, not sophisticated God-speech.
Those who thought they were wise did not bother to listen.
They did not come to Jesus for answers; they ridiculed what he said.
They thought they already understood, and rejected Jesus’s words.

This is a problem many christians face today.
We’ve heard the message for so long, we think we know what it means.
We don’t listen again for the first time, to see if we misunderstood.
We assume we know what the gospel is, what the bible means, who Jesus is.
Like the religious leaders, we KNOW the truth, so why question it.

As a Jesus follower, my understanding has often been humbled.
As I read and reread the Jesus stories, I hear and see new things.
They were always there, but my filters did not pick up on them.
Everything I think I know should be constantly discerned and corrected.
And the secret to doing this is comparing it to Jesus.
We put our beliefs alongside Jesus and compare them.
We allow what Jesus says and does to question and challenge what we think.
It is not that we are totally wrong with what we believe.
It is that we are not totally right with what we believe.
There is always some level of vanity and deception in our beliefs.
There is always some extent of blindness and resistance in our views.
Beware of the person or church who says their views ‘fully agree’ with God’s.

Eyes that see and ears that hear are those that admit they don’t yet see or hear.
They remain humbled and open to seeing or hearing Jesus anew.
They know from experience that can be mistaken or misled.
They know that they are not always right, and others not always wrong.
They take every thought that they have and submit it to Jesus.
They hear Jesus yell ‘duck’ and turn to Jesus to see what He means.
And as they turn to Jesus, they discover whether they understood or not.

Do I have ears that are listening to Jesus, a heart that is paying attention?
For only Jesus is the truth… not me, not my church or denomination.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, humble my heart and mind to see that I do not fully understand. Show me by Your Spirit where I am seeing but not perceiving, hearing but not understanding. I want to have a teachable spirit, always open to re-thinking and re-turning to You, so that You can re-new and re-fine my faith, hope and love.

Keep on teaching me new things as I see and hear Your stories!