{"id":1222,"date":"2010-04-29T18:10:20","date_gmt":"2010-04-29T18:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=659"},"modified":"2017-08-26T15:26:29","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T19:26:29","slug":"the-gospel-of-mark-listening-for-god-michele-rizoli-apr-25-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/?p=1222","title":{"rendered":"Mark's Gospel 2: Listening for God – Michele Rizoli – Apr. 25, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

View Archived Sermons <\/a><\/p>\n

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Scripture: Mark 4:1-9, Deuteronomy 6:4-9<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>\u201cShema Ysrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Ehad.\u201d<\/em><\/font>
<\/font>(Hear\u2026 the Lord is our God, the Lord is one)<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>Mark 4:3-9<\/em><\/font>
<\/font>He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: \u2018Hear! A sower went out to sow. \u2026. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!\u2019<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>Listen, what we have here today is a story within a story within a story. There are a lot of us up here telling you this parable: in layer one, Jesus is telling it to his original listeners. Layer 2 has Mark re-telling it some 30 odd years later to his intended audience (whoever they were) and in layer 3 I\u2019m re-telling it again to us as part of our study of the gospel of Mark and you likely have a few more layers of it playing somewhere in the back of your mind.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>In all my years going to church \u2013 and there are a lot of them! \u2013 I\u2019ve probably heard this parable of the sower a few hundred times. I feel like I already know exactly what it means. Couldn\u2019t we just pick something more interesting, controversial, juicy, less \u2026 clich\u00e9d? Is there really anything else to be said about this parable?<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>I confess that I often run into this sort of problem when reading certain parts of the Bible. It becomes hard to hear anything new or meaningful at all. All the interpretations I\u2019ve heard over the years, the Sunday school, the preachers, the bible studies, crowd in to tell me what the text is about. This is not necessarily all bad; I just wish I could hold them all off a bit and get a fresh view of the text once in a while. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>I really wonder how it was to hear Jesus tell this parable for the first time. I wonder why the writer of Mark chooses to tell things a certain way. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>Of course as soon as I did start digging up and rooting around I found there were all kinds of thought-provoking aspects to this parable. I invite you to revisit this portion of scripture with me.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>I would like to acknowledge that many of the ideas for this sermon germinated while I was reading Lydia Harder\u2019s book on the Gospel of Mark.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>I also recommend to you the experience of reading through the entire Gospel of Mark in one sitting. You don\u2019t often get \u201chomework\u201d in church, but doing this will really help the reflections in this series to make sense. This is not the way we usually experience scripture, and for that very reason, it can be a good way to gain new insight or be reminded of insights we\u2019ve already had.\u00a0 I believe there is another group reading being organized here at TUMC in the near future. I urge you to take advantage of that.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>OK, back to the Sower.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>I love Jesus\u2019 creative problem solving at the start of this passage. He is being pursued by the ancient version of paparazzi — a crowd that swarms around him and gets in the way– except that instead of a picture these people want healing. Jesus does not seem to be annoyed, he does not resort to having bodyguards \u2013 although some of the disciples actually tried this tactic by keeping away the children. Jesus did not approve. He says \u201cHey, Pete, can I borrow your boat again?\u201d and amidst the smell of fish and the pesky seagulls, a safe watery distance away from interruptions, he starts telling stories. \u201c Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>Jesus is doing a couple of very typical things for a Jewish rabbi. But, according to Mark, he was doing it with a distinctive sense of authority. First he references the Shema<\/em> I sang at the beginning (Deut 6); at least in format. For his audience the call to listen was likely familiar. They would recognize that this was no ordinary story. Still today this passage from Deuteronomy is the central element in Jewish daily prayer, a refrain, a declaration of faith and a call to hearken: Listen up, people of God, pay attention; a call to hear and do.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>Although his floating speaking platform may have been unusual, Jesus\u2019 method of teaching was also quite traditional: Tell a story to get people thinking. The rabbis did it all the time. They knew that issuing lectures and doctrinal expositions is not a terribly effective teaching approach. (I can vouch for that, I\u2019ve just finished 4 years of theological training and I know they\u2019re right on this one!)<\/em><\/font>
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The parables, like Jesus\u2019 healing and preaching ministry in general, do not force people; they simply reveal. There is disclosure and interaction, rather than conversion or dominance. <\/font>[1] <\/strong>
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Being hooked by an intriguing riddle, figuring something out on one\u2019s own \u2013 that is a captivating way to learn. But you must be intentional about listening carefully.<\/p>\n

With stories there is never only one correct interpretation. There is a whole kaleidoscope of changing possibilities, depending on context, personal response, and the Spirit at work. One of my teachers, Rabbi Aaron Zinger [2]\u00a0<\/strong> put it this way: In classical Judaism there are many questions and no one answer. \u201cThe greatness is that you don\u2019t try to hammer down with the nails of eternity, things that are in flux, provisional, partial. Therefore, if you are honest, you are wrestling all the time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Note that the parable wasn\u2019t a fairy tale, but something taken from their day-to-day life, something they could relate to. Parables are every-day ordinariness along with a God-consciousness. They were used to \u201cdefine the unknown by using what is known, \u201d pushing into the realm of imagination.\u00a0 [3] <\/strong><\/p>\n

One obvious practical aspect of this story came in Israel\/Palestine when I pondered ancient farming practices. Not only was this sower scattering seeds by hand, it may likely have been on a terrace, along the slope of a hill. Much of the farming happened like this i
\nn bible times. In my imagination this planter went from being rather sloppy \u2013 getting seeds all over the place, on the path, in the thorns, on the rocks \u2013 to facing the challenge of spreading seed on a narrow shelf of land carved out of a hill and held up by rocks, not wasting any seed and still getting a good crop. <\/p>\n

Another curious point, is that in the parable there is up to a hundrefold (100 times) harvest return on this investment of seeds. Normally a really good harvest might have yielded 5 to 10 times. So either this person was sowing zucchini or the parable had a surprise ending. Even with all the wasted seed \u2013 eaten by birds, planted without depth or smothered by thorns \u2013 the sower eventually receives an astonishing crop. At least 10 times more than would normally be expected. Wow. This is the clue that there might be more going on in the story. Maybe it\u2019s about the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Even though the parable seems mundane enough, it still is rather confusing. Isn\u2019t it? The disciples were left scratching their heads at possible meanings. What is important, is it the sower? the seed? the soil? the distractions? the harvest? Is it an allegory? A metaphor? (What\u2019s the difference anyway? Does it matter?) Is Jesus the sower? The seed? What was Jesus getting at with this parable?<\/font>
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You see, Jesus was expecting folks to wrestle, to engage in genuine questions, to listen and discern carefully what this kingdom of God and word of God stuff was really about. To wonder about forgiveness, healing, faith, and about where his obvious authority came from. Throughout the gospel of Mark we hear him asking probing questions: Where\u2019s your faith? Who do you say that I am? Do you want to be healed? Do you even understand the parable?<\/p>\n

In the subsequent verses Mark has Jesus giving the disciples a lesson on how to interpret parables. But in the gospel at this point (we\u2019re in chapter 4) all those folks at the side of the lake had, was one proclamation at the start of Jesus\u2019 teaching and healing career: (Mark 1:14) \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.\u201d <\/p>\n

There was no sermon on the mount (there isn\u2019t one in Mark), no large chunks of content to Jesus\u2019 teaching, he was just doing a lot of stuff: a few run-ins with skeptical religious authorities, with his family, offers of forgiveness of sins and many, many, many, healings. <\/p>\n

So now we\u2019re moving to another level here. Maybe the way Mark is shaping the story offers us further insight. <\/p>\n

The next portion reads: Mark 4:10-20<\/p>\n

When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, \u2018To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that
\u201cthey may indeed look, but not perceive,
and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.\u201d \u2019<\/p>\n

And he said to them, \u2018Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.
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.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 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.
And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.
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.\u2019
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Mark is accepted as the first version of the life and teachings of Jesus, and it is thought that Matthew and Luke used it as a basis to write their own gospels later on. Comparing what each gospel writer chooses to include in the story and how, can give us clues to what they wanted to convey. Yes, the gospels retell actual events, but the narrative is confessional in nature, that is, it is a theological interpretation of events in a literary form.<\/p>\n

Nobody really is sure who wrote this gospel (as we heard a couple of weeks ago, Tim seems to favour the guy who runs away naked at Jesus\u2019 arrest). I\u2019ll continue to refer to the author as Mark, but really, we can\u2019t even be sure it was a guy. The early church fathers regarded the gospel of Mark as a stylistically crude narrative and weren\u2019t terribly interested in it.\u00a0 But the more interpreters have studied it over the years the more there is to find in this gospel. What at first appears as a random string of events is now seen as a very deliberate crafting of a narrative, with interweaving themes. <\/p>\n

One idea I find very intriguing is that the parable of the sower is a synopsis, or a key, to the entire gospel of Mark. The placement of this parable in the gospel seems to be a rhetorical device to orient the readers about what they just witnessed or are about to witness in the story. Jesus was using the parable to instigate thinking about the kingdom of God, but Mark is using it to teach about interpretation and faithful response. <\/p>\n

Using Lydia\u2019s analysis, let me show you how this premise works:<\/p>\n

In the parable of the sower Mark describes the characters (and themes) that we encounter in the rest of the gospel. There\u2019s the idea of a secret, the importance of listening, the obstacles to listening, Jesus himself, then the insiders, the outsiders and the crowd.<\/p>\n

To be clear, the seed Jesus calls \u201cthe word\u201d does not necessarily refer to the Bible as we know it, but for early listeners, is likely the coming of the Messiah (i.e. his entire ministry) and the lived teachings of the Torah (i.e. parts of the Hebrew scriptures and what we would now understand as discipleship).<\/p>\n

One author says: \u201cThe huge crowd on the beach represents various groups of people: eager learners, curious but uncommitted hearers, and rejecting fault-finders.\u201d\u00a0 <\/font>[4]<\/strong> <\/font>(I won\u2019t comment on which groups are represented here)<\/font><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s have a look at the characters.<\/p>\n

Jesus,<\/strong> through his words and especially through his actions is the sower of the word. In the broader narrative he is powerful but does not have control over the results of his ministry. In this way, Jesus is connected to divine power and human vulnerability in the gospel of Mark. He can cast out demons, but can\u2019t really make his disciples understand unless they are willing.<\/p>\n

Next we have the insiders <\/strong>who are identified as good seed because of their bountiful harvest. They are the ones who have heard and understood the word and have allowed the word to change their lives. But as we read through the gospel, they\u2019re not necessarily who we would expect.\u00a0 For instance, in the story of the stormy boat, the disciples are chastised because they have little faith. At the same time a man possessed by demons no less, recognizes Jesus as the Son of God.
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As the gospel unfolds, other unexpected insiders are commended for their faith. There\u2019s a bleeding woman who touches Jesus\u2019 robe, a dead girl brought back to life, the friends who bring a paralytic to Jesus through a roof, children who get a prime spot in Jesus\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

Jesus does not initiate these healings, his presence mobilizes people of faith to germinate and come to him and
\n plead with him to produce healing and wholeness. The \u201clittle people\u201d give evidence of the kingdom \u2013 small seeds that bear much fruit. Faith is the good soil that produces good fruit.<\/p>\n

Then there are the outsiders<\/strong>: their hearts are hardened. They don\u2019t see or hear. For them, because they don\u2019t discern God at work, the parables are just little stories, nothing more. Mark even has Jesus refer to them with sarcasm, \u201cOh, they wouldn\u2019t want to understand the parables, that might mean that they\u2019d be forgiven, and they wouldn\u2019t want that!\u201d (I don\u2019t know about you but I\u2019m always happy to find justification for sarcasm in the Bible.)<\/em><\/p>\n

In Mark the outsiders are stereotypes. They oppose Jesus from the beginning and they don\u2019t change at the end. Their dialogue with Jesus is disingenuous, they are only trying to trap him, and their questions are more like accusations. Why? Why? Why? Not really wanting an answer. <\/p>\n

Then there are the potential fruitful followers,<\/strong> including the disciples. These are the ones that Mark\u2019s readers (we) are being set up to identify with, the target audience. These followers receive special teaching, but the outcome will only be known depending on how well they listen.<\/p>\n

Jesus corrects, reprimands and warns. The possibility of fruit is there, but there are concrete obstacles in the way. The harvest is never really clear in the gospel account. As Tim reminded us last Sunday, they need to keep on coming back to the narrative and listening, discerning what God is saying.<\/p>\n

Even the obstacles in the parable, serve as a key for other parts of the gospel of Mark.<\/p>\n

The idea of Satan as the bird taking away the word, can be seen in the rest of the narrative as disciples misunderstanding Jesus. <\/p>\n

The plants that are lacking roots because they fall on rock are clearly evidenced at the end of the gospel when everyone deserts Jesus when he is captured and sent to the cross.<\/p>\n

As for the thorny cares of the world and lure of wealth, they make an appearance in Mark 10 where the disciples argue about who gets more honour and glory (10:35-45), and in how they react after Jesus confronts the rich man. (10:17-31). <\/p>\n

So the sower parable in the end is about the kind of hearing needed to understand God mysteriously, ambiguously, paradoxically, subversively at work in the world around us.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve explored what was involved in Jesus\u2019 telling of the parable of the sower and in the gospel of Mark\u2019s ingenious use of this parable to frame the narrative about Jesus. Now we\u2019re on the last layer, me telling the story to you.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

An idea I\u2019ve conveniently left out of my discussion so far is this notion of secret in the gospel of Mark. I\u2019ll be honest, in part it\u2019s because I don\u2019t altogether get it and the commentaries haven\u2019t helped much. More listening is required.
Let me at least give it a shot.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m very intrigued by the relative absence of overt theological content on Jesus\u2019 lips in this parable of the sower and in this gospel in general. I\u2019m scratching my head. Does nature teach us about God? What does listening to Jesus\u2019 life, death and resurrection really mean? <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that Jesus or Mark mean secret in the sense that God\u2019s presence in the world is hidden. After all, we speak of God consistently revealing Godself to us, especially in Jesus.\u00a0 So this notion of secret means that God at work in the world and our response to God are both mysterious, not altogether amenable to being pinned down, as the rabbi said, with the nails of eternity. <\/p>\n

Mennonites like to use the word obedience to describe a faithful response to God. I\u2019m not terribly fond of that particular word, it comes with \u201cbaggage.\u201d However, when we think about what this parable is saying to us, through Jesus and through Mark the word obedience offers an interesting possibility. Obedience comes from the Latin ob-audiens <\/strong><\/em>[5] <\/strong>, which translates roughly as \u201ctowards listening.\u201d In that sense it\u2019s an excellent word to describe what this story is calling us to: a stance of active listening and discernment toward action. Attending to God\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur task in life in every moment is to live in obedient, responsive listening to the living Word of God. If we are thoroughly listening with our whole being or our whole heart we will hear this living Word of God in every person, every thing, and every event.\u201d\u00a0 [6] <\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who have ears, listen.<\/p>\n


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Endnotes<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

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1. <\/font>Lydia Harder, Obedience and Suspicion in the Gospel of Mark: A Mennonite Feminist Exploration of Biblical Authority.<\/font><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Bat Kol Institute, Israel.<\/font><\/p>\n

3. Brad H. Young, The Parables: Jewish Tradition and Christian Interpretation.<\/font><\/p>\n

4.<\/font> Timothy J. Geddert, Believer\u2019s Church Bible Commentary: Mark.<\/font><\/p>\n

5. As observed by Marilyn Zehr, citing Steindl-Rast, David.\u00a0 A Listening Heart:\u00a0 The Spirituality of Sacred Sensuousness.<\/em> (New York:\u00a0 The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999).
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6. Quoting Marilyn Zehr in a paper on discernment<\/font><\/p>\n

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View Archived Sermons \u00a0 Scripture: Mark 4:1-9, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 \u201cShema Ysrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Ehad.\u201d(Hear\u2026 the Lord is our God, the Lord is one) Mark 4:3-9He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: \u2018Hear! A sower went out to sow. \u2026. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Let anyone with ears to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons-a-worship-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4008,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions\/4008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}