Jesus doesn’t finish the Parable of the Sower, and then launch out into a completely new subject. Luke 8:16 follows Luke 8:15, and Jesus’ thinking follows too. He is continuing His reflections on the indiscriminate nature of the proclaiming of the Word of God. We saw this in the previous parable: the farmer scatters the seed everywhere... even to places where we could predict with some degree of confidence that there would be no yield. But that isn’t the point. The point is that we don’t pre-empt the Spirit’s work in revealing the reality of who people are by virtue of their response to the Word. The Word is spread everywhere... without fear or favour.
Jesus changes the imagery, but the point remains. It is inconceivable to Him that the Word (Ps.119:105) should be hidden, or displaced from its position of prominence (Lk.8:16). That is where it needs to be in order to fulfil its purpose of disclosing, and bringing into the open the reality of what is in our hearts (Lk.8:17). That is done by how we respond... see previous parable. Yes, people will love the darkness (Jn.3:19-20). But that is not a reason for the Church to hide the light in a clay jar... or anywhere else for that matter. We might not realise that is what we do, but it is – every time we decide not to proclaim the Word of God. We might have good reasons not to. People might not like it... they might get angry... or stop coming... or reject us... Yes, they might, but none of that is a good reason to take the Word of God down from its position of prominence. We might think we can by-pass the Spirit’s work of sifting people by their response to the Word. But we can’t, and it is both dangerous and foolish to try.
But just as He did in 6:37-42, Jesus is careful not to let us apply His teaching only to others. And in Lk.8:18, He turns the spotlight back onto us. ‘...Consider carefully how you listen’. This is critical because our relationship with the Word we have received is not static. It turns out it is very dynamic, and we will receive more or less depending on what we do with what we have already been given. If we store it away, refusing to act on what we know to be true, refusing to change our minds, our behaviour, our character, we lose what we think we have (Lk.8:18). If we prove trustworthy, and put into practise what we have received, we will be given more.
And right on cue, Jesus’ family turn up... only to be met with quite a blunt rejection. At this stage in Jesus’ ministry at least some of his ‘flesh and blood’ family did not believe in Him. Still less did they ‘hear God’s Word and put it into practise’. For Jesus that forms a profound line of demarcation. Not even His own family can bypass this great non-negotiable of discipleship.
Questions:
Jesus uses the image of lighting a lamp to continue developing His point about the indiscriminate nature of the Word of God ‘shining’ forth. In what ways does this resonate with His use of the same imagery in Matt.5:14-16? ...and in what ways is it different? What do we learn from Jesus’ use of the same imagery in these passages?
Why is this relentless exposure of who we are a necessary part of the experience of the Church? How does the Word of God function to disclose, and bring out into the open the truth of who we are?
Can you run any ‘Christian’ mission without proclamation being a central focus of what you do?
How do we try and pre-empt the work of the Spirit exposing what is ‘hidden’ both in ourselves and in others? How can we stop doing that?
Do you see this ‘disclosure’ as the purpose of preaching and evangelism? How does that affect your sense of an effective sermon?
Does Jesus’ dealing with His family give us precedent for likewise seeing our Church-family as having a greater priority than our ‘blood’ family? Why / why not?
What does it mean to ‘hear God’s word and put it into practise’? Given the critical nature of our response, how can we better support each other in our putting what we hear into practise?
What do you think Jesus means when He says that ‘what they think they have will be taken from them’?
