Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Lent Two

Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” (Mark 4:9, New Living Translation)

                I am now sporting my new hearing aids for the last week. I am hearing and experiencing the world in fresh ways. I can hear things that I missed before. Simple things, really. For example, I hear the tiny click of the electric heat unit come on. Unwrapping tinfoil  or cellophane sounds like a thunder storm. Susan says I will be able to hear the crickets outside our bedroom windows in the summer. Best of all, I don’t have to constantly ask anyone else to repeat themselves.  Susan could be sitting right next to me and I wasn’t able to clearly understand what she was saying.  This new level of hearing is a fresh blessing.

                There is an interesting story in the Gospel of Mark about a man who has deaf and had a speech impediment (Mark 7: 31 -36)   It is one of the more graphic miracles that we have in the Gospels. Jesus physically put his fingers into the man’s ears and using his own spit touched the man’s tongue and prayed that his ears be opened. “Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!” (v.35) The story acts as a prophetic, symbolic action, portraying one aspect of many of the Messiah’s work, i.e. that the deaf would hear (Luke 7:22). We hear that promise echoed by the people’s reaction: “They were completely amazed and said again and again, ‘Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.’” (v.37)

                Hearing and listening are critical aspects of receiving the Good News of Jesus Christ. “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:14) Paul goes on to ask whether anyone is listening. “Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?” The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.” (10: 17)

                 Our problem today may be that we have too much to listen to. We live in a very noisy world. There is no shortage of voices and words. We are bombarded with persuasive promises and seductive possibilities. So much is demanding our attention, our ears. We are inundated with opinions, advice, counsel, information, perspectives, and viewpoints, often alleging some sort of truth or guarantee. Even this blog becomes part of that clamour, vying for your attention, although I pray that it is more useful  than most for many of you.

                Jesus was always trying to get the people around him to stop and listen to what he had to say and to watch what he was doing.  A lot of it fell on deaf ears. There were times that even his disciples missed the point. The parable about the Sower and the Seeds is very much about hearing the Good News above all else.

“Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

“The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” (Mark 4: 18 -23, The Message Bible)

What kind of soil are you? This Lenten season, let us re-focus on listening to the Good News of Jesus Christ in its authenticity, its honesty, its ability to lift us above the din of the world, to speak to us of God’s great Love for us all. Let us re-orient ourselves to God’s Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. “O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying…” (Psalm 78:1)

Prayer:

           Our loving and patient God, we are not always paying attention to your Word as we should be. Forgive us when we stop listening to Jesus. Help us to unplug or ears and hear afresh the Good News of Hope and Salvation that is ours through Jesus Christ. Speak to us of your Grace and Forgiveness. Help us to understand the meaning of the Redemption we have in Jesus Christ, in whose name, we pray, Amen.