Listen for the Light: A Sermon for Proper 10

While parables oftentimes communicate many layers of truths or meanings, I believe that at the heart of the Parable of the Sower is Jesus’ command for “anybody with ears to listen!”

Now, in today’s Gospel lesson, in order for Jesus to be literally heard by the great crowd that had gathered there by the sea, he first had to get in a boat and push out from the shore a little bit. The boat was his impromptu pulpit, and the reflection of his voice off the water was his makeshift microphone.  And then, once he was in place so that everybody could literally see and hear him, he begins with a one-word sentence - “Listen!” In other words, now that you can hear me, I need you to listen.” 

How often are we able to hear, but unable to listen? In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus uses the verbs “to listen” and “to hear” fifteen times. So, without even getting into the various meanings of the parable, perhaps the first and most important lesson for all of us who hear the words of Jesus is to actually listen to them. Imagine a world where all who heard the gospel actually listened to it, and then responded to it.

When I was the Associate Rector for Youth and Young Adults at St. Mark’s, Jacksonville, our Youth Group went on a weeklong mission trip to New Orleans.  And just like one of Jesus’ parables, we were able to extract many layers of meaning from the trip. If you were to ask any one of the rising 8th and 9th graders about their experience, you’d likely get a diverse array of answers. 

For some, this was the furthest they had ever traveled from home. For others, it was the longest time they had ever been away from their family.  For most, it was their first real encounter with poverty on such an intimate level, as we were entering into the homes of people who were living far below the poverty line or feeding people whose only shelter was the I-10 overpass.

And of course, the most common question you get when you return from a mission trip tends to be something along the lines of, “What did you do?”  Well, as you can imagine, we did a lot of things – we worked the assembly line at a Food Bank, we cleaned an inner-city elementary school, and we fed the homeless from a Food Truck. 

Oh yeah, and we did one more thing while we were there. We changed light bulbs. That’s right. Nineteen of us drove all the way to New Orleans, Louisiana to change light bulbs. Perhaps the most powerful encounter our group had that week was at one of the houses where we were changing light bulbs. On behalf of a non-profit organization called Green Light New Orleans, we went to visit a family that had signed up for new, energy efficient light bulbs to be installed in their house free of charge. 

And on this one afternoon, in the midst of the rather mundane task of changing light bulbs, we encountered the light of Christ in a dimly lit, modest home – likely the smallest home most of them had ever entered.  And as is usually the case on mission trips, the bearers of the light also ended up being receivers of the light, as they came to see and experience the grace, mercy, and love of Christ in remarkably unexpected ways and places. 

This particularly profound encounter came in the form of an older African American man named Kenny. When we entered his home, a woman greeted us and let us begin their work changing light bulbs. When we encountered a closed door, we asked the woman if it was ok to enter. She said sure, that her husband was in there, but that he was expecting them.  And what happened next is something that the ten people in our group will never forget.

When we entered his hot, dark, cramped bedroom, Kenny was lying in his bed with his shirt off and a towel wrapped around his neck.  But when he heard that we were a Youth Group from a church in Jacksonville, it was like a fire was lit inside him, and he rose from his bed and began to deliver a cross between his life story and a come-to-Jesus sermon.  

And in the midst of his testimony, one thing he kept returning to was his insistence that our youth listen – listen to their parents, their teachers, their coaches, their elders, and their pastors.  Kenny admitted that in his life, he didn’t do a lot of listening to these types of people, and his stubborn attitude eventually landed him in prison. But while he was serving time in prison, one night, in the midst of the silence, he heard the Lord calling him, inviting him into his merciful, grace-filled embrace. And Kenny responded to the Lord’s call and gave his troubled life over to him.  But it never would have happened if he hadn’t finally slowed down long enough to listen.  And so, he implored our kids to listen to those people who care about them. 

Now this sort of lecture is not that uncommon in this context. It is a fairly standard “scare the kids straight” type of talk that kids in the inner city hear a lot. But I believe that where the light of Christ shone in this situation was when Kenny, a tall, muscle-bound older man broke down and cried right there in front our teenagers. But he wasn’t crying about anything he had done or experienced. Kenny was moved to tears by the silence of several thirteen and fourteen year old youth from Jacksonville, Florida caring enough to stand there for forty some-odd minutes and listen to his story.  Yes, our youth brought new light bulbs to Kenny, but he could care less about the new energy-efficient CFC light bulbs he got for free. What Kenny cared about was that our Youth brought their open ears and their open hearts. They cared enough to listen to him, and it was at that point when the light truly shined in that dark room. 

Once Kenny regained his composure, he told our group that in his fifty-plus years of living, he had never been listened to the way they were listening to him. By simply listening to Kenny share his story, our group made him feel special. They made him feel alive. They made him feel worthy. The miracle that happened in that room was that the youth saw Kenny with Christ’s eyes. They heard him with Christ’s ears. And they hugged him with Christ’s arms. These carried the light of Christ into an unknown, perhaps even intimidating context, and they let Christ’s light shine for Kenny. And as a result, it shined for them as well.

So, I wonder if, when our lights begin to grow dim – whether in our own personal lives, our family lives, or our life together here at Christ the King - rather than immediately seeking a quick answer or solution to the problem, we should instead take a cue from Jesus – and Kenny - and listen.

In the coming weeks, our youth group here at Christ the King is headed to Eufaula, AL for a weeklong mission trip. This will be the first Mission Trip for our Youth Group, and perhaps the first thing they will learn is that they don’t have to leave the country to find people to serve in a meaningful, transformative way.

As is the case on most mission trips, I suspect that our youth will end up learning more from those we serve than they will learn from us. And as an adult, I am constantly amazed at how much I continue to learn from our youth. Perhaps because they are still too young to be totally set in their ways, they remain curious, vulnerable, open-mined, compassionate, energetic, and willing to take risks. And regardless of our age, the best way for us to be transformed is if we can listen. In the words of Jesus, we must have the ears to hear, and listen. And when we are able to stop and listen, we will more likely be able to hear God’s Word and understand him. 

My prayer is that when our Youth Group goes on their mission trip, they will adopt that same approach to listening for and hearing God’s Word, and then going forth and shining Christ’s light in the world. And my guess is that they will bear much fruit – a miraculous yield - perhaps even thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what we have ever yielded before. But they – and we - will have to listen for the light to shine.