Light

21 He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. 23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. 25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”  Mark 4:21-25

This is one of the passages that make me say, "Huh?"  I get the whole, "don't put your light under a bushel."  First, it is a fire hazard...Smoky the Bear would not be happy with that.  Second, we like the image of us, as individuals, shining a light.  But, remember, early followers of Jesus in Rome when the empire has a target on them.  They were to blame for the fire that destroyed the city, so said Nero the one with the power...and who historians say might have actually set the fire.  When we are afraid, we do tend to hide...we tend to flee or freeze or fight.  So, Jesus is saying that in times when life is not going well...when we encounter the storms of life...we need to continue to let our light shine. That is not easy.  It is easier to go with the flow.  It is easier to laugh at the joke rather than call a friend on it being inappropriate.  It is easier to go with the flow of buying and consuming, even if it is not sustainable for the earth or other humans making low wages.  It is easier to believe there is nothing we can do rather than step out and share our light.

Maybe that is what the second part means.  We need to pay attention to the blessings...not the fear.  When we pay attention to what is going good, it can help us see more good.  When we pay attention to the light, rather than the dark, we start to see even more.  That doesn't really help with the last line.  Verse 25 sounds like something that Adam Smith or free capitalists would say...not Jesus.  Yet, this is also a reminder to me that I don't always understand what Jesus is trying to say.  It is good to remember we don't control or completely have a handle of what Jesus would do...because we don't always get what Jesus did/said.  Of course, Jesus could be sarcastic here.  He could be pointing out an injustice.  Or maybe, and this is the one that really gets me, is that perhaps Jesus is saying when we shine our light in the world, when we pay attention, we are going to see things that make our hearts break.  We are going to see millionaires getting tax breaks.  When we shine a light, we might see the least and the lowly...still being treated as the least and lowly.  Shining a light alone will not making everything better.  But, when we see...when we keep paying attention...when we keep shining a light and not lose heart....maybe God's grace will stir in new ways.

So often we turn faith into a proposition...if we work for justice, poof there should be justice.  But the evil that brought the injustice isn't going to scurry away like a frightened raccoon when the garage light comes on.  To keep on keeping on...to keep shining the light, to keep paying attention, and with a heavy dose of God's grace, we inch closer to God's realm.

So, what ways can you persistently shine a light?  To keep paying attention...to keep being open even when we want to look away from the injustice in the world...that might just help let this passage read our life and make a difference in this world.

Blessings ~