Hearing Aids

Finding assistance to hear the word of God and bear fruit

01/24/2018

Mark 4:1-20 Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no roots; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,  and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."

             Some people only have to hear something once and they remember it forever. I had a friend in grade school with a memory like a steal trap. He didn’t even need to open his textbook. He would simply sit and listen attentively to the teacher and everything he heard he remembered. I hated that guy, because I had to listen very carefully, take copious notes in class, study daily, and stay up late at night before the test just to make a B in class. And he always made A’s. Man, I hated that guy.

              Most people are not like my grade school friend, because we need lots of help to retain and remember what we hear. Abraham Lincoln used to read the daily newspaper out loud, which really annoyed his law partner, Billy Herndon. But Lincoln explained that reading out loud helped him absorb what he read through his eyes as well as his ears, and he remembered better. My father taught me how to remember which months of the year have thirty one days and which have thirty or twenty nine days. It’s called the classic “knuckle mnemonic.” Make your hands into a fist and put them together, where  the forefinger and thumb are against each other. Then, starting from the left, count every knuckle and gap, and each one stands for a month. The knuckles are the months with thirty one days and the gaps are the ones with less than thirty one days. Even though we hear every month how many days there are, we often cannot remember them. My point is that most people’s hearing is sort of impaired and we need “hearing aids,” “mnemonic devices.” We hear lots of things in the course of a day and in the course of our lives but we retain and remember very little of it without a lot of help.

              Jesus tells a powerful parable about hearing in Mark chapter 4. By the way, parables (short stories) are easy to remember and that’s the best way to teach. Jesus is the Master Teacher. A sower sows seeds on different soils and surfaces. Some receive the seed and give growth, while other surfaces choke and kill the seed. What makes the difference between one type of soil and another? Jesus explains further that the seed is really God’s word that many people hear – like his audience that day, but also you and me – but not all can retain and remember those words. It’s when you remember that you reap the rewards. Not many people are like my grade school friend, who only had to hear a word once and he would always remember it. Most people need “hearing aids.”

             Do you know who has mastered the art of having “hearing aids” to hear and remember the Word of God, especially in the Bible? It’s our Protestant brothers and sisters. In their Bible study classes they practice “sword drills.” The Letter to the Hebrews says, “The Word of God is a two-edged sword.” Imagine God’s Word like a “spiritual sword.” So, the teacher says a particular verse, and all the students race through their Bible to find that particular passage first.  They choose a “life verse” – one verse of Scripture that they memorize - which will define and direct their life.  Our hearing is seriously impaired in spiritual matters (like when we read the Scriptures), so we need “spiritual hearing aids” like sword drills and life verses so we will be good soil that receives the seed and produces much fruit.  It’s the one who remembers that reaps the rewards.

             The time in our life when we are the best soil for the seed of God’s word is when we’re twelve years old. That may surprise you, so let me give you three reasons why that’s true. First, St. Francis de Sales, the great sixteenth century spiritual director, said that a man or woman knows God is calling them to be a priest or a nun is twelve years old. They can hear God’s word like very rich soil and it produces fruit in their life. Second, can you recall what age Jesus was when he stayed behind in the Temple and taught the scribes and rabbis? Luke 2:42 notes that Jesus was twelve years old. The boy Messiah was especially astute to the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, like rich soil ready to receive the seed. And third, what happens when you turn thirteen years old? Hormones happen. And from then on, your mind and your heart will be cluttered with contradictory motives and emotions vying for victory in your decisions.

             In other words, the soil of your soul will never be as rich and the accuracy of your hearing will never be as sharp as when you are twelve years old. After that age, you will need many hearing aids to remember the Word of God, and for it to bear fruit in your life. For those of you who are older than twelve, try to remember what you heard in that precious age of your life. That’s when you were the richest soil, and it’s the one who remembers who reaps the rewards.

Praised be Jesus Christ!