“The Weight of Words” – MARK 4:23-25

The simple truth is that there are some people we are willing to listen to and others we choose to ignore (trust me, preachers are sensitive to this reality). The old joke asking “How do you know when a politician is lying?” is answered “His lips are moving” for a reason. People are used to not trusting the words spoken by these folks. Whether we recognize the process we go through or not, we place weight upon the words we hear based upon who is speaking those words.

In that light, Jesus makes a plea to people to place significant weight upon his words, calling upon any who “have ears” to listen to Him.

In this one-sentence parable (Mark 4:24), Jesus implores us to be selective in what we hear and believe. With the weight by which you give to hearing His message, He will give the same measure of spiritual understanding back to you.

If you are not spiritually minded the 23^rd Psalm is just silly.

If you are not spiritually minded, all of these stories about seeds and fruit are nonsense.

For the discerning who will make an effort to really hear what Jesus is saying, understanding will come at you in waves. Jesus wants to be MY Good Shepherd … Jesus wants to grow me into a fruit-bearing powerhouse.

At the same time, He is calling on the spiritually minded to act upon what we believe. We can believe “in” Jesus and believe He teaches truth, yet still be unchanged. Reading the Bible is not a life-changing experience any more than reading an epic novel.

A good portion of the weight we place upon the message of Jesus is in the doing.

He does not say, “Go and understand”. Instead, He says “Having understood, Go and do”!

Then the unimaginable weight of the power of God comes raining down on us and He gives growth to the seed. He produces fruit in us. The weight of the harvest depends upon the weight we give His words.

We see these truths in the steps of Peter. When he first met Jesus he had been fishing all night and caught nothing. He was an experienced fisherman who knew his trade well. Along comes this carpenter who says try again, tossing your nets on the other side. Peter resists politely at first and then essentially says “I’ll try it the way you say”. It worked. This same Peter tried to defend Jesus with his sword and Jesus said “The one who lives by the sword shall die by the sword”. Peter ran away. Peter denied ever knowing Jesus. He wept bitterly. Still, he hung around. He thought about things and he factored in the resurrection. When the time came to lead, he led. When the time came to speak, he spoke. Peter finally gave sufficient weight to Jesus’ words and God did the rest. From Peter came a bountiful harvest!

The one who continues to give weigh to the message of Jesus (hearing, understanding and doing), even more shall come to him (Mark 4:25a). Spiritual truth is like a precious gem with many facets. The more we look, the more we see. Each angle allows us to appreciate more and more of the beauty of that stone. Sadly, if you set the stone down and cease to gaze at it, not only will you not see the next enlightening perspective, you will soon forget the jewel all together (Mark 4:25b).

Blessed are those who weight!