“Take care, then, how you hear.”

I relish the pastoral teaching scenes from the synoptic gospels when times were good for Jesus and his disciples.  It was before the betrayal and arrest, and before the trials cloaked in darkness.  It was before the mocking and spitting and scourging, before the agonizing torture of crucifixion.  I imagine Jesus telling great stories, challenging and provoking his listeners with world-breaking parables.  I think he also consoled them many times with profound images of God and God’s reign.  I think he inspired laughter and holy longing and deep joy.  Perhaps his listeners recognized his authority because he lived an authentic life, filled with compassion for the poor and outcast, and overflowing with mercy for sinners.  His message was brimming with hope for a new way of life.  It is no wonder people followed his mission very closely, even when everything turned against him.

“Take care, then, how you hear.”

How do we take care to hear the Good News today?  That Greek word for “take care” literally means “see.”  There are two verbs related to the senses, “see” and “hear.”  The enclitic particle “how” precedes the word “hear,” so how the listener hears Jesus’ words is significant.  It is almost as if Luke’s audience is being told to perceive with a heightened awareness – or with two senses – what Jesus is saying and doing.  How do I hear Jesus today?  What care do I give to that active listening?

The way I desire to listen to Jesus is with openness and trust, the way a soul mate listens to the Beloved.  “Lovers talk.”  That is what one of my favorite theology professors used to say when describing the relationship between God and us.  There is a loving attentiveness that always presumes good intention and desire on the part of the other.  There is a disposition of trust that what is being said is said with tremendous reverence for the listener.  When I listen with care, I can trust that I am not being manipulated or coerced or regarded as anything less than my best self.  I can believe that God is working with me mysteriously, and I do not have to know the outcome.  I listen not to find answers, but to hear the Beloved’s voice speaking my name, and calling me into deeper relationship with the Beloved and others.

That is how I hear the Proverbs admonitions in today’s first reading:  “Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim, when it is in your power to do it for him.  Say not to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give,’ when you can give at once.”  I am being called to be lavish in loving, generous as God is, as though everything in the world is abundant and available for everyone.  This is how I hear the gospel reminder to put the lamp on the lamp stand and not worry about what has not been given.  If I hide and guard what I have, it will seem that it is being taken away if I lose it.  If I reveal and celebrate and share what I have, God will provide what I need all the more generously.

“Take care, then, how you hear.”