Genesis 42:29-38
29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,30‘The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us, and charged us with spying on the land.31But we said to him, “We are honest men, we are not spies.32We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.”33Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, “By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.34Bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will release your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.” ’
35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each one’s sack was his bag of money. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed.36And their father Jacob said to them, ‘I am the one you have bereaved of children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has happened to me!’37Then Reuben said to his father, ‘You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.’38But he said, ‘My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should come to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’
Mark 4:21-34
A Lamp under a Bushel Basket
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?22For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.23Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’24And 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.25For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’<!– 26 –>
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’<!– 30 –>
The principles of the kingdom which Jesus announces in this passage are a) God’s message is not hidden from those who give it their attention: it is meant to enlighten; but b) the quality of the attention matters: those who want to understand the message of the kingdom so that they may practice it in their lives, will find that their knowlege grows; those who give only passing attention will find their knowledge vanishes.
In the story of Joseph we can see a similar pattern: God’s message which comes through dreams is meant to enlighten, but the recipient must make an effort to find its real meaning. Joseph misinterprets at first because his mind is focused on himself, but as he allows himself to understand better, he finds his knowledge of God’s ways grows until he can be a true interpreter for others. There is a cost to this growth. In today’s passage Jacob struggles with what it may require of him.
The “saint” whom the church remembers today is GA Studdert Kennedy, a famous army chaplain in the 1st World War and subsequently clergyman in the West Midlands. He was famed for his capacity to minister to the real needs of people in crisis. This abundant understanding was the fruit of his serious discipleship and commitment to Jesus’ way. I’ve appended one of his great poems:
When Jesus Came to Birmingham
When Jesus came toGolgotha, they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet and made aCalvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came toBirmingham they simply passed Him by.
They would not hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street and left Him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried, ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do, ‘
And still it rained the wintry rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.
G. A. Studdert-Kennedy
Emmock's Blog 