You have, no doubt, noticed that my examples from popular culture are, well, old. I don’t know much about contemporary music or plays or TV… which is illustrated in an (of course, old) song from a 1958 Rogers and Hammerstein play entitled The Flower Drum Song. In the song the children are bemoaning the fact that there is no way to communicate with “the other generation.” They all had a wonderful childhood in the Other Generation. The games they played were bright and gay and loud. They used to shout “Red Rover, Red Rover please come over!” They must have been an awful droopy crowd when they were younger. It is probably true that the games I grew up with in pre-Xbox days would be “droopy” to “the other generation.” Ask your grandparents about “Red light/green light” and “Mother, May I?” A particular favorite of mine was “Hot butter beans, come to you supper.” In this game, one person would hide something (the “hot butter bean”) and yell, “hot butter beans, come to your supper” then the other would try to find it. As the seeker went around the room the hider would say “you’re getting warmer” or “you’re getting colder” as they moved closer to or farther from the hidden object. When the seeker got really close the hider might even say, “You’re getting hot, you’re steaming, you’re burning up” until the object was found. This trip down memory lane arises because Jesus does something similar when he tells the scribe in today’s gospel, “You’re getting warmer.” You are not far from the kingdom of God. But, as in the game, warmer does not mean that you’ve got it. Jesus wants the scribe to know he needs to do some more work to get the “hot, butter bean” of the kingdom of God. What was he missing?
When you look at the text as St. Mark describes the scene he got the fact that “the Lord our God is Lord alone.” He got the centrality of the commandment to love God with all our heart, understanding and strength. He even got the connection Jesus made between loving God and loving our neighbor. But what he missed was the first words: “Hear, O Israel.” He was close, he was warm, but to draw even nearer to the kingdom of God he would not only have to acknowledge the one God, to love God wholly and to love neighbor, he also need to hear. The Old Testament book of Deuteronomy (in the first reading), which Jesus quotes from in his response to the scribe provides the key. According to Moses we are supposed to “take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.” Maybe what Jesus wanted the scribe to hear was that the kingdom of God was not out there, but in here, in the heart. If we don’t take those words to heart, then we’ll never quite get them. These words are so important that pious Jews to this day recite this prayer twice a day. If we want not just to be not far from the kingdom of God but actually enter it, we must learn to hear what God says to us.
On the one hand hearing is something we do automatically. We hear the “L” train behind the church. We hear the wonderful music of the choir. We hear the joyful noise of children running around. So hearing is something we do naturally. On the other hand hearing is a skill that we must learn to practice. Social scientists estimate that we only hear between one-quarter and one-half of what someone is saying to us. You are noticing the wasp that is flying around the Church so you aren’t listening 100% to the brilliant insights of the preacher. You’re thinking about what you are going to cook for supper so you only give half an ear to your child talking about their day in school. You’re having a “discussion” with your roommate and instead of hearing her out you are already formulating what you are going to say in response before she has even finished what she wanted to say. What Moses, what Jesus, are talking about when they say, “Hear, O Israel” is the kind of listening which is not just background noise but something that requires careful attention.
Imagine, if you will, someone who can’t hear. If he saw a group of people doing the electric slide he might be wondering what they were doing. Why are they lined up like that? How did they know when to turn? Why do they move their feet that way? It is only when one can hear the music that the dance makes sense. Church, it is only when we hear the music of the love of God calling to us that the Christian life makes sense. Unless you hear God speaking a word of forgiveness and mercy toward you, forgiving your neighbor doesn’t make sense. Unless you hear of God showering upon you graces and blessings, a life of generosity doesn’t make sense. Unless you hear the call of God to join in the glory, sharing the good news doesn’t make sense. You need the music of God’s love to make sense of the dance of the Christian life. So today let’s resolve to hear the summons of Jesus to a fuller, richer, whole-hearted, even passionate journey toward the kingdom of God. Let’s hear the epistle remind us that we can be confident despite our weaknesses and failings since Jesus “is always able to save those who approach God through him since he lives forever to make intercession for them.” Let’s hear the Old Testament lesson that being careful to observe the statutes and commandments of God is the way to prosper and grow. Let’s hear the gospel injunction that to love God and the people of God with all our hearts, all our souls, all our mind, all our strength is the way above all others. That’s how we move nearer to glory. That’s how we get the hot butter bean. That’s how we enter fully into the kingdom of God.
