This concentrated passage from Mark will rush past us unless we slow down our reading, examine each verse, then reassemble the entire thought. The verses are grouped together for a common purpose, to demonstrate to us what our part as believers is in the Kingdom of God. As we look more closely, this teaching may surprise us.

The first component is a well-known parable about a lamp. Children's songs declare that we are to let our light shine rather than hiding it, so this illustration tells us to let the message of Christ in us spread to others just as it is meant to do. Jesus added an ominous note after this parable, saying that nothing will remain hidden and secret, just as a hidden light will send rays under the bed sheets and through a basket's webbing. Trying to hide the light of Christ's presence in us is futile. When we try to hide it, we distort the Light that others are seeking and deny ourselves the blessings of the Light. The last sentence in this thought provided a witty parallel: just as a lamp was made to shine, so were ears made to hear and we were made to comprehend.

The second component built on the warning in the first. We have heard; therefore, we have the responsibility of acting on what we have heard. Jesus repeated a common wisdom of that era, which He also used in the parable of the talents: servants who were successful were given more responsibilities, and those who failed lost what they had. In modern business terms, we think of aspiring executives on their way up and failed executives on their way down. This is the choice we must make about the Light in us, either to allow it to grow and prosper or to fight it. There is no neutral ground.

Notice it is the Light in us that grows, and not we that grow the light, which is the third component of the passage. Our role is disconcertingly passive in spiritual development. We don't like to think that we aren't bringing about the growth, for much of what we are taught concerns how we are to take charge of our development and education. Of course we are not idle, but the parable of the farmer reminds us that we have no idea how the Kingdom grows. We spread the seeds, and sequences of miracles happen. We keep from blocking the Light, and it spreads into every dark corner. We watch as God works, we rejoice as God provides the results, and we obey when God calls us to do our part.

But sprouting wheat wasn't dramatic enough to illustrate the wonder of how the Light spreads, so Jesus added the parable of the mustard seed. The mustard plant referred to in this story is an annual—it grows and dies in one season, but we might say it "grows like a weed". These plants develop at astonishing speeds, frequently exceeding eight feet in height with sturdy branches for birds to rest in the shade of its leaves and blooms. It doesn't take much cultivation, but farmers should take care not to mistake the mustard plant for a weed and uproot it.

God has amazing plans to bring about through each one of us. This passage reminds us that our part in these plans is small but important: we are to allow the Light to shine unimpeded through us and watch in wonder as God works miracles.