Decorating Tips Remixed

I was reading and reflecting on Thursday's Gospel passage when I had the thought ... is Jesus giving us redecorating tips? Then I realized I'd had that thought before AND blogged about it a few years ago. The Gospel is as follows, from Mark:

“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket
or under a bed,
and not to be placed on a lampstand?
For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible;
nothing is secret except to come to light.
Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.”
He also told them, “Take care what you hear.
The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,
and still more will be given to you.
To the one who has, more will be given;
from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.'

And here's part of what I said about it three years ago:

Decorating Tips from Jesus? Of course not - although a lamp is of course much more useful on a lampstand than under a bushel or bed (unless you've lost something under the bed and need the light to shine there, in which case a flashlight would be much more useful).

This passage has always been an interesting one to me. At times, I've thought I've known what he was getting at. Sometimes, it can be tempting not to let your light shine. You don't want to be accused of showing off. You want to give other people a chance to shine their lights as well. At the same time though, gifts are given so they can be shared.

The last bit's always bothered me ... taking away from those who have not.

This post is a remix rather than simply a repost, because of course I'm not the same me I was 3 years ago. We are always shifting, changing and growing in our understandings, or at least hopefully we are/I am. For one thing, since I'm taking a Christology course this quarter I find it very interested to image Jesus as a decorator!

I'll admit I'm still not quite sure what this passage is about. Tonight however when I read it, it seems to me less about hiding or sharing our gifts and more about hiding or sharing light, love, joy and life. There is so much darkness, sadness and pain in our world. So many members of our global family live in suffering. We might be in that space too. But we're not alone. We have each other. We have the holy spirit. We have the light of Christ that we can shine into the darkness. More than that, we're meant to share the light rather than to hide it. To be Christ to one another. To give glimmers of hope when we can, and to soak them up from others when we can't quite find the hope we've misplaced under the bed.

Or at least, those are my mixed up thoughts this Wednesday evening.