With today’s gospel we begin to hear Jesus teaching in parables. Jesus often uses hyperbole or exaggeration to make his point and in these short stories or parables, he draws on images and stories from everyday life to illuminate who God is and what the kingdom of God looks like.
Here, Jesus tells what he himself calls “the parable of the sower.” Mark, Matthew and Luke all include it in their accounts of Jesus’ ministry and teaching. Matthew also includes an explanation of the parable that most scholars agree was added later in the first century to encourage new Christians who faced challenges to their faith.
Like any teacher or storyteller, Jesus wrapped his point in a story that held the attention of his followers. Talking about God or trying to understand God’s kingdom might be overwhelming and confusing, but planting seeds and harvesting crops were familiar to his audience.
Today, even as we are less connected
to the earth and fewer of us are farmers, many of us still have some experience
with digging in the dirt, protecting our gardens from hungry bears or deer, and
having the satisfaction of growing things ourselves.
And we’ve also weathered failure — when the seedlings never appear, the roots rot from too much water, or the vines wither and the buds shrivel in the scorching sun.
Because we can picture the scene that Jesus describes, the recklessness of the sower’s activity is even more noticeable.
Jesus says that the first thing the
sower does is go out to sow.
No one has cultivated the ground ahead of time.
No one has picked out rocks, pulled
weeds, or amended the clay.
No one has tilled it over or added compost to enrich it.
Then, the sower scatters the seed.
No one measures the space between the plants or the depth of the seed into the furrows that have been hoed. No one marks sections for tomatoes or corn, beans or squash.
To our modern ears, and perhaps to his original listeners, it sounds like a recipe for disaster. But, where some hear a lamentable wastefulness and lack of preparation, what Jesus describes is the extravagance of grace and the wideness of God’s mercy for each one of us.
The sower does not judge ahead of
time where the seed may be sown, but broadly and generously sows. It looks
carefree and even reckless, but the sower has confidence that, when the
seed takes root, it will accomplish exactly what it needs to do; and,
the sower knows the harvest will be plentiful in spite of predators and hostility.
Teaching with parables Jesus turns what we know on its head and moves us from the safety and security of what is familiar into something else, something new.
When we rush to explain the parable, our focus shifts to the four soils.
Trying to determine which soil we are most like, we begin to assign a grade to ourselves or others, forgetting that labeling people is rarely easy, or accurate. Any one of us, at different times in our lives, may be hardened toward God, or receptive to receiving God’s love.
Other times, we create an illusion that we have some control over the conditions where the seed will be planted, or the yield that will be harvested.
We like to imagine that our congregations are greenhouses where all the “right” conditions exist for the gospel to be heard, but “this parable is a vivid reminder of all God has overcome – rocks, scorching sun, thorns and snatching – to bring life into the world.”[i]
Understanding that God is the sower means remembering that it is God who is working in the world, and it is God’s work that we are participating in.
It is Good News that God is out and
about in the world beyond our doors, especially when that world is messier than
we would like. And it is Good News that
God sows abundant love and forgiveness with joyful freedom and hope.
There is no place or person beyond God’s reach. When we pay attention, we see life springing forth all around us from unexpected places and people — flowers bloom in the cracks of cement sidewalks and wildflowers flourish in highway medians. And where God’s word is planted, we hear children saying beautiful prayers and strangers being welcomed with gentleness; and we see the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit embodied in the beloved community.
As we go out into the world this week, let’s look with wonder at all God is doing in our midst, and reflect on all the uncultivated or wild places where the gospel can be shared.
Let us pray…
Generous God,
Thank you for your reckless love for
us,
even when we harden our hearts
toward you or waste your gifts.
Help us follow your Son Jesus as
disciples every day even when his teachings challenge us.
Sanctified by your Holy Spirit, may
Your word take root deep in our hearts and minds, that we would share with our
neighbors in the abundant life you prepare for us all.
Amen.
[i] “Day Resources,” Sundays and Seasons.
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