Matthew 13:1-9 (GNT)
That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach.
2 The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore.
3 He used parables to tell them many things.
“Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. 4 As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep.
6 But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.
7 Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”
9 And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”
Reflection
So you have this gardener, who just throws the seed out there- up into the air – out there so that it scatters all over the place! What a joyous picture I imagine – like a package of wildflower seed and out it goes and willy-nilly it settles everywhere- a great billowing cloud – and the sower just waits and sees what happens!
What a different type of gardening that is compared to carefully preparing the soil, starting the plant indoors – under lights- with a heat mat- carefully transplanting to increasingly larger pots and setting it outdoors on successive days and nights until you finally plant it in the carefully prepared soil.
Nope let’s throw it out there – and see where it sticks – see what blooms and….what?
Now, if you are like me, the sower has always been about where the seed landed and imagining myself to be, well …wanting to be, the best soil possible and having well at least the middle (60%) yield.
But today I read it and thought what if this is really, really about the sower, about Jesus and the disciples, they were the ones scattering the seed just like we continue to do to this day. Is this a story for us?
Are we supposed to be focused on the ground or the seed or the sower? It’s a little confusing especially when the story ends with “Listen then if you have ears” or in some translations “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” or in paraphrase “Are you listening to this? Really listening!”.
If Jesus is the sower then we can suppose it is really good seed but then why would you fling it when you could carefully plant it, and if you do scatter it then why would you blame the ground for being what it is: a beaten path feeds the birds – works out for the birds.
The rocky path is a little more difficult no one knows why the stones are there. There is the spark of growth, but not enough soil for growth to be sustained. Then there is the thorny ground, where the invasive weeds leave little room for the good stuff to grow- now that I’m familiar with; my gardens being invaded by periwinkle, morning glory and creeping buttercups and let’s not even mention the grasses. So the flowers of the invasives quickly overgrow whatever was planted in the space. They are pretty so you might not even notice that they are pushing out some of the good stuff.
These two analogies remind me of the story of the rich young man, who comes to Jesus, wanting to be …better, to be one with God, to have eternal life, and goes away unable to do the one thing that separates him from his wish. (Matthew 19:16-22) His ground is a little too shallow in spite of his wish for a deeper relationship with God, the lure of the beauty of the invasive flowers too great to allow him to pluck them and throw them away in order to make room and nourish what may lie beneath them.
Of course there is the good soil where the seed lands and is fed and grows. The yield of such soil is varied but there is a harvest. Isn’t that kind of what we expected when we started the whole process?
When you pick up seed you want something to grow! You want magnificent things to grow. You want your work to yield something!
I think, this passage is one that gives Jesus’ audience something to think about. Which kind of ground are they and consequently, which kind of ground are we?
We hear the Word and what do we do with it? Tell ourselves that: really it’s fine for other people to believe this stuff but it’s not for me, or maybe you find that it holds a spark of something but you don’t have time for it right now, or maybe there’s something that really takes hold and wow – that’s a really special time because then your life changes or gains an extra dimension or you develop a passion that takes you places you couldn’t imagine.
But maybe we don’t know what kind of ground we are, maybe it doesn’t matter what we determine about that ground, maybe what matters is that once that seed is thrown we stand somewhere under it’s shower.
So then, when I look at the parable again I see Jesus and the disciples, and they are just scattering that seed, flinging it out there: in the stories they tell, the prayers they say, the meals they eat together and their presence with one another and the communities they visit. Jesus is encouraging them in their faithfulness to their mission of sowing the seed and leaving the harvest to God. This parable is encouraging us to just throw that seed out there - fling out Hope , Love, Compassion, Kindness, and Joy
today don’t worry about the ground it land it lands on, the seeds are for everyone. Don’t worry about the harvest just get those seeds out there and see what blooms. You and I might be surprised!
Prayer
Holy Mystery
In whom we live and move and have our being
Bless us today with words of wisdom
Shower us with seeds of faith and truth
Bring us closer to you.
And in all that we do
May we be a blessing to everyone we meet
Amen
That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach.
2 The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore.
3 He used parables to tell them many things.
“Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. 4 As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep.
6 But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.
7 Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”
9 And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”
Reflection
So you have this gardener, who just throws the seed out there- up into the air – out there so that it scatters all over the place! What a joyous picture I imagine – like a package of wildflower seed and out it goes and willy-nilly it settles everywhere- a great billowing cloud – and the sower just waits and sees what happens!
What a different type of gardening that is compared to carefully preparing the soil, starting the plant indoors – under lights- with a heat mat- carefully transplanting to increasingly larger pots and setting it outdoors on successive days and nights until you finally plant it in the carefully prepared soil.
Nope let’s throw it out there – and see where it sticks – see what blooms and….what?
Now, if you are like me, the sower has always been about where the seed landed and imagining myself to be, well …wanting to be, the best soil possible and having well at least the middle (60%) yield.
But today I read it and thought what if this is really, really about the sower, about Jesus and the disciples, they were the ones scattering the seed just like we continue to do to this day. Is this a story for us?
Are we supposed to be focused on the ground or the seed or the sower? It’s a little confusing especially when the story ends with “Listen then if you have ears” or in some translations “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” or in paraphrase “Are you listening to this? Really listening!”.
If Jesus is the sower then we can suppose it is really good seed but then why would you fling it when you could carefully plant it, and if you do scatter it then why would you blame the ground for being what it is: a beaten path feeds the birds – works out for the birds.
The rocky path is a little more difficult no one knows why the stones are there. There is the spark of growth, but not enough soil for growth to be sustained. Then there is the thorny ground, where the invasive weeds leave little room for the good stuff to grow- now that I’m familiar with; my gardens being invaded by periwinkle, morning glory and creeping buttercups and let’s not even mention the grasses. So the flowers of the invasives quickly overgrow whatever was planted in the space. They are pretty so you might not even notice that they are pushing out some of the good stuff.
These two analogies remind me of the story of the rich young man, who comes to Jesus, wanting to be …better, to be one with God, to have eternal life, and goes away unable to do the one thing that separates him from his wish. (Matthew 19:16-22) His ground is a little too shallow in spite of his wish for a deeper relationship with God, the lure of the beauty of the invasive flowers too great to allow him to pluck them and throw them away in order to make room and nourish what may lie beneath them.
Of course there is the good soil where the seed lands and is fed and grows. The yield of such soil is varied but there is a harvest. Isn’t that kind of what we expected when we started the whole process?
When you pick up seed you want something to grow! You want magnificent things to grow. You want your work to yield something!
I think, this passage is one that gives Jesus’ audience something to think about. Which kind of ground are they and consequently, which kind of ground are we?
We hear the Word and what do we do with it? Tell ourselves that: really it’s fine for other people to believe this stuff but it’s not for me, or maybe you find that it holds a spark of something but you don’t have time for it right now, or maybe there’s something that really takes hold and wow – that’s a really special time because then your life changes or gains an extra dimension or you develop a passion that takes you places you couldn’t imagine.
But maybe we don’t know what kind of ground we are, maybe it doesn’t matter what we determine about that ground, maybe what matters is that once that seed is thrown we stand somewhere under it’s shower.
So then, when I look at the parable again I see Jesus and the disciples, and they are just scattering that seed, flinging it out there: in the stories they tell, the prayers they say, the meals they eat together and their presence with one another and the communities they visit. Jesus is encouraging them in their faithfulness to their mission of sowing the seed and leaving the harvest to God. This parable is encouraging us to just throw that seed out there - fling out Hope , Love, Compassion, Kindness, and Joy
today don’t worry about the ground it land it lands on, the seeds are for everyone. Don’t worry about the harvest just get those seeds out there and see what blooms. You and I might be surprised!
Prayer
Holy Mystery
In whom we live and move and have our being
Bless us today with words of wisdom
Shower us with seeds of faith and truth
Bring us closer to you.
And in all that we do
May we be a blessing to everyone we meet
Amen
