7-10-17 - Story Seeds

Ah – story-time. We’ve arrived at a stretch of parables in our Sunday Gospel selections. Parables were stories Jesus told to show what the Kingdom of God, or the Life of God, looks like, how it operates in ways that are often very different from the ways of this world. Parables invite us to play, to turn them this way and that, see how our interpretation shifts according to our angle. Some are short, some long; some are challenging to figure out; some are explained (which can take some fun out of it…).

This week’s story is one of those, which Jesus explained to his disciples in private. But let’s pretend we don’t have that interpretation and wonder about the images he offers.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow."

What do sowers sow? Generally, seeds. But we can sow doubt, or anger, or fear, or joy, or hope, or faith... Where do sowers sow it? Ideally, in good soil.

This sower seems to have been a little careless – or maybe carefree. He, or she, just seems to have tossed the seeds randomly rather than laying them down in carefully plowed rows. We know this because some land in places where seeds have trouble rooting and growing.

Who do you think this sower is?
Is it God in creation?
Is it Jesus, the one who came to reveal and redeem?
Is it the Holy Spirit, showing up wherever he is invited?
Is it us when we share our faith with another, or when we show love in the name of Christ?

Yes…

Why the randomness? Are all seeds meant to take root, and some just don’t?
Are we meant to seek those and help replant them?

What are the seeds – the Word of God, the Good News of freedom in Christ?
Are we the seeds? Hmmm…. How does the story look when it we turn it that way?

Today in prayer let’s put ourselves into this parable – where do you find yourself? 

Are you sower or seed or soil? 

Ask God to show you where God might have you sow love and spirit in your life at this time.

There is something frustrating and wonderful about the scattered seeds – it means that the Life of God can spring up anywhere at any time. Watch for it!