Sowing Seed

This Sunday’s Gospel lesson is the parable of the sower, in which Jesus uses the familiar image of someone planting seeds, and the reality that some seeds produce much and some produce little or nothing.  Click here to read it.

Jesus uses the various kinds of soil and conditions a seed might land in to illustrate the varying reactions people will have to the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Most of the preaching and teaching on this parable focuses on the different settings — the rocky soil, the path, the good soil.

But all the discussions about this parable can miss the simplest and most important point — sow the seed! The conversation is no more than a debate about angels on the head of a pin if we do not actually get out there and sow some seed.

The parable is intentionally vague about exactly what seed is being sown, but it is presumed to be the seed of Jesus work and message. At times the seed will be telling another of God’s love for them, at other times it will be showing that love in myriad ways, at other times it will be confronting injustice on both large and small scales. But always, it means bring the love and word of Jesus into the situation in which you find yourself.

So while you look for the best soil to sow your seed in, don’t forget to actually sow some seed!

This column appeared in the St. John’s Weekly eNews for July 16, 2017.  Click here for the complete issue.  Click here to get the eNews in your inbox every Thursday afternoon.