SOWING THE WORLD ONE PERSON AT A TIME

Tree of Life

The early religious movement in Palestine that was the seed of the Christian faith, would face many trials. Not only from Roman and fellow Jewish antagonists, but also from internal struggles of the disciples themselves. There were times when the disciples fell away through their own fear and denial of what was to come. These two examples show how conflict and threat can come from both external and internal struggles.

Just as the early Christian faith struggled, we too. as individuals, struggle in our lives. The parable of the sower in today's lesson from Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, illustrates Jesus' awareness of what living life is truly like."Listen, a sower went out to sow..." the story begins. Just as simply as that, like our own lives, we set about a task of living through simple deeds, we think. But it's the struggles that make them complicated. We come to find that the simple "nouns" of our lives need the addition of "adjectives" coming alongside to bolster our deeds. We are emotional creations and desire the use of adjectives to give our daily deeds Spiritual meaning.

Jesus speaks of soil, water, sun, thistles, roots, birds and other things that the seed needs or struggles against. Speaking for our own lives and its development, what do we need simply to grow and how do we handle the conflicts that are an inevitable part of the complexity of living the faith?  

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

13:2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.

13:4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.

13:6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.

13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

13:8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

13:9 Let anyone with ears listen!"

13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.

13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.

13:20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

13:21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.

13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

13:23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Walter Morton for Journey Across the Line