July 13, 2008

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost   

 Please read

Matthew 13:1-9

Matthew 13:18-23

Read also

Genesis 25:19-34

Psalm 119:105-112

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Romans 8:1-11

            That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 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. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.

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

           “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

"Let anyone with ears listen!" …

--- Matthew 13:1-9

.       Sower – Seed – Soil       .

The scholars differ as to the naming of this tale.

Traditionally, it’s called “Parable of the Sower,”

but some prefer to place emphasis

upon the Soil or the Seed,

thus varying the name. 

Now, to my knowledge,

Jesus never took to naming his parables.

Nowhere do I recall him saying,

“Listen, I’m going to tell you

the ‘Good Samaritan” story”

or “Listen, here’s the “Prodigal Son”

The fact of the matter is

that such appellations

were chosen at some much later date

for the convenience

of succeeding generations.

Moreover I suspect that Jesus

would have been shocked

at rigid interpretations

given to his stories

through the years. 

Doesn’t the evidence show

that he would retell a tale

varying the details

to fit the situation? 

Well, all that having been said,

let me suggest my own

idiosyncratic take on this one,

at the risk of seeming self-absorbed,

offered with the prayer that you too

may find a message of your own.

I am soil,

whether rock-strewn or fertile,

or choked with preoccupying rocks

or weeds to thwart the growth.

I am the setting to nurture life

or harbor death’s strong hold.

I am seed,

I am the blessed possibility

cast forth in hope by the Divine Gardener,

filled with unmeasured potency,

simply awaiting the circumstance

to call forth life and power.

I am sower

I am the deputy,

the fieldhand

working at God’s command

to cast forth seed.

Acting in faith, I take the seed given

knowing full-well that it will fall

on surfaces of varied potency.  

And some will sprout and

whither on stoney ground

and under the searing sun, will quickly die.

But some will send its roots

deep into the soil,

and grow, and prosper

and bear good fruit.

So whatever may be my role,

Sower or Seed or Soil,

it is enough to know

that in the hand of God,

I fulfill my purpose.

--- rvc