Listen! A sower went out to sow.
It’s amazing to me how timeless Jesus’ parables are. It’s easy for us to think that we have more distractions, more potential evil forces, more apathy than people in the past. Even our parents didn’t have it so bad! But then you read parables, and realize that our problems are apparently timeless. Take the parable of the sower. He sows seed and it scatters, some falling where it does not grow.
Jesus explains this parable and the problems he points out are absolutely timeless. Some seed falls on the path, and before it has a chance to sprout, it’s eaten by the birds. This he says is like people who don’t understand. The evil one snatches up the good news before it even has a chance to germinate. We know people like this, people who intentionally or unintentionally don’t try to understand. They’re like kids who put their fingers in their ears, crying “I’m not listening, I’m not listening.”
Some seed falls on rocky ground. It may sprout, but there’s no depth to the soil so it quickly fades. Jesus likens this to people who hear with great joy God’s word, but have no depth in their faith, so when the going gets tough, they get going – anywhere else. Again, I know people like this, who are enthusiastic in their faith, but it’s a shallow faith with no depth. Their version of Christianity demands an easy road, because if things are difficult their faith withers. Worse yet, when bad things happen, they pretend all is well, because their faith cannot withstand hard times. I’ve been to churches full of deeply hurting people, but you’d never know it, because of the shiny face everyone puts on. In both of these cases, God’s good news fades in these people.
Then there’s the seed sown in thorny ground. These folks are the ones who are so wrapped up in the cares and occupations of this life that they fail to make space for God’s good news. Today’s worldly concerns crowd out and drown out everything else. Ouch. Reading this in December in 2021, it’s easy to see this in our current times. The upcoming celebration of Christmas can easily become a worldly concern that drowns out God’s good news. Even without Christmas, we seem to be so busy it’s hard to fit in time for church or worship or devotion or prayer. Even the best intentioned. Apparently, it’s not just a problem with us. Since Jesus’ time, and likely since the beginning of time, people get wrapped up in the trappings of the world. Note to self – try to hold fast to some prayer time, even if it seems I’m too busy. Especially if it seems I’m too busy.
Finally, there’s the seed sown on good soil. It is able to put down deep roots, and it grows and flourishes. We all want to be that seed, all the time. But I suspect few, if any of us spend our whole lives there.
Perhaps the challenge for us is to recognize when we’re struggling with worldly concerns, or have our fingers in our ears, or when we’re stuck in the rose-colored-glasses version of Christianity. All of these are dangerous, and all of these are persistent and timeless. This morning, I’m thinking about the timeless challenges to a deep-rooted and thriving relationship with God, how to recognize those challenges, and how to change my behavior before my faith withers.
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