Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Thursday Easter III - Luke 8:4-15

Thursday Easter III

Daily Lectionary Readings: Exodus 38:21—39:8, 22–23, 27–31; Luke 8:1-21; (Sirach 48)

Luke 8:4-15:

[4] And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, [5] “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. [6] And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. [7] And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. [8] And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

[9] And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, [10] he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ [11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [12] The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. [13] And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. [14] And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. [15] As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (ESV)

The trouble Jesus foresaw was that the Good News was to be proclaimed, sometimes in the most unlikely places. He knew that the Word of God would not be received and taken to heart by all, but He feared His disciples becoming discouraged by this. Then, by becoming discouraged, their faith and the fire burning in them to continue to proclaim the Word may dim as well. This discouragement is no different for us today when we share the message of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ to our friends and neighbors, and it seems to fall on deaf ears. Sometimes, the message doesn't penetrate into our hearts, either.

Those of you who garden or see the many nurseries in our area know that when you plant seeds, you dig up and turn over the soil, fertilize it, and plant the seeds in neat, orderly rows. Not so the sower in this parable! This sower scatters the precious seeds everywhere! Some fall in the rich soil, yes, but others fall on the hard-packed path, some among the thorns and weeds, and others upon the rocks! How wasteful! You wouldn't plant a garden that way, would you? But that is precisely what the sower in this parable does. It is as if he doesn't care where the seeds land – as long as they fall on the ground somewhere, he thinks, the job is complete.

Sometimes, we are like the path, packed down hard into ourselves and wrapped up in what we think is essential, we don't let God's Word in. Sometimes, we are like the soil sharing its space with the seeds and the thorns. We think we can compromise and accept the world as it is and still be faithful to God and His Word. Those thorns come up mighty fast, though, and push out the good plants. There is too much competition for a limited resource. When seeds fall on rocks, there are dead leaves and such, maybe a little soil, too. Add a little moisture, and the sun lets the seeds sprout right away. They soon use up their nourishment and dry up and blow away. Sometimes, we are like that poor soil. We gladly hear the Gospel message, and we are fired up for Jesus – ready to spring into action! How can I help? What can I do? Over time, often, our enthusiasm wanes. The best kind of soil to be in this parable is the good soil. We all understand that. Good soil produces abundant fruit. But good soil also takes work. Passers-by don't see all the digging, the furrowing, turning the ground repeatedly. This is hard work!

Fortunately, this parable isn't about you!

It's not about what kind of soil you are today. It's not the parable of the four types of soil. It is the parable of the sower! The sower is our lavish God. God so lavishly and extravagantly throws His Word, the seeds, everywhere – not caring where it lands. He wants it to get into every crevice, every nook, and cranny. Every dark place and hard head. The seed bag is seemingly bottomless. God is like those giant cell phone towers relaying messages worldwide, wherever the signal needs to go. They stand in the background, quietly going about their business, sending signals to every place, time and situation. God just keeps sending it out until the message is received. Yes, it will bounce off many. Some are going to think it's just a telemarketer selling something. For those who take the call and listen and take it to heart, His Good News will bear abundant fruit indeed. You will know that Jesus died for you. You will know He is out there listening when you call.

If we could do this on our own, we wouldn't need Jesus. But we do need Him. Even when we're bearing fruit and growing nicely, the weeds threaten to take over. Our sinful nature and the devil's power try to overload the network and block the signal. But God rains down Jesus on us and washes all that away! His call goes out on every line. Take the call! It's free! Even the hardest rock will be worn down into fertile soil if you bombard it with enough seeds. Even the hardened path may be made soft when rained on enough. God promises His Word will not return empty, so do not be afraid to share it!