Sunday, March 9, 2014
St. Mark 4: 1 - 20
One of the stories that seems to have received significant press
through the Sunday School experience of many people, is the Parable
of the Sower. The image of the Sower reaching into a bag of seed, slung
over his shoulder, and tossing the seed over a wide swathe of ground, is
far removed from the today's farming technology.
We are no longer content with the apparently random results which
Jesus outlines in the Parable. In our day and age, uniformity of planting in
prepared soil, yields a uniform result. Plants grow to equal height and the
uniform rows allow for ease of harvesting.
The reality is, that, uniformity, as the Gospel message is lived out
and proclaimed by God's people, does not yield a uniform result. Jesus outlined
the different ways in which the Word of God grows in the hearts and minds and
lives of the people who hear it.
The personal challenge is discovering where we, as individuals,
fit into the different characters that Jesus describes. What ground reflects
our personalities ? The answer is as unique as each one of us.
Jesus tells a story reflective of a pattern of life familiar in his own
day and age. At the same time its meaning cannot be dismissed or
relegated to a distant time and place. The eternal truth Jesus shares
is a seed which grows ( or is inhibited in its growth ) in our own lives.
-The Reverend Canon Christopher B. J. Pratt
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