A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Eighteen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-23 (NRSVUE)

Jesus was a teller of stories - he made points with parables.  The great thing about a parable is that it may have more than one point.  I've preached the parables through many years of ministry and often find new ways of seeing them as I come to them in different spaces and at different times.  

But they speak to the truth and Jesus continues to be relevant through each age.  I continue to return to the parables because you never know what new truth they will reveal until you read them again.

As we look at the parable of the Sower, this is one of the rare instances where Jesus provides an explanation.  We see that there are a variety of reasons why the seed may not take hold.  I like the fact that the Sower scatters the seed indiscriminately in the first place.  You would think that he could tell good soil from rocky soil or thorny soil or especially the path!

As we remember the Sermon on the Mount, we remember that Jesus told us not to judge.  Maybe we are not to judge who receives the seed.  Let it fall where it may.  

Who knows?  Maybe this is good soil too.

I've done a lot of weddings in my ministerial career.  Some couples seemed destined for a long and happy marriage but then for whatever reason, the marriage ended.  Others I doubted would last the year and yet they are still married and going strong.  The only judgment I try to make is whether I suspect obvious harm would be done were they to marry.  I also may make recommendations for what they might need to work on.  But for the most part, after the marriage counseling, I will officiate at their ceremony.  Because you never know what the soil really is.

This is similar to how we share the good news.  We are to proclaim the love of God to all people.  Everyone needs to hear it.  Not all will receive it.  

But you never know.

How might you express to people that they are deserving of love?  It's not something they have to earn.  In fact, there are some we would have great reservations about whether we actually believe they should receive it.  But we just scatter regardless.

Because you never know.

Maybe this says more about who we are than who they are.

Prayer for the day:

Grant me, I beseech you, my God, in the name of Jesus Christ your Son, the charity which never fails, that my light may shine, warming my own heart and enlightening others.  Amen.

Prayer by Columbanus, Italy, 7th Century  

Photo by elPadawan via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.