A sower went out to sow!
What an amazing act of faith!
A sower went out to sow scattering his seed.
Flinging it here and there.
A sower went out to sow!
Even though he did not understand how it would or whether even
it would spring forth in to life.
A sower went out to sow!
We should not be distracted by our modern knowledge of agriculture
but listen to what God is saying – the sower sows in faith.
Jesus says to us that this parable is a parable that
describes the kingdom of God.
The mystery of the process does not stop the sower stepping
out into the field and trowing the seed.
If we contemplate for a moment that God is that sower we get
a sense of God’s deep love for us and willingness to share the seed of faith
with us so liberally.
God sows the seed into the world.
God sows the seed of his son Jesus to walk among us.
God’s faith is God’s faithfulness not a feeling or a belief
or an idea but an action.
God sows Jesus into the world and here we are 2000 years
later contemplating the same parable he told his disciples.
The disciples heard that the sower went out to sow and when
we follow Mark’s gospel we know they struggled to understand what Jesus was
getting at.
Jesus had to explain it to them. As Jesus followers in this day and age we are
still listening and we pray, ‘Jesus’ help us understand your word to each of us
as well as we contemplate your parables. Jesus’ open our hearts and minds so
that we might burst forth in new life like that dormant seed.’
The sower sowed Jesus into our midst and we still listen to
his stories and we are still confronted by the mystery of how God’s love works
in the world.
But it does.
The seeds spring forth into life. You are here on this day because somehow you
have seen that growth, you have been touched by a sense of the kingdom of God
coming close, you have heard Jesus speaking, you have been transformed by
faith.
Seeds which lay dormant in our lives broke forth and broke through
the topsoil reaching up for the sunlight and we have basked in the divine presence
of God.
We do not know how!
The sower sowed the Holy spirit into the world, the Spirit
which works where it wills, the s Spirit which join us to God and each other
and the Spirit which continues to open our eyes and draw us close to God.
The sower sowed in faith scattering the seed and the harvest
continues to grow.
The fruit of the harvest is God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s
compassion, God’s desire for fullness on our lives. The harvest is our encounter with God and our
faith which leads us not simply to be followers by to celebrate the harvest and
to become sowers ourselves.
The gift of faith that the sower gives is a gift of sharing
in the work. Sharing in the celebration of
the harvest but yes sharing in the wild abandon of the sower as God continues
to scatter the seeds.
Watching night and day and night and day with hope that the
seeds will spring forth into new life and marvelling at God’s love and work in
the world when we see signs of it growing around us.
On this day as we hear the good news of God’s love and faith
in the scattering of the divine seed we are the disciples and we are also
apostles sent into the world to become fishers of men and women – sowing the seeds
on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday and
all through week until we return next Sunday.
Sowing the seed that God is for us not against us, that God
loves us, that God desires the best for our lives, that God wants us to see
beyond our fears and to live more fully.
The sower went out to sow
What an amazing gift of faith and life in which we share!
Amen