Mt. 13:3b “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 If you have ears, hear!” (NRSVUE)
Four types of soil: packed, rocky, thorny, fertile.
Four attitudes: unreceptive, shallow, preoccupied, teachable.
In German, this parable in entitled Gleichnis von den vier Bodenarten (Parable of the Four Soils) It’s about the soil, not the sower or the seed.
This parable has nothing whatsoever to do with who is saved and who isn’t. It’s about how the Jewish people of Jesus’ generation were hearing the good news of the Kingdom that he and his apprentices were proclaiming. As such, it echoes through the ages to challenge us.
Jesus and his followers are the sowers.
The seed is the message of the Kingdom: “Change your mind! Change the way you think! The Kingdom of the Heavens is here, now. Jesus is the King of Glory.”
A whole new way of living – up is down, in is out, the greatest is the servant, turn the other cheek, love your enemies, don’t resist the evil one, go the second mile, freely you’ve received, freely give, put away your weapons, conquer death by dying, confront violence with love, leave all and follow Jesus. The way of agapé.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
If it’s not good news to the poor and oppressed, it’s not the gospel.
Do we have ears to hear?
Some of us are like packed soil. We are unreceptive. We don’t want to hear it. Our minds are made up. Stop trying to confuse me with facts. This kingdom you’re talking about makes no sense. We don’t want a nonviolent messiah. We want a warlord messiah. We want to take over the government, the schools, the media and build a kingdom in our image. Give up my guns? Love my enemies? Pledge allegiance to King Jesus exclusively? Stop judging and criticizing others? Welcome the brown-skinned immigrant? Help the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, the addicted, the disabled, the incarcerated? You want me to stop trying to force my morality on others? Give up control and coercion? Sell all I have and give to the poor? You’ve got to be kidding! Forget it.
Others of us are spiritually shallow. Rocky soil. It has nothing to do with intelligence or formal education. Some of us require a two-dimensional universe, simple explanations lacking anomalies, a world filled with simple stories so we can feel safe. Some of us squeeze the profound, terrifying, wondrous mysteries of being into naïve unsophisticated rubrics. We live in fear. For us, the complexities of the ancient, expanding, evolving cosmos are threats. Nuanced shades of understanding are anathema. We miss both the wisdom beyond dogma, and the spirituality that transcends familial codes. Our world is two-dimensional, flattened into duality, void of liminality.
Some of us are like soil already occupied with thorn bushes. We are preoccupied. We are preoccupied with money, success, status, being a winner. The place Jesus would like to occupy in our hearts is already taken. (You cannot serve God and mammon. It is impossible.) We are preoccupied with gaining and keeping political power. We blame the victims and ignore our unconscious racism. We are preoccupied with arguing against what we see as wrong, evil, sinful. Our hearts are clogged up with questionable, or even toxic, theology. We love being right. We envy corrupt billionaires. We are preoccupied with getting ahead – titles, promotions, bigger house, prestigious vehicles.
But many people are fertile soil. They know that the only way up is down. They know that if we would stand tall in the eyes of God, we must be regularly on our knees and faces. These folks listen to Jesus. They spend time being with Jesus learning from Jesus how to be like Jesus. They are far from perfect, but they try to live by the Sermon on the Mount. They listen to others with enough humility to recognize that they might be wrong, that they might need to let go of some treasured dogma. These people listen to nature. They listen for the still small whisper of love in their hearts. They treasure opportunities to serve the marginalized and disenfranchised. They are teachable. They are nonjudgmental. Their love flows in four directions – towards God, others, themselves, and creation. They care deeply about the environment; it is God’s artwork. They care deeply about those Jesus called the least of his siblings. They are kingdom people bearing the fruit of unconditional, never-coercive, other-oriented love.
But here’s the thing. When I look into my own heart, I sometimes see packed soil. Sometimes I see rocky soil. Sometimes my heart is filled with thorn bushes. Occasionally, it feels like good ground. Sometimes I am unreceptive, shallow, or preoccupied, rather than teachable.
Like a garden, a heart needs attention. Constant attention.
Mornings begin with gratitude, thanksgiving, gratefulness.
The day ends with an Ignatian-type examen.
In between, there is time for silence, stillness, meditation, Lectio Divina.
Discernment, but no judgement, condemnation, or contempt.
Forgive all, love all.
Time reflecting in the grandeur of creation.
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each [person] which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.” ― Blaise Pascal, circa 1662
And the Master bids, “Follow me.”
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