Fertile Soil

Remember you are dust.

Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them : ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” ’ And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ - Mark 4:1-20

Because Jesus takes the time to explain the meaning of this parable, focusing on the types of soil, we immediately think of ourselves and others as types of soil.  We jump to judgment, rather than ponder the meaning of the parable in its entirety.

Jesus warns us about that later on, saying let those who have ears, hear.

He wants us to think about the message before nodding our heads and walking away.

The sower sows the word.

This is not about a farmer who prepares his soil to be as fertile as possible before tossing his seeds upon it and turning them into the ground to help them germinate.  This is about a sower, who tosses seeds everywhere.

God is that sower and the seeds are the Word of God, which is cast on every type of soil.

Jesus knew that most of the people he encountered would fail to change their lives based on the words he spoke.  They might hear them and think them meaningful, but for some, as soon as they went on their way, the words fell flat and disappeared.

For others, there may have been an attempt to live them, but like a New Year's resolution, with time, they too were forgotten.

If we focus on the sower in this parable, we may start to understand how God works in our lives.  He has given us a free will, leaving the choice up to us.  What kind of soil will we be, He asks?

Will be be ready to hear and accept God's words, or will we choose to be rocky or thorny?

All are invited, but not all accept the invitation.  The word will fall where it may, but not all will be willing or able to pick it up and act on it.

Today, with so many words thrown at us every day, will our ears be trained and ready to hear whatGod is saying to us?  Or will we nod our heads, say Good Story, and move on?

More to come...