The Parable of the Sower
Scripture: Matthew 13:3 – 9, 18 – 23
And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
I grow grass in a couple pots in my apartment. I know it seems like a weird choice for a houseplant, but grass is really good for cats’ digestion – especially indoor cats. The thing is: sometimes I plant the seeds and before too long there’s a pot full of fresh, green grass, like a well-maintained lawn in a pot; other times, growth is sparse. Sometimes I know why the grass didn’t grow very well, but more often, it’s a mystery.
I used to know a farmer who mostly farmed tobacco. He made really good money farming this crop, but as quotas for tobacco harvests shrank, he was faced with figuring out what to grow instead of tobacco. The reality he faced was that no other legal crop would be anywhere near as lucrative as tobacco had been. As we were talking about his dilemma one day, he said to me, “Elaine, it’s not a matter of what will grow well; I can grow anything.” Where I’m hit and miss growing grass in a pot, years (generations, really) of farming had left him with an instinctual understanding of just about everything to do with growing things.
I think a lot of people Jesus talked to were like the farmer I used to know. Agriculture was in their blood. These are the people to whom Jesus spoke when He told the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. On Sunday we’re going to be invited to think about this parable and about how it applies to our lives.
Often when we read this particular parable, we read it like it’s about other people. It’s a story about a farmer spreading seed on the ground. The seed falls on various types of soil, some of which is conducive to good growth and some of which is not. Typically, I think, we put ourselves in the place of the one sowing the seed. But on Sunday we’re going to be challenged to put ourselves in the place of the seeds and the soil; we’re going to be asked to prayerfully consider what our lives say about where we are metaphorically planted.
As you prepare for Sunday, perhaps read this parable from Matthew 13:3 – 9, 18 – 23. Perhaps spend some time asking God to reveal if there’s anything in that parable that pertains to you right now. Take some quiet moments to simply breathe, focusing on your breath entering and exiting your body. As you breathe, hold your hands open before you as a symbol of openness, and invite God to speak through this parable whatever you need to hear this week.