SUNDAY, July 13 5 Pentecost Matthew 13:4. And the birds came and ate them up. The parable of the sower is much loved, quoted, and depicted. Because the gospel texts treat it as an allegory where each part stands for a specific fact or truth, and since the allegory is fully explained by Jesus, there seems to be little more that can be said about it. If Jesus says this is what it means, who are we to expand on it? With appropriate fear and trembling, let’s try. The gospel interpretation is that we are the soil receiving the seeds. What if we were sometimes the birds or the rocks, the sun or the thorns? How do we, by our actions or inactions, snatch the seeds of another’s faith or constitute the shallowness that prevents deepening? How might we scorch with unkind judgment the aspirations of another or choke a struggling belief? Congregations can be hard soil, virtual conspiracies against seedlings by their hidebound ways. People who are trivial when they need to be serious, talking when they should be listening, narrow when they need to be broad, and bad examples when good ones are needed can all find a place in the parable’s allegory. PRAY for The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea and the Diocese of Dogura From ForwardMovement.org
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 15:58:52 +0000
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