Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In the Gospel today, we hear the parable of the sower. "A sower went out to sow. Some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil . . . and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." Over the last several years, we have done more and more gardening in the various places we’ve lived. We have a new garden that we started this spring; I would not consider myself an expert by any means, but I do follow some logical steps when it comes to placement, cultivation, planting, and thinning throughout the process. We were intentional about planting the seeds in good, rich soil to give them the best chance at producing vegetables to harvest throughout the summer and fall. Why does the sower in Jesus’ parable appear to be so reckless and foolish in his planting practice? Why would he spread the seed in such a carefree manner?
The beauty of the parable is the comparison between the sower and God. God’s love is so extravagant that it defies logic and what would seem reasonable. It’s easy to love those that love you back. God’s love is like the seed being sown in the parable and God like the sower. God’s grace, love, and mercy is not reserved for the rich, the educated, the beautiful, the powerful. It is boundless, infinite, immeasurable, never-ending; it is sown for all.
So what does this mean for us; I mean, besides the fact that I’ve just basically called God crazy? I dare say, Jesus is directing us to imitate the insane love of God. We must love not only those who love us, not only those who look like us, think like us, talk like us, and affirm us, but even more specifically, those who are different from us. Our love should radiate toward all, the good and bad alike.
Abundant Blessings,
Brandon Meyer