On Being a Sow and Sow

Luke 8 4-15

The first seed catalog arrived.  I got pretty excited-not jump up and down excited, but I kept turning the pages.  I couldn't put it down, thinking about what I might try new this year in our garden along with the standbys of green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash and broccoli.

The enthusiasm I have for growing vegetables keeps me in touch with my roots.  Not only does this mean my boyhood gardening, it speaks of my relationship to God.  The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek meaning "to be inspired."  This can be traced to en + theos (god).  To be enthusiastic is to be inspired by God.  It is to have passion or feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject.



So it had to be for the sower in The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8: 4-14).  He was an experienced farmer.  He knew the experience of sowing seed on a path, on rocky soil, on thorny soil, and on good soil. Only the good soil brought great results.  A farmer would soon learn which soil is which.

Since the parable is about seed which is the World of God and it is sown on the soil of human life, a sower doesn't necessarily know in advance what kind of soil another person is.  But does that matter?  No!

The sower, i.e. the Christian, is to sow the seed.  The Christian is to share the Word of God in word and deed.  What is a sower to do but sow?  God will handle the harvest.  The size of the harvest is out of our hands.

You and I are called to be faithful sowers...and to sow and sow and sow with enthusiasm, because that is our task and our joy.  The issue is not whether or not the harvest is as big as we think it should be.  The issue is have we been a faithful sower.

Prayer:  Dear God, sometimes I think I am responsible for the harvest.  Forgive me for presuming to take your job from you.  Help me to stay focused on being a faithful sower.  In my Redeemer's name, I pray. Amen.

Anonymous for St. Mark Presbyterian Lenten Devotional, 2002