All the stuff about seeds; scattering, sowing, falling and growing brings to mind a couple different points.
First - In the Parable of the Sower - Jesus never complains that the sower was not careful with the seed. The sower's job is to put his hand in the bag of seeds and scatter them. Some fell on the road, some fell on rocks, some fell among weeds. That's not the sower's fault. He simply sows the seed.
The seed we sow, the seed Jesus is talking about here, is the Word of God. It doesn't matter who we talk to, no one is too good to hear the word, no one to bad. If they're already Christians they might receive it eagerly and be encouraged. If not they might see it as useless. It doesn't matter because the word/seed will do what the word/seed does. And what today might be rocks, might be better soil in 10 years because the seed has been there. And what is weedy today might be clear next year.
Keep scattering the seed liberally, lovingly, and prayerfully.
Second - The Parable of the Mustard Seed. I've never met a gardener who was happy to have birds in the garden. Yet Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God being like a mustard seed that grows into a bush and welcomes birds in it's shade.
There is a temptation for us who have been Christians for much of our lives to see ourselves as good and others as bad. Sadly this happens even among our brothers and sisters in Christ, my denomination is right and your denomination is wrong. There are plenty of old "jokes" about heaven where the punchline is, "Shhh, that's the Lutherans (Baptist, Methodist, Catholics, Presbyterians, . . . insert denomination) and they think they're the only ones here!"
The Kingdom of God is large, so that all the birds are welcome. Brennan Manning wrote a beautiful book called the Ragamuffin Gospel in which looks at how God welcomes . . ., well, ragamuffins; people whose lives are broken. He asserts, and Jesus does, too, that being a Christian is not about being strong, right, powerful, or anything else. It's about being loved by God.
As you go about your day, go as one who is loved by God. Go as a person in process. Go humbly. (If we are the soil in the Parable of the Sower then we are dirt. Not a lot to brag about, except in what God has done in us!) Then scatter seed - live your life and share God's love - liberally. Pour God's love out, because you will never run out, and the Kingdom of God is big enough to welcome people . . . even that guy.
First - In the Parable of the Sower - Jesus never complains that the sower was not careful with the seed. The sower's job is to put his hand in the bag of seeds and scatter them. Some fell on the road, some fell on rocks, some fell among weeds. That's not the sower's fault. He simply sows the seed.
The seed we sow, the seed Jesus is talking about here, is the Word of God. It doesn't matter who we talk to, no one is too good to hear the word, no one to bad. If they're already Christians they might receive it eagerly and be encouraged. If not they might see it as useless. It doesn't matter because the word/seed will do what the word/seed does. And what today might be rocks, might be better soil in 10 years because the seed has been there. And what is weedy today might be clear next year.
Keep scattering the seed liberally, lovingly, and prayerfully.
Second - The Parable of the Mustard Seed. I've never met a gardener who was happy to have birds in the garden. Yet Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God being like a mustard seed that grows into a bush and welcomes birds in it's shade.
There is a temptation for us who have been Christians for much of our lives to see ourselves as good and others as bad. Sadly this happens even among our brothers and sisters in Christ, my denomination is right and your denomination is wrong. There are plenty of old "jokes" about heaven where the punchline is, "Shhh, that's the Lutherans (Baptist, Methodist, Catholics, Presbyterians, . . . insert denomination) and they think they're the only ones here!"
The Kingdom of God is large, so that all the birds are welcome. Brennan Manning wrote a beautiful book called the Ragamuffin Gospel in which looks at how God welcomes . . ., well, ragamuffins; people whose lives are broken. He asserts, and Jesus does, too, that being a Christian is not about being strong, right, powerful, or anything else. It's about being loved by God.
As you go about your day, go as one who is loved by God. Go as a person in process. Go humbly. (If we are the soil in the Parable of the Sower then we are dirt. Not a lot to brag about, except in what God has done in us!) Then scatter seed - live your life and share God's love - liberally. Pour God's love out, because you will never run out, and the Kingdom of God is big enough to welcome people . . . even that guy.
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