Meditation for February 20, 2008
From The Rev. Peter A. Munson
Mark 4:13-20
13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."
Continually Receptive to the Word
The Parable of the Sower (for the full text, see Mark 4:3-9, in addition to verses 13-20, printed above) is one of Jesus' most well-known parables. As we hear this parable over a period of many years, it is always good to ask ourselves, each time we hear it: Where am I in this story? Am I like the path, so oblivious to God and his word that the word never even takes root? Am I like the rocky ground, with no real root, so that - the moment trouble comes - I stumble? Am I like the seed sown among thorns? Am I so preoccupied with pursuing wealth and the other things of this world that my life bears no real fruit? Probably all of us can relate to these different soil conditions, as Jesus applies them to the status of our spiritual lives. "Yes, Lord, sometimes I have been like the path; sometimes I have been like the rocky ground; sometimes my life has been all intertwined with thorns."
What interests me today, though, is what we can do to be "the good soil". Jesus puts it quite simply: these are the ones who "hear the word and accept it and bear fruit." It sounds simple. But I suppose actually doing this is not so simple, or all of us would be like the good soil - all the time.
First, Jesus says, we must hear the word. We must be listening, and listening well, in other words. And listening for what? The word. "The word" means two things.
First of all, it means that we must be listening to the revealed Word of God that has been given to us in the Holy Scriptures. The #1 way for discovering what God wants you to do is knowing what the Good Book says. That is why Scripture is so prominent in every worship service in our tradition. Perhaps this seems obvious. But many of us do not spend that much time reading or contemplating or praying with Scripture. You can't "hear the Word" if you spend little or no time in God's Word. It's as simple as that.
Second, the Word mentioned in the Parable of the Sower is the Living Word, Jesus Christ. God has "sown Jesus". That is, God has sent Jesus to us. Scripture, the written Word of God, is supposed to lead us to the Living Word, the One pointed to by Scripture - Jesus. So we must hear this Word, too. This Word is not only revealed to us in Scripture. If we pay attention to the Spirit, alive and living within us, we discover that the Spirit will reveal Jesus - the Word - in many different ways. The Word - Jesus - will be revealed to us when we pray, when we exercise, when we receive Holy Communion, when we participate in other Sacraments, when we serve others. Christ is present within us, so if we take time to be quiet, and go within, Christ - the Word - will make himself known ot us. Christ is also present in other people, so we must be on the lookout for the Word in them. ("Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" The Book of Common Prayer, p.305)
Jesus says we must also accept the Word. Maybe this is the biggest hurdle for us. To accept the Word, in this case, means to make some room for Scripture, to make some room for Christ. In other words, to accept the Word is to allow Scripture, and to allow Jesus, to have authority in my life - to take their rightful place in my life. There are so many competing voices out there in the culture. There is the "stay busy at all costs" voice... the "be productive and be successful" voice... the "get more things and more money" voice... the "be happy and you should never struggle or feel any pain" voice... the "eat, drink, and be merry" voice... the "you should be able to do whatever you want and you're not accountable to anyone else" voice... the "you have unalienable rights and God help the person who even thinks about infringing on one of those rights" voice... the "you can have everything immediately, without working for it" voice... the "my country comes before everything else, including before every other country" voice... the "as long as me and my family get mine, let the chips fall where they may" voice... the "power and domination is what it's all about" voice.. the "my political party is where it's at" voice. There are a lot of voices out there, in other words. There are many, many ways to get distracted from hearing the Word, and accepting the Word - of really allowing the Word to have authority in my life.
What does Jesus say? That is a key question. Over and over again, we must ask ourselves: What does Jesus say, as recorded in Scripture? And also, what do I hear Jesus saying, as I get quiet and listen, as I pray by myself, or - just as importantly - as I pray with other Christians who recognize his authority, and who are also listening for his Word, so that they can be guided by it, because they want their lives to bear fruit?
Today, Jesus says this: "And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."