The 5th Sunday after Trinity

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.
Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.
Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Let anyone with ears listen!”

A prayer

Almighty God,

send down upon your Church

the riches of your Spirit,

and kindle in all who minister the gospel

your countless gifts of grace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Some thoughts

In these days of ploughing, of seed drills, of seeds bought from specialist suppliers, of commercial plant foods to feed the crop. This story looks a negligent, wasteful way of farming – but life was different, we are not judging farming methods.

The parable of the sower is often given with an explanation – The birds represent this, the thorns represent that, the rocky soil represents something else. Sometimes these explanations get in the way of the meaning of the parable.

What we see is the sower at work, he spreads the seed. That is his job. The harvest comes later.

The sower represents you and me as followers of Christ In our words and in our actions, we spread the word of God. 

Sometimes it will fail for whatever reason – there is no need to ascribe guilt or blame.

Other times it will succeed. That is what is important.

Spread the seed. That is what you are asked to do. Don’t anguish about the ground being rocky!

Spread the seed. Don’t worry about the birds.

Spread the seed. Forget the thorns.

SPREAD THE SEED! Show in your words and actions the love and good news of Christ