“Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Mark 4:1-9

I like the parable of the sower because it deals with two important aspects of being a Christian: sowing seed and allowing seed to be sown. To be a disciple for Christ, we have to be willing to go out and sow seed. We are called each Sunday to leave the sanctuary, where we have heard and experienced G-d’s Word, and then go forward to sow that seed.   But, to be able to sow the seed, we must first welcome that seed to be sown in us. To have the Word take hold within us we have to come with an open mind…we must allow it to be implanted into us so that it may germinate, and sprout forth to produce “fruit worthy of repentance”  yielding “thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

It is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that the Word will take hold—and it is only with faith that we allow that word to move us to action. But the word will only be heard if we have the ears of faith. Let any one with ears to hear listen.

Pastor Dave