“Unforeseen possibilities”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Luke 8: 1-15 (Forward, p. 22) CEV p. 1067
Today’s parable has been described, and interpreted, in a variety of ways. Even its title gives us some indication of this. Some have called it ‘The Parable of the Sower’, though actually the sower has a minimum of involvement after the sowing is complete. Others have called it “The Parable of the Seeds’, though once again the seeds are relatively passive. I prefer to call it ‘The Parable of the Soils’, for the soils are the real determining factor in the account.
And, as for its interpretation, other than the explanation about the types of soil that Jesus gives the disciples in verses 11-15, many regard this parable simply as an explanation of the way ‘things will be’. In other words, the seed, the word of God, God’s message, will be received in various ways, and that’s that. In other words, ‘you can’t expect to bat a thousand, but there will be success somewhere along the way.’ It paints a relatively passive story of what we can expect and what we can do.
I prefer to see it in a more active, more dynamic light. This can be expressed in a couple of ways, firstly in a personal way. Seeing as the Middle Eastern practice was to sow first and then to plow, we can never be sure what our lives will look like after the plowing. (I like to think of the plowing as being the disturbing and unsettling circumstances that come into our lives, the birth of a child perhaps, a health setback, a job loss, a failure, a move, a divorce, a death of someone close to us, unsettling news locally or further abroad, many things.) Anyway, we, you and I, might find ourselves to be quite different persons afterwards, and far more open, far more receptive to God’s word. So, we mustn’t ‘write ourselves off’.
And the same goes for our approaches to other people: they may initially seem very hard or shallow or conflicted, but who knows about the future. Things, events, might well intervene to change things, and so we should
never give up on them, never cease trying to win them over. Who knows just what might happen in the future to the seed that has been planted there? In other words, be ready for surprises—some that might come even after we are ‘no longer in the picture.’ So, I see this parable as being full of wonderful possibilities, God’s possibilities, whether for us or for others. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance” (verse 15).
“A few years ago, a small group of seminarians at Sewanee were interested in doing some hands-on learning about the connections between food, farming, and faith. Sewanee is the perfect place for that kind of project.
“The students convinced the seminary administration to allow a small garden in an empty courtyard. The once-empty courtyard became a hub of activity: the hard-packed ground was broken up with shovels and tilled, raised beds were built, and the soil was carefully prepared. The seeds were sown with care, and the plants tended. Like generations of farmers and gardeners before them, the students did everything in their power to make the process as efficient as possible. They tested and adjusted the pH and mineral content of the soil and chose crops most appropriate for the region and sun exposure. They worked hard to prepare their small plot of land so that it could produce as much as possible.”
Moving Forward: “What garden are you tending? Does it need more care?”
A concluding note: what about the garden of our lives, or the lives of those around us: how are we tending them and nourishing them?