Mark 4 really begins Jesus' teaching ministry. He teaches in parables, illustrative stories set in a familiar context that point to another reality. Jesus uses the language of seed and soil to teach about the kingdom of God. From the indiscriminate scattering of seeds to the way seeds take root, emerge, and grow Jesus invites us to see God's activity in the world as a natural reality within and around us. He also teaches that there is a kind of hidden aspect to God's activity. It is not always overt, obvious, and clear that God is the active agent behind the good life. Jesus' teachings are meant to shine light, to reveal what God is doing in the world. Some will be given the ability to see, others will not. We might wonder why some have faith and some don't. We might wonder why God is obtuse or hidden from us.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus suggests that the seed is scattered indiscriminately. Only a quarter of the soil is good soil that receives the seed and produces. Most of the soil is not good soil. It's rocky or weedy. Some of the soil isn't even tilled land, it's a path! The point is that God, the sower, is not a good farmer. He scatters seed, even where it is not received or accepted. There is no judgment on the "bad soil" and we ought not to think literally about the application of this story. We are tempted to think of the different soils as categories of the human heart or mind. And then we judge who is "good soil" and who is "bad soil". Not Jesus' point. Even in Jesus' interpretation of the parable that he gives to the disciples, he is not passing a judgment on those who do not receive the Word. God sows lavishly, excessively, and foolishly in the world. We are recipients. Sometimes we're ready. Sometimes we're not. What do you think God is sowing in the world? I think God sows peace and mercy.
The two parables of the seed scatterer and the mustard seed show us that God's activity does not depend on our intervention or work. There is mystery about some of the things tht God does. God's activity is often subtle, missed, small, seemingly insignificant. But what God starts, grows and becomes something large and significant. Church started with a small group of students, following a 1st century Jewish Rabbi. Now there are over two billion Christians in the world. How did a movement so vulnerable and insignificant become something so important to so many people?
Finally, the parable of the boat on the sea. Is this a literal event? Or a teaching moment? Or both? Jesus teaches his disciple that faith is the absence of fear. It is peace in the middle of chaos, rest in the middle of life's storms. Jesus is in the boat with us. He signifies God's peaceful presence with us in the midst of life's turmoil and dangers. To have faith is to trust that God cares that we are all perishing, enough to show up and take action!
So, how do we begin to see with the eyes of faith, to trust that God is in the boat with us, and to receive what God is sowing into our lives, into the world? How do we recognize the activity of God around and within us? How do we become aware of the presence, protection, provision, and peace of God in daily life? This is the art of discipleship. To become aware. To wonder about the soil of my own life. What obstacles, barriers, trouble is preventing God's word of life from penetrating my life?
Prayer.
Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word. When I am afraid, drive my fear away. When I am in need, provide for me and protect me. When I am uncertain of your presence and activity in my life, awaken my inner senses to know you are near me. Amen.
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