Excerpt from Matthew 13:1-9

"Seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain…"

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

The summer before I went to divinity school I attempted to act out this parable with the children and youth of a small church in rural Connecticut.  Together we planted bean seeds beside the road, on the rocks, among thorns, and in fertile soil, just as the parable outlined.

In a few weeks the beans that had been planted by the side of the road, on rocks and among thorns would all have died, while the seed that had been planted in the good soil would be laden with beans.  The meaning of the parable would be clear to all, and the children would skip home to sin no longer.  Or so went the plan.

As the weeks passed, however, I noticed with horror (the children with glee) that the bean planted among the thorns was keeping pace with the bean planted in the good soil.  In four weeks, only one plant remained… the one among the thorns.  It was doing so well that it yielded a handful of beans.  The children thought this was so hilarious they planted one of the beans in a pot and gave it to me as a gift.  Bless their little hearts.

That summer I started out to teach one lesson and ended up learning another lesson entirely.  The parable teaches that some people will be more receptive than others to what Jesus called "the word of the kingdom."  But what I noticed only after attempting to act out the parable is that we cannot know where the rocks are, where the good soil is.  That knowledge is given to God alone.

We simply never know where God's kingdom is going to take root.  Our job is simply to spread kingdom seeds with something like abandon so they might take root where God sees fit.  There is something wonderfully freeing about knowing that.

Prayer

God, help me to spread seeds with abandon and leave to you the knowledge of where they will take root.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.