Advent Day Thirteen | (DIS)Comfort | Matthew 13:1–9
The death penalty trial of Dylan Roof started this past week. Felicia Sanders, a survivor of the massacre, testified.
“She recalled watching the young white man stroll into Bible study, thinking he just wanted to seek the word of God. He was handed a Bible and a worksheet about that Wednesday night’s lesson, the parable of the sower, and took a seat next to the pastor. He said nothing for nearly 45 minutes, hanging his head and waiting for the 12 parishioners to stand and close their eyes in benediction.”
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
The parable of the sower is one of my favorites. In it, Jesus tells of a sower in the fields dropping seeds in hopes that they might flourish. Some of the seeds fall to the path where birds find and eat them. Other seeds fall among the rocks where they struggle to grow strong roots but ultimately die. Other seeds fall among thorns and are choked. But, some seeds fall on good soil, put down roots, grow and multiply.
As we await the coming of Jesus, our culture urges us to forget, to start fresh, to seek worldly comforts like a balm, to let go of anger, grief and devastation, to look towards the coming of the baby Jesus with hearts that simply cannot acknowledge that we need him — desperately.
Be Cheerful. Be Merry. Be Bright.
No.
Be Convicted. Be Committed. Be Honest.
There is work to be done.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
We are seeds, struggling to grow where we are dropped. As the Rev. Dennis Paterson Jr. says, “There will be birds. There will be rocks. There will be thorns. But, we are seeds. And our responsibility is to grow.”
But, that’s not all.
We are the sower. And, we have been given seeds to plant. There are birds. There are rocks. There are thorns. But, we have been entrusted with seeds. And our responsibility is to search for the good soil, and, if we cannot find any, we must create the good soil. Because, we have seeds to plant. We must get to work.
