“The good soil”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, October 7, 2022
Luke 8:1-15 (Forward, p. 70) CEV p. 1067
What was described by Jesus in the Parable of the Soils—commonly called the Parable of the Sower, though it isn’t really about the sower at all—reflects all too vividly a sad reality about us human beings. With any given message or experience our responses will vary significantly, even with things that are generally counted as being good. Thus, some people slough it off—as exemplified by the seed by the roadside, others will embrace it with fervent but short-lived enthusiasm—as exemplified by the shallow or rocky soils, others with some mixed and conflicting motives and circumstances—as exemplified by the weedy soils, and still others with open, receptive and responsive hearts. Such is life now, and probably always has been and always will be.
Our passage refers to Jesus’ twelve apostles and a larger group of disciples, but also an expected group of people, a group of women. Our text tells us that they went with Jesus and the others, which, given the restricted civil rights and social mobility of women in that time and place, is most surprising. But even more surprising is that they used what they owned to help Jesus and His disciples. Even more surprising is what the footnote in the Contemporary English Version states, “Women often helped Jewish teachers by giving them money.” This comes as a surprise to me as I have always been led to believe that women back then had very little, if any, property rights, and so little independent access to finances.
Nevertheless, this certainly would suggest that these women, at very least, could be counted as the ‘good soil’ that gratefully and willingly responded to Jesus’ message, and not in words only, but also in deeds. To me, then, they serve as a wonderful example of how we, each of us, should respond to Jesus—in word and deed, of course, but also in whatever resources we have at our disposal. I pray that each of us might be the good soil. Amen.
Forward notes: “As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (verse 14).
“I believe Jesus would appreciate the signs I’ve seen at some church exits, such as, ‘You are about to enter the mission field,’ or one I saw recently,
‘The church is outside these walls.’ Jesus shares the parable of the sower with his disciples, and he adamantly tells them, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ He seems to be saying, folks, this is important. But you know how it is; getting to the root of parables can be tricky. So, Jesus gives examples: ‘The seed is the word of God,’ and in Matthew, ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.’
“Now imagine that after his disciples asked again what the parable of the sower meant, Jesus had been able to give another example by holding up the sign: ‘You are now entering the mission field, bless you!’”
MOVING FORWARD: “When you leave the church this month, practice saying to yourself, ‘I am now entering the mission field.’ How do those words change your perspective about what you should be doing in the world?”