What Kind of Ground? 20 February 2008

Mark 4:1-20
Wednesday, 20 February 2008

In light of current events, much is being made of the means by which political candidates are or are not effective with their words, how they connect better or worse with potential voters, and who their natural constituents are. As a preacher, I too wonder how well or how poorly I am connecting. But unlike political candidates, we who minister the gospel or even who witness concerning it most often have no idea whether the message we advocate will bear the fruit we hope for. We never know how well we're doing because we never know what kind of ground we're finding.

Having recently called his disciples, Jesus gathers them along with the lingering crowds for a lesson about sowing seed. The sower goes out and broadcasts the seed. The results vary. Some ground is too hard. Some ground is too shallow. Some ground is overrun with weeds. Some ground is ideal for planting. The thing is that the sower doesn't know. All the sower does is sow. When the disciples ask for the mystery of the parable to be explained to them, Jesus informs them that the seed is the word of God. There are several worst case scenarios for the word: Satan steals it, trouble chokes it, the world distracts and detracts from it. The one good case: it bears fruit. The question Jesus doesn't answer is why the sower is not more discerning about the ground. Why didn't the sower prepare it or scout it out in advance? It's because the disciples are the sowers.

I suppose it would seem to be a better business plan for us to target the people and environments where the word would seem to us to be most likely to take root. We could do focus groups, as political candidates do, to figure out who would be most receptive to our message. We could poll our families, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, "What kind of ground are you?" lest we waste our time with lost causes. The problem with this is that the gospel sowers' job is not to judge the ground but to sow the word, to broadcast it. The ground is not our business anyway.

Sing, "Bringing in the Sheaves"

Let us pray:
We long, O God, to be your faithful witnesses. But we confess that sometimes the uncertainty about the ground we are finding makes us hesitant to share even the wonderful message of your love expressed in Jesus Christ. Help us to remember that the result is not ours to control. Help us simply to be diligent and faithful in fulfilling our call and charge. When we go out sowing precious seed, remind us of your promise that some of it will find ground and produce fruit in Jesus' name. Amen.