Scripture: Genesis
25:19-34 and Psalm
119:105-112 • Isaiah
55:10-13 and Psalm
65:(1-8), 9-13 • Romans
8:1-11 • Matthew
13:1-9, 18-23
Jesus gives us one of his parables of the sower in this week's gospel reading. Here, it seems, is a wild, perhaps reckless sower. Some seeds fall on rocks and hard ground. Some among thorns. And others on good soil. Several years ago I learned an important life lesson from a now retired Episcopal priest, Fr. Rodge Wood. He taught me something like this: When you make a gift, it is no longer yours to worry about how it will be used. Otherwise, in seeking to control the consequences, you have taken it back. Such is forgiveness. Be set free by giving your gift, and yourself. I texted him about this this week, and he told me that I taught him how to live an abundant life. This week's lesson is about "reckless" giving without worry or control, but trusting that every good gift comes from God, whose love is abundant, and will see us through every second of our lives together. And we can teach, and learn from each other - if only we care and try, which is what Jesus calls us to do.
Consider The Rev. Joseph Evans' "The Sower's Lesson," and "Life and Death
: God's Care Package is Bursting, " by Enuma Okoro, published in Sojourners.
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