Before broadcasting referred to radio and television, this parable described the way seeds were planted. Handfuls of seed were scattered -- broadcast -- across the field. The people who gathered around Jesus were familiar with this broadcasting. They had seen it done, done it themselves.
The story line is simple enough. A sower goes out to sow. The story is simple, but the disciples of Jesus have trouble understanding it, and ask for an explanation. And ever since, the Christian community has struggled with just what this story means.
In keeping with the spirit of All Saints' Sunday, I'd like to ask two questions: What's a saint? And how can we become a little more saint-like ourselves?
In 1999 I arrived in Hebron with an unswerving commitment to peace, nonviolence and sacrificial love. Three years later I left with the same commitment, a more tempered concept of ‘hope’ and a deep uncertainty about what peace, nonviolence, and sacrificial love mean.
A Funeral Sermon: I knew there would be many voices heard today, sharing stories and memories; laughter and tears with you who knew and loved Steve. So rather than prepare a sermon, I simply wrote a letter. I hope it speaks for you in this time of remembering. Here goes….
A little boy, seeing stained glass featuring the apostles, said, "A saint is a somebody the light shines through." Good definition! Who are your saints? Who are the people who let you see the light of God shining through.
There are a whole lot of endings to the sentence that begins, "You know it’s going to be a bad day when …." Here’s just a few of them.
Jesus said: "Don't resist him who is evil." (Matthew 5:39). Does that mean you're supposed to roll over and play dead? Not necessarily. If you hear a burglar breaking into your home, you'd be a fool to open the door and invite him in. When you're in harm's way, you have every right to protect yourself and your loved ones. This actually happened to a couple I know.
Jesus sure takes all the fun out of being a sanctimonious hypocrite. In defining greatness as servanthood, Jesus turns the whole social order on its head. The first become last. The last are suddenly first.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.” But what is this labor that Jesus talks about. It is certainly not work, per se. Hard work is central to any productive, contributing life. So what kind of labor does he invite us to flee.