The Sower

Haiku of potential

The seed is scattered

on the ploughed earth by the man,

hoping and praying.

It’s all about soil

and where the seed comes to rest;

where it sends down roots.

Some fall on the path;

the birds know that they’re in luck,

swiftly make their claim.

On the rocky soil

shoots come soon, then fall away;

lack sufficient roots.

The weeds claim their share,

choking tender shoots of green;

lacking commitment.

Seemingly against

the odds, some seed comes to rest

in good soil. Hooray!

Like in the kingdom

the gospel seeds find a place

where love can grow strong.

Take the seed deeply

in your heart, listen to it,

bear abundant fruit.

© Ken Rookes 2020

A sower went out.

Haiku for gardeners

He goes to the lake,

finds a boat beached on the shore.

The crowd waits, eager.

What word will they hear;

what deep message awaits them?

He tells them stories.

Calls them parables;

he wants to get them thinking,

pondering kingdom.

A sower went out

to plant; eager and with hope.

He cast seed widely.

What might it produce?

That, friends, is the mystery;

depends where it lands.

The path and its birds,

shallow soil on rocky ground,

or the thorns that choke.

There is good soil, too.

The disciples are puzzled;

What does it all mean?

The seed is good news,

the gospel of the kingdom.

Not all receive it.

Some seed finds good soil;

hearts that are open to love.

These will bear much fruit.

© Ken Rookes 2017

A wonderful take on the parables

A wonderful take on the parable. look up the full sermon..

"What’s the difference between a fable and a parable?

I think answering this question is crucial if we are to preach this passage. You see, a fable is primarily didactic, a clever story meant to offer some insight into and instruction about life – think Aesop’s Fables for a moment. A parable, on the other hand, is intended to be disruptive, to interrupt what you thought you knew and not just teach you something but actually to confront you with a surprising and often unwanted truth.

Fables are handy when you want to give kids some good advice or teach them some moral or practical lesson. Who doesn’t remember the lesson of “The Tortoise and the Hare” (slow and steady effort pays off) or “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” (honesty is the best policy)?

Parables, on the other hand, are useful when the truth you want to share is difficult – whether difficult to hear, comprehend, or believe. I don’t know if Emily Dickinson had parables in mind when she wrote her poem on telling the truth “slant” but she just might have:

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —

Jesus describes the coming Kingdom of God in parables because he knows the reality it introduces is unexpected and that his hearers can’t really take it in all at once. Parables, as Eugene Peterson has said, are in this sense like narrative time bombs.

...

So here’s the thing: I don’t know how these parables and this sermon will sound to the most established of our congregation. But I do know how it will sound to everyone – established or not, longtime member or first time visitor – who is struggling, who does not feel accepted, who wonders about the future, or who has experienced significant loss or rejection. Because in these parables Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom of God comes of its own…and comes for us. The Kingdom Jesus proclaims has room for everyone. It overturns the things the world has taught us are insurmountable and creates a new and open – and for this reason perhaps a tad frightening – future. This is, in short, a threatening word for any and all who believe they are “self-made” men or women, but simultaneously good news – perhaps the best news – for anyone who can admit his or her need.

Early on in Leif Enger’s wonderful book Peace Like a River, the narrator, in talking about our penchant for domesticating miracles, contends that people fear miracles because they fear being changed. I think that’s true with parables, too. We want them to affirm our assumptions and confirm our faith. But perhaps this week, Dear Partner, our task is to shake things up a bit, unleash a parable or two, and preach the truth slant…that all may know of God’s surprising grace and disruptive love. Blessings on you and yours as this intrusive and redemptive Word takes hold."

http://www.davidlose.net/2015/06/pentecost-3-b-preach-the-truth-slant/

A parable about ambiguity

"At heart, this parable isn’t about the nature of evil and provides little material for constructing a coherent theodicy (if there even is such a thing). Rather, I think this parable is about ambiguity. Yes, the sower planted with good seeds. Yes, there are now weeds strewn among the wheat that puts the ideal harvest the sower had imagined at risk. Ideally, the servants could just rip out the weeds, but the sower knows that to tear out the weeds now risks ruining the maturing wheat as well. And so the sower must wait, living with both the wheat and the weeds until the day of harvest when they may be separated in due time.

How often do we not also face similar dilemmas? If not with wheat and weeds (although there may be a few gardeners in your congregation who sympathize with the sower!), then with a multitude of other difficult choices:
like between getting a job to support the family or staying at home to spend more time with the family;
or between supporting someone who consistently struggles at work and pulls the quality of your team down or firing that person;
or between choosing the best school you’ve been accepted to or one that is more affordable;
or between two different treatment options in responding to a grave illness;
or between staying in your current call where things are comfortable or choosing to move on to newer, but unknown, pastures;
or between giving into peer pressure because it just plain sucks to be left out or choosing to stick to your values and risk isolation;
or….

Do you see what I mean, dear Partner? Our lives are littered with situations where there is no clear or easy answer. And yet we rarely talk about these things in church. Maybe we don’t know what to say. Or maybe we ourselves aren’t quite sure how the faith relates to this. But I hear in this parable Jesus’ promise that in ambiguous, challenging situations we have the promise that, in the end, God will sort things out."

http://www.davidlose.net/2014/07/pentecost-6-a-on-wheat-weeds-and-ambiguity/

sower

Sower

The middle-eastern farmer

casting seed in the manner

of his ancestors

hopes for a good return

that the family may be fed.,

the creditors paid,

and enough grain be laid aside

that a crop may be planted

next year.

A hundredfold!

Yes, indeed; that

would be most acceptable.

This messenger from God,

casting seed in the manner

of his own strange choosing,

hopes for a good return

that the hungry might be fed,

sinners be forgiven,

and new life burst forth

in a harvest of joy and

generosity.

A hundredfold!

How would we ever cope?

Rev Ken rookes