Readings:
Isaiah 55: 1-10;
Psalm 65;
Romans 8: 1-11;
Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

Collect:
Creator God, you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Reflection

Jesus loved to tell parables and this week’s reading is probably his best known one, because of this we can sometimes find ourselves in the situation where, when we have heard something so many times that we think we know what it all means and switch off.  It’s a bit like when you are watching something on TV or listening to something on the radio, if it’s something familiar or someone whom we think we know what they’re going to say, we switch off and don’t really listen.  I’m sure this happens in our churches too with both readings and sermons – we can sometimes switch off or more positively we get distracted, I know that it happens to me.  Distractions, though, can be a positive thing as they can be a way of allowing space for God to speak to us, to help us work through something that’s on our minds.  In that moment, in that space, it is just what we need.  So being distracted can be ok.

When I think of this week’s gospel, I am very much reminded of the Godly play approach to reflecting on the readings, but particularly the way we reflect on the parables.  The approach says that sometimes parables remain closed to us, even if we are ready and eager to listen, sometimes when we enter a parable, we find something different, something unexpected.    That parables are a precious gift given to us by God.  This is an approach not only taken by Godly play but also by Dwelling in the Word, which we will be doing over the summer, and has its roots in the ancient spiritual practice of Lectio Divina.  A traditional spiritual practice of reading, meditating, praying and contemplating on God’s word.  Instead on treating the scriptures as texts that we study and analyse Lectio Divian encourages us to treat them as if they are the living word of God.  As we read, meditate, pray and contemplate we see what God is trying to say to us through a particular text.  That word is for us, and it can change each time we look at the same piece of scripture. It’s not set in stone and there isn’t a right or wrong answer but it’s God living word for us in that moment, in that space we’ve created.  So, if you find yourself being spiritually distracted because of something that you’ve read in the text, that’s ok.  Just let go and let God work within you.  

This approach can sometimes leave us feeling as though we have failed because nothing is jumping out at us, God doesn’t seem to be speaking to us, and that can cause us great distress.  I can often feel this distress and it’s particularly amplified even more if I have to preach on it.  This week I was on a course and as part of this course we were doing Dwelling in the word.  One, amongst our number, was actually brave enough to say that they found this difficult and a cause of anxiety because of the expectation that God will speak through the passage and having to find something that you were dwelling on and then articulating that to someone else.  This was quite a liberating moment for me and the whole group and the facilitator said sometimes, we don’t find anything jumping out and that’s ok.  Just dwell with God in the space and be nourished by that.  Let go and let God.

So, as I reflect on this parable I’m left thinking of the seeds, the seeds that are generously scattered by a generous and loving God.  The seeds that are God’s word for us.  Those seeds have everything they need in them to grow and flourish and to bear fruit.  They will, in their own time begin to germinate on their own.  They will grow on their own and in their own manner and they will eventually produce fruit to be harvested.  We can’t force those seeds to grow.  We simply receive these seeds from God and all God’s word to germinate and grow in its own time and manner.  Yes, we can pay attention to our receptiveness, but the growth and eventual harvest flow naturally from the seed itself.  In last week’s reading Jesus invited the weary to come to him and rest.  We are called to accept God’s Word, not to direct its growth in our lives.  So, let’s relax and rejoice in receiving it.  

This week may we dwell with the word and see what happens, let go and let God.

Mike Morris