[I had the privilege of serving as Online Chaplain at Forma Conference 2023 | Called to Covenant. Forma, a ministry of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary, is an ecumenical network of Christian formation professionals for the Episcopal Church and beyond. These short homilies were delivered at Online Morning Worship on January 18-19, 2023.]

“Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!””

Mark 4:1-9

“A sower went out to sow.” In Mark chapter 4, Jesus teaches through a series of parables using common themes of Galilean society to illustrate the kingdom of God. In his parables, we often see contrasts. Here we see a hidden message and revealed meaning. We see public speech and private instruction. We see lost seed and bountiful harvest. Through these contrasts, Jesus, an itinerant Galilean preacher, illustrates the kingdom with the power of planting seeds. And although the parable focuses on the seed, I think it’s worthwhile to focus on the sower.

A sower went out to sow. And if you will allow me to disrupt the language, as she sowed, some seeds fell on the path. Some fell on rocky ground. Some seeds fell among thorns. Some fell into good soil.

She is a diligent sower. She keeps sowing despite the challenging environment of the ground. She has little control over the environment. But she has control over her power to plant seeds. She is also a non-judgmental sower. She doesn’t judge the ground or scold the ground. Scholars disagree with whether the sower prepared the soil or whether the context is before plowing techniques were available, but either way, she keeps scattering seeds. She doesn’t know where the seed will take root, so she keeps to her task. The sower doesn’t receive much attention. The text mentions her at the beginning, the parable is even named after her, but the focus is the ground in which the seeds land. But she’s not worried about attention. She simply knows for sure that the seed can’t grow if it’s not scattered. Her focus is to scatter the seeds.

When I think about the work of Christian formation, I think it is the ministry of planting seeds. We plant seeds despite having little control over the lives of those who enter our ministries. We scatter seeds even though it sometimes seems like a thankless task. We scatter seeds hopefully without judgment about the receptivity of the ground because we never know where it will take root. We plant seeds among young people who face challenges we never even considered possible, thorns of social media bullying, school shootings, and even a global pandemic. Sometimes we can only pray that the thorns don’t overwhelm them, but still, we must keep planting seeds.

Scattering seeds takes a tremendous amount of patience. The sower takes an action now knowing whether all the factors will be favorable to producing a crop. As the days and weeks go by, she may get discouraged wondering if there will be a crop. She probably sees the presence of a crop as the measure of her success. But what if there is an alternate view?

What if the measure of our success is not in the size of the crop? What if our success is determined by whether we have planted the seeds? In some cases, we won’t see the outcome of our efforts. The win is in scattering the seeds.

I would go further and say that the measure of our success is not how many children show up or how many volunteers we recruit or how many adults sign up for a small group study. Success is not even measured in whether our programs are perfect, or parents are assuaged, or leadership recognizes our efforts. Rather perhaps the question we should ask at the end of the day is, “Did I plant some seeds?”

Christian formation requires us to take the long view. Some plant the seeds. Others water. And God gives the increase. But it all starts with our willingness to keep scattering seeds.

I remember when I was nine years old, my father was the pastor of a CME (black Methodist) church in Jackson, Tennessee. One Sunday, I went to children’s church and saw an animated video about Jesus. At some point during the video, as I listened intently to the Bible story, my heart felt strangely warmed, to use the words of John Wesley. And like him, I felt that I trusted Christ. I didn’t understand why the video brought tears to my eyes, nor did I understand when I shared my experience with my teacher and my parents, why it brought tears to their eyes. Looking back, I know that they were witnessing that the seed had been planted. I was 9 years old, so that seed had to survive puberty and adolescence. It had to survive teenage rebellion and the untimely death of my father at age 14. But at some point in college, I discerned the call to ministry as that early seed began to blossom. Now, when I was a child, my denomination wasn’t even ordaining many women. That children’s teacher could not have anticipated my ministry. But that was not needed for her success. Her success was her willingness to plant the seed.

If you ever feel discouraged, if you feel the isolation or thanklessness that can characterize formation ministry. I encourage you to take the long view. You can’t really know the receptivity of the ground. You may never know all the fruits of your labor. Our calling is to be the sower. Our calling is to plant the seeds.

Plant seeds of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. Plant seeds of faith, hope, and love. Plant seeds of encouragement to build up those in our care. Plant seeds in diverse ground without judging the soil. Plant seeds in good times and bad, plant them day to day and week to week. Remember that our power, indeed our ministry, is in our willingness to plant seeds.

Tomorrow, we’ll hear more about nurturing the seeds within us, but today, find victory in planting seeds.

Click here to read Nurturing Seeds – Part 2.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Esolla for Canva

[I had the privilege of serving as Online Chaplain at Forma Conference 2023 | Called to Covenant. Forma, a ministry of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary, is an ecumenical network of Christian formation professionals for the Episcopal Church and beyond. These short homilies were delivered at Online Morning Worship on January 18-19, 2023.]

²⁶ He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground ²⁷ and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸ The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”

³⁰ He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Mark 4:26-32 NRSV

 It takes quite a bit of time and effort to go from seed to bread. Today we continue in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark on the theme of planting seeds.

The narrative structure of this Markan chapter begins with the parable of the sower, moves into a discussion of parables, then follows with an explanation of this parable. In today’s passage, there is a brief interlude of various sayings of Jesus (almost seemingly out of place) before Jesus returns to the sower, and concludes with the parable of the mustard seed.

Yesterday, we focused on the sower. We noted that she is a diligent, consistent, nonjudgmental sower. We discussed that the measure of her success is not in the size of the crop but in her power and willingness to plant seeds. We discussed that Christian formation is the ministry of planting seeds. But today, I want to talk less about sowing for others and discuss the seed that is planted within you. Are you nurturing a seed? Is there a dream or vision that you’ve planted but hasn’t come to fruition? Or perhaps a seed that you’ve wanted to plant but have not because it may not work or I’m too busy or… Today’s main point of reflection is this: as you sow seeds in others, don’t forget to nurture the seed within you. There are at least three points that we can draw from today’s text.

First, it takes time and effort to go from seed to bread. In today’s text, the sower scatters seed on the ground. But this time, she sleeps and rises night and day waiting for the seed to grow. She does not know how, but somehow, the earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. Then she harvests the grain. The text concludes the process there, but we know that she still doesn’t have bread. She must grind the grain to make meal, add ingredients to make dough, bake the dough in order to make bread. It takes time, it takes effort, but the reward is great and the bread can feed a multitude. If you’re nurturing a seed within yourself, the lesson in today’s text is to stick with it. Keep going. Somewhere between time and effort, mystery intervenes. We often don’t know how, but we do know that it comes to pass. Some scholars suggest that the sower is passive in the passage. She just sleeps and rises. But we know the effort it takes to plant seeds, nurture it, and prepare for harvest. Stick with it. Be willing to plant the seed and nurture it within you.

Second, great potential often has small beginnings. Jesus’ next parable compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that birds can build nests. Jesus would know about small, humble beginnings – a babe born in a stable in Bethlehem to a young mom becomes the greatest Sower of all. The issue is that seeds are merely potential. Seeds have the potential to produce life, to produce fruit or grain. God only gives us potential. It’s up to us to nurture the seed.

Third and finally, you are called, even obligated to nurture your seed. I wonder why the Gospel writer places these several sayings of Jesus in this discourse about seeds. These sayings of Jesus were circulating during early Christianity. Jesus queries whether a lamp should be put under the bushel basket and not on the lampstand. He exhorts that anything hidden will be exposed; anything secret will come to light. He warns that the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. We’re familiar with the encouragement to place the light on the lampstand. Matthew places it in the sermon on the mount. But in this text, we see that what the lampstand, the grain, and the seed all have in common is the ability to reach many. Light on the lampstand travels at the speed of light and shines for all to see. A single grain, when sown, can make bread to feed five thousand, and a mustard seed though miniscule, produces a vast, sometimes even uncontrollable plant. We nurture our seed because, though small, we never know the impact it may have.

At the beginning of chapter 3, Jesus preaches in the Synagogue. By chapter 4, Jesus is preaching to crowds gathered by the sea. Scholars have suggested that in the synagogue, Jesus interacted with religious leaders, social elite — the high church folks in modern terms. But by the sea, Jesus reached the people we would call the unchurched – fishermen, laborers, women, the poor, the afflicted, the sinners. His willingness to step out of the synagogue and go by the sea spread his message throughout Galilee.

You never know the impact of that seed growing within you. Dr. King, who we recently celebrated, planted seeds of racial equality, love, and justice. He never envisioned a Barack Obama, but he still nurtured that seed. Pauli Murray, an Episcopal woman priest and fellow Yale Law graduate, was an important advocate for civil rights and gender equality. She never dreamed of a Bishop Michael Curry or a Kamala Harris. But her work may have paved the way for both – all because she nurtured the seed. And, of course, there is the ultimate sower, that itinerant preacher from Galilee, who planted seeds strong enough that we still gather in his name. He is with us ready and able to nurture the seeds within us.

Featured photo: Planting Seeds by Sezeryadigar from Getty Images Signature

Click here to read Scattering Seeds – Part 1.