We used to sing a lot at Bible camp. I was a counselor at a camp for about 10 summers. This past week I took a bunch of my kids from the congregation where I am a pastor to camp for our yearly confirmation retreat.
It brought back a lot of good memories from summers past. After reading the Gospel lesson for July 11, I thought of an amazing song someone used to sing at camp years ago, (“Lord, let my heart be good soil,”which can be found in “Evangelical Lutheran Worship” #512.)
When I sing this I am brought to the foot of the cross of Jesus and I am praying for God to be with me in my times of trouble. I am praying that the word of God is planted in my heart and that I can plant the seed of God’s word in other people’s hearts.
That’s what this parable is all about for me. In the parable of the sower, Jesus is the main character. We can view the sower as Jesus.
Jesus does not care where he is scattering the seeds. Some people might think that Jesus is wasting much of the seed because many times it is scattered upon ground that appears to promise little fruit.
Jesus spends his time with tax collectors and sinners, with lepers, the demon-possessed, and all manner of outcasts. Will they become faithful disciples? There is no guarantee, but the seed is planted.
If we are honest with ourselves, we can probably find evidence of several kinds of soil in our lives and in our communities of faith on any given day. Jesus does not say that we should be good soil but that we are to plant the seeds of faith.
Originally posted July 6, 2010, at Lutheran Grilled Cheese. Republished with permission of the author. Find a link to Joe McGarry’s blog Lutheran Grilled Cheese at Lutheran Blogs.
