Why would God sow seeds he knows will bear little or no fruit? A further reflection on...

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 7/14/2014 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[markomalley]

Msgr Pope ping

[Faith65]

Good read. Thanks

[melsec]

There was never anything wrong with the seed or the sower only where it was received or not.

[ScubieNuc]

Exactly.

[T-Bird45]

Because some people’s best use is to serve as a bad example for others?

[joyce11111]

This explains things to me, thank you for posting.

[NYer]

Ping!

[circlecity]

"Why then would God waste any seed on rocky or thin soil, or the path?"

Perhaps so that none will have any excuse when they finally stand before the Lord on Judgment day. Nobody can say, "Why didn't you tell me" or "I didn't know"

[Safrguns]

First of all, what does a seed need to bear any fruit at all?

Second, does the seed on rocky ground or near thorns represent the lost? or does it represent unproductive christians?

The question here in the thread title can be summarized or simplified by asking; “Why does God allow evil to exist at all?”

It is my opinion that the parable relates to those who will be lost verses those who will find Christ... NOT those christians who will fail in their commission vs those christians who will bear fruit.

Therefore, I think we should make sure we should understand the question before using the object scripture to answer it.

I am not saying that anything said here so far is wrong.
However, I frequently do see scripture that is indicative of a lost condition used to teach or discipline those in Christ. I’m not so sure that is wise.

[Biggirl]

Also too this also talks about those who come to faith in the Lord even at their deathbeds.

[NYer]

Because some people’s best use is to serve as a bad example for others?

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio, a specialist in the interpretation of scripture, provides us with some additional insight into this parable.

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I’ve always loved gardening.  Seeds I’ve planted include carrot, cucumber, and of course, zucchini.  In each case, I’ve planted seeds in neat rows, expecting nearly all of them to sprout and yield fruit.

 

But the farmer in Jesus’ parable (Mat 13:1-23) uses the broadcast method.  Lots of seed cast everywhere.  And predictably, many of these seeds do not produce.  Some get eaten by birds.  Some sprout but then wither. Some seedlings get choked out by weeds.  Finally a few yield varying amounts of grain.

 

At the end of the story, Jesus says “they who have ears, let them hear.”  In other words, he wants us to learn something and take some action steps.

 

To respond to this parable adequately, we must view it from two different angles.  The first is to look at the story as if we are the seed.  Many who hear the gospel never seem to “get it.”  The message is stolen before it ever takes root.  Then there are the 50% of Catholic kids who receive the sacraments but disappear somewhere between age 18 and 35.  Shallow roots fail to equip them to take the heat of our pagan culture.  Then there are the 89% of lifelong, regular churchgoers who, according to George Gallup, have values and lifestyles identical to those of their pagan neighbors.  Their faith has been neutralized by bad theology and worldliness so though they look like wheat plants, their religion is fruitless.  Then there are those who stay out of serious sin, manage to do some good for some people, but all in all produce a mediocre harvest  Finally come the few who are not satisfied with just getting by.  They sink their roots deep into Scripture, Tradition, prayer and the sacraments, and produce a bumper crop.  We call these people saints.

 

In speaking to us as seed, Jesus is saying: “be careful. If you don’t make the effort to get thoroughly rooted in your Catholic faith, you just might not make it.  If you do manage to survive, you might produce absolutely nothing.  But you are called to bear much fruit (John 15), to yield 100 fold, to be a saint, to leave a mark on the lives of many that will last forever.  Don’t settle for anything less!”

 

On the other hand, we can look at the parable as if we were the farmer. Vatican II and all the Popes since have stately repeatedly and unequivocally that each of us is called to be an evangelizer, to tell others that Jesus Christ changes lives eternally and that the place to encounter him most fully is within the Catholic Church.  “But,” you may protest, “I tried it a few times and got nowhere.  I just don’t have the personality, don’t have the gift”

 

Jesus, the Son of God, indisputably had both the personality and the gift.  Yet when he sowed seed, much of it still ended up as bird food.  Consider the thousands he fed with loaves and fishes, the multitude that heard his sermon on the mount, the throngs that welcomed him on Palm Sunday.  Yet on the day of Pentecost, there were only 120 left in the cenacle, awaiting the Holy Spirit.  Notice, though, that the fruit borne by these 120 plants eventually filled the whole world!

 

To get the few that bear fruit, lots of seed must be sown by lots of people.  So regardless of whether or not we think we have green thumbs, we farmers are being commanded through this parable to get the seed out there, sowing it everywhere we go, undeterred by the birds, the weeds, and the scorching sun.

 

So the parable of the sower has a twofold message: as seed, our job is to get busy growing.  As farmers, our job is to get busy sowing.

[johniegrad]

I preached on this yesterday at Mass. I think the most troubling part of the parable is not the parable itself but the answer Jesus gives to the disciples about why he speaks to people in parables.

He cites the 6th chapter of Isaiah, the commissioning of the prophet by Yahweh. In it, Yahweh tells Isaias to close the people's ears and eyes, make them unable to understand, so that they won't be healed. When Isaiah complains to Yahweh "How long?", Yahweh essentially tells him, until there is only a stump remaining, I.e., until the exile.

The same section of Isaiah is used in all four Gospels in the explanation of why people reject the Gospel.

The commissioning of Isaiah is quite harsh. Attempts to explain away Gods part in the "hardening" of hearts is not easy to do based on the original Hebrew text.

The seemingly simple question of the disciples, "Why do you speak tp them in parables?" gets a complex answer because it strikes at the heart of a divine mystery: the interaction of Gods grace and mans free will.

After prayer and research, this struck me as the crux of the parable and it's what I talked about.

[SumProVita]

Very good thoughts. I found myself thinking about the same thing yesterday. I also see the surface of the land similar to the surface of our souls...often made dry and hard or full of thorn bushes because of the choices we’ve made. Rocky soil could be comparable to the situations into which some are born...but haven’t we all seen trees growing out of a very rocky cliff side? There is NO doubt that God is exceedingly generous. ;-)

[SumProVita]

I preached on this yesterday at Mass.

_______________________

Are you a deacon or a priest?

[johniegrad]

Permanent deacon.

[G Larry]

God gave us each “Free Will”.

It was not God’s intention to create Heaven on Earth.

[ravenwolf]

The seed is the word of God, ain`t it?

[Blue Collar Christian]

If God controlled the sowing of seeds to be only those of exemplary servants of God, He would not be the God of free will I know. That He is not trapped by time and knows the outcome of everything, but allows random germination of random sowing shows He is willing that we choose Him.

[Salvation]

Could the person who has a hard heart (pathway), or lots of obstacles in their life (rocky ground) or lots of worries (among the thorns) come to God through just one tiny seed that they hear or see?

I think so. God is generous to a fault for he wants all people to come to him.