Sunday Worship 12th July
You can find all of our latest information, Edith's reflection for this Sunday, our Thursday "Worship for all Generations" and much more by clicking on the following link to our facebook page - Leesfield Parish
Last Thursday's Worship for all Generations was all about Hope, so our first hymn today is "Lord Of All Hopefulness" -
Today's bible reading -
The parable of the Sower is just one of many parables which Jesus used in his teaching. A parable is a short simple story drawn from everyday life, which illustrates a spiritual truth.
All teachers need to develop a variety of different ways of imparting information and ideas to their students. This was one of Jesus’ tools of the trade. He told stories that grabbed attention because they related to people’s own lives.
This passage, is two separate passages, with verses 10 to 17 omitted from the reading. The first part is Jesus telling the story of the sower, the second part is Jesus’ explanation. Jesus’ audience would have been familiar with farming methods of the day as depicted in the story. They would have known all about the scattering of seed by hand, a far cry from modern high Tec farming methods. And we hear what happens to the seed - Some falls where there is no soil and cannot grow, some falls where there is little soil and cannot root properly, some is choked by weeds. But some falls on good ground and flourishes, bringing a good crop.
If we go on to the second part of today’s passage we hear Jesus’ explanation of this story – as the seed represents the word of God, which can fall where there is no one who can hear it and be wasted, or on poor ground where those who hear don’t really take it in and its message is soon forgotten,
or perhaps the people who hear the message have such worldly concerns that they too soon forget. It is only when the seed falls on good ground, where the hearers are able to really understand that it can be fruitful. Where people can take to heart God’s word and show this in their lives. God may be the primary sower, but the disciples have accepted the commission to join Jesus in spreading the word far and wide – so it is their duty to make sure the soil is prepared, that the birds are scared away, that the thorns are uprooted and that the seed does not fall where there is not enough soil to let it grow.
And that duty passes on to us now. As sowers we have great responsibility. The old methods of farming, as described here, inevitably led to some failure of the crop, but it is unlikely that the farmer would have wasted seed unnecessarily by scattering it with such abandon. Seed was precious, life depended on it not being wasted but being used to produce food. Perhaps this part of the story is there to remind people that God does scatter his gifts freely, carelessly, with great generosity. God gives to all, He doesn’t check first on our worthiness, we can’t earn His gifts. He doesn’t count the cost, He didn’t count the cost when He sent his Son to us, and allowed him to die for us. His message is distributed in all sorts of unlikely places and must be given to all. We who have been given so much must also give in His service, give of our money, our time, our talents, whatever we can. Just as the sower is depicted as scattering freely, so must we, without judging whether or not other people or causes are worthy.
In this and the following parables, Jesus is trying to help the disciples to understand rejection and not be discouraged by it. They are working among people, many of whom will reject them and what they have to say, or seem to reject them. The parable of the sower explains to them that not everyone is able to hear and accept the Word of God. But the disciples should not worry that their effort is in vain, when the fertile soil is found the harvest is great, compensating for all seeming failure. Also, Jesus reassures them –they are not to worry about the few apparent results since God is at work below the surface, causing growth that will eventually be seen.
And we too need to hear this message. We will find our Christian message rejected by many, but accepted by others. As we go about our daily lives we need to talk about our beliefs, while recognising that many will not understand, but some of what we say and do will bear fruit later, perhaps much later. And we should rejoice when we are understood and accepted. We as sowers must prepare the ground as much as we can, but then trust in the generous mercy of God, and sometimes throw caution to the wind and watch with delight as God’s word accomplishes what we could never have dreamed of.
Edith
All teachers need to develop a variety of different ways of imparting information and ideas to their students. This was one of Jesus’ tools of the trade. He told stories that grabbed attention because they related to people’s own lives.
This passage, is two separate passages, with verses 10 to 17 omitted from the reading. The first part is Jesus telling the story of the sower, the second part is Jesus’ explanation. Jesus’ audience would have been familiar with farming methods of the day as depicted in the story. They would have known all about the scattering of seed by hand, a far cry from modern high Tec farming methods. And we hear what happens to the seed - Some falls where there is no soil and cannot grow, some falls where there is little soil and cannot root properly, some is choked by weeds. But some falls on good ground and flourishes, bringing a good crop.
If we go on to the second part of today’s passage we hear Jesus’ explanation of this story – as the seed represents the word of God, which can fall where there is no one who can hear it and be wasted, or on poor ground where those who hear don’t really take it in and its message is soon forgotten,
or perhaps the people who hear the message have such worldly concerns that they too soon forget. It is only when the seed falls on good ground, where the hearers are able to really understand that it can be fruitful. Where people can take to heart God’s word and show this in their lives. God may be the primary sower, but the disciples have accepted the commission to join Jesus in spreading the word far and wide – so it is their duty to make sure the soil is prepared, that the birds are scared away, that the thorns are uprooted and that the seed does not fall where there is not enough soil to let it grow.
And that duty passes on to us now. As sowers we have great responsibility. The old methods of farming, as described here, inevitably led to some failure of the crop, but it is unlikely that the farmer would have wasted seed unnecessarily by scattering it with such abandon. Seed was precious, life depended on it not being wasted but being used to produce food. Perhaps this part of the story is there to remind people that God does scatter his gifts freely, carelessly, with great generosity. God gives to all, He doesn’t check first on our worthiness, we can’t earn His gifts. He doesn’t count the cost, He didn’t count the cost when He sent his Son to us, and allowed him to die for us. His message is distributed in all sorts of unlikely places and must be given to all. We who have been given so much must also give in His service, give of our money, our time, our talents, whatever we can. Just as the sower is depicted as scattering freely, so must we, without judging whether or not other people or causes are worthy.
In this and the following parables, Jesus is trying to help the disciples to understand rejection and not be discouraged by it. They are working among people, many of whom will reject them and what they have to say, or seem to reject them. The parable of the sower explains to them that not everyone is able to hear and accept the Word of God. But the disciples should not worry that their effort is in vain, when the fertile soil is found the harvest is great, compensating for all seeming failure. Also, Jesus reassures them –they are not to worry about the few apparent results since God is at work below the surface, causing growth that will eventually be seen.
And we too need to hear this message. We will find our Christian message rejected by many, but accepted by others. As we go about our daily lives we need to talk about our beliefs, while recognising that many will not understand, but some of what we say and do will bear fruit later, perhaps much later. And we should rejoice when we are understood and accepted. We as sowers must prepare the ground as much as we can, but then trust in the generous mercy of God, and sometimes throw caution to the wind and watch with delight as God’s word accomplishes what we could never have dreamed of.
Edith
Today's second hymn is the traditional - "Now Thank We All Our God" -
Our prayers for today -
As we return gradually to church, one of the things we will still miss is singing our favourite hymns. We recently asked our facebook friends to tell us which ones they liked best, and "Christ Be Our Light" was a favourite with quite a few -
