You don't have to be a smart farmer to know to sow seeds in good soil. Why is God such a lousy farmer? If God's word doesn't return empty, as Isaiah says, what's going on with Jesus' parable of the sower?
(Second) Isaiah takes us back to that heady time when the liberation of God's people from Babylon was imminent or happening, thanks to God's messiah. The new Persian strategy of empire-building showed God's act of restoring God's people to the Promised Land. The text is a triumphant declaration of God's word transforming the conditon of God's people. It's God's word of the covenant of new life being fulfilled - a reflection of the Kingdom of God.
The familiar parable of the sower told by Jesus talks about a farmer - God - who has trouble keeping the seeds on good soil. The seed represents the "message of the kingdom" (Mt. 13:19) In fact, it seems that God, in typical carefree style is chucking seed everywhere, willy-nilly, with no regard for how this seed will fare wherever it lands. Perhaps the parable means stray seeds, but if it fits with God's usual economic strategy, God is just giving it all away for free with reckless abandon, like grace, love, and new life. God will never turn a profit, but it seems like that is a concern of the world's, not God.
Jesus tells how this seed fares in the different places in which it falls. The seed is God's word about the Kingdom. The things that kill it off can be broadly identified in short as the Empire. Find out what all of this means in the sermon video below. (Look, I'm waving my arms like I'm trying to fly again.)
(Second) Isaiah takes us back to that heady time when the liberation of God's people from Babylon was imminent or happening, thanks to God's messiah. The new Persian strategy of empire-building showed God's act of restoring God's people to the Promised Land. The text is a triumphant declaration of God's word transforming the conditon of God's people. It's God's word of the covenant of new life being fulfilled - a reflection of the Kingdom of God.
The familiar parable of the sower told by Jesus talks about a farmer - God - who has trouble keeping the seeds on good soil. The seed represents the "message of the kingdom" (Mt. 13:19) In fact, it seems that God, in typical carefree style is chucking seed everywhere, willy-nilly, with no regard for how this seed will fare wherever it lands. Perhaps the parable means stray seeds, but if it fits with God's usual economic strategy, God is just giving it all away for free with reckless abandon, like grace, love, and new life. God will never turn a profit, but it seems like that is a concern of the world's, not God.
Jesus tells how this seed fares in the different places in which it falls. The seed is God's word about the Kingdom. The things that kill it off can be broadly identified in short as the Empire. Find out what all of this means in the sermon video below. (Look, I'm waving my arms like I'm trying to fly again.)
| 07-16-17-ff-answers.pdf |
| 07-16-17-seeding_kingdom_amid_empire.pdf |