The Parable of the Sower
Dr. Brandon Beck
Lay Chaplain, COHI
Monk, The OOOW
Church of reconciliation, san antonio, TX
Theology Student, Brite Divinity School
The Gospel reading in the Revised Common Lectionary for Proper 13 in Year C of the three year lectionary cycle comes from Luke 12. The passage from Luke 12 read and studied shares the words of Jesus teaching the crowd through what we’ve come to call “The Parable of the Sower.”
Now, Jesus shares this parable in response to a man in the crowd asking him to tell the man’s brother to divide the inheritance between them.
Rev. Reagan Gonzalez, at Church of Reconciliation in San Antonio, TX, shares her insights on this passage in her homily:
“This isn’t so much a condemnation of having but of wanting more. Of discontent, of wanting something for the sake of wanting it. The parable doesn’t condemn the man for having barns or for storing food but for wanting more simply for the sake of more. Above all, this man is condemned not for his material possessions alone, nor for desiring to have a good time with friends. Even Jesus indulged in eating, drinking, and merry making all the time. It is his exclusive use of the word “I” and “my” that I believe condemns the man. What should “I” do with all “my” crops? the man asks. “I” will do this. “I” will build larger barns, and “I” will save my soul. The man thinks he can save himself. He thinks he is in charge of his own security, prosperity, and contentment. God asks the man to whom his things will belong after he is gone. He can collect and collect and collect, but one day he will be gone. And what then will his things be worth to him? The man has forgotten to whom he belongs. To whom he owes thanks for all that he has been given.”
I wonder if you can put yourself in a place of imagining the world of Italy in the 7th Century? Sitting with a group of 12 others over bowls of soup and hard bread listening to this Parable and some similar interpretation. Silently nodding your head as you eat your meal and think how true it is that this communal life of asceticism to which you’ve vowed your life fulfills the call you’re hearing to have but not want “more simply for the sake of more.” Pausing to thank God for your companions as you realize that you’ve never thought you could journey alone and have always relied on this faith family, this monastic brotherhood in which you live. And, then, you all stop as you hear a knock on the door.
The Rule of Benedict Chapter 53, On the Reception of Guests, teaches:
Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ,
for He is going to say,
"I came as a guest, and you received Me" (Matt. 25:35).
And to all let due honor be shown,
especially to the domestics of the faith and to pilgrims. (Paragraph 1)
Let the Abbot give the guests water for their hands;
and let both Abbot and community wash the feet of all guests.
After the washing of the feet let them say this verse:
"We have received Your mercy, O God,
in the midst of Your temple" (Ps. 47[48]:10). (Paragraph 4b)
That’s how I’ve felt this week. The knock on the door was metaphorical, though. In a regional call with other Center Leaders, we read Chapter 53 on Monday, August 4, as assigned by Sister Chittister in her version of the Rule and Commentary. Hearing this chapter while still contemplating Rev. Reagan’s sermon on The Parable of the Sower was my “knock on the door” bringing Benedictine Hospitality into focus in the context of having, not wanting more, and belonging to God while remembering that we are in community in Community of Hope.
No matter who I am called to bring pastoral care to, I answer the call anticipating an encounter with Christ, and I go knowing the full Community of Hope is with me; “I” cannot do anything alone when I am serving the one to whom I belong and to whom I owe all thanks. And I am confident and content with what I have - in skill as well as material - to do the job to which I am called - because God aligns all things for God’s good - just as The Parable of the Sower and On the Reception of Guests aligned this week.
Amen.