Wednesday, April 11, 2018 

“Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.” (Mark 4:5)

                 My backyard, which is, presently, no fertile oasis at the best of it, i.e. more of a weedy wasteland, may not grow much grass but it has been extremely proficient at sprouting rocks over the winter. I am not talking about little pebbles and stones – oh no, I mean large rocks, the size of grapefruits, some the size of loaves of bread, a few even larger.  Dozens and dozens of them. I don’t really know where they came from, except obviously from the ground, but why have they, all of a sudden, come to the surface? They weren’t there last year.

                I hope to rebuild my back yard this spring, but I will have to remove the rocks and stones in order to do so. The soil and land fill are obviously very poor quality and so, it is no wonder the lawn didn’t survive the drought two summers ago. This will be laborious work and I hate laborious yard work!  The subsequent weed-fest was bad enough, but now I have the multitude of rocks to contend with.

                My plan is to gather up all the big rocks and make a rock garden under a window, spread some fresh soil in the cracks and plant succulents like Hen and Chicks and others and hope and pray that the plants survive the heat.

                It is very tempting to be utterly lazy and put down sod or plant grass seed and leave the rocks alone. Leave them be. God put ‘em there; he can take care of them. But I would end up with a dead lawn again, and hazardous to mow.  So, it’s better to get rid of the rocks and prepare the soil and then sow the grass seed.

                Jesus has given  us this wonderful story about sowing seed and what can go wrong and what can go very right if the right conditions are met.  A lot of discussion has arisen whether this is a parable about the sower, the seed or the soil, but I don’t really see why it can’t be about all three.

                Today, it is about the seed that fell among rocky ground and couldn’t grow because the soil was too shallow and therefore had no nutrients or sustainability to grow and thrive.  It would have been easily susceptible to scorching sun, weeds and drought. Rocks don’t provide a healthy landscape, a fertile growing space, a productive environment.

                Now, I think that Jesus was thinking about the Good News of God’s gracious Love as being the seed in this case. This Good News can make such a difference in people’s lives, in the communities in which we live, in the relationships and responsibilities that we take on. When it finds its most fertile possibility in the lives of people who exercise this Love, who forgive, who are compassionate and kind toward others, friends and strangers alike, and who trust in this Love, and who thrive in its goodness and activity, then the seed of this Good News takes hold and it brings blessings and abundance to all of us.

                But there are times that we must clear the rocks and the small boulders which scatter across our personal, ecclesiastical or cultural landscapes.  Big rocks like judgmentalism, prejudices, hatreds, grudges, fears, worries, pride, gossip,  envy, addictions, obsessions, greed, consumerism, resentments -  to name but a few. These sorts of rocks are, sometimes, things we choose to pick up and throw at others. And we all should know what Jesus said about rock throwing: “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8: 7, NLT)

Go make a rock garden, but don’t be throwing those things at people! 

Dale