To live in God’s presence is to live the abundant life, and this abundance, which God has so generously put in place within all of creation, is meant to be shared. God’s word, planted like seeds in our lives, grows up and draws us to God. These seeds, when they take root and grow, produce abundant joy and peace in our lives, reflecting the nature of creation itself. Because God has been generous to us, our lives are to reflect God in the ways we give God’s love and blessings to one another. In the gospel, Jesus has us ponder our lives—can God take root in our lives and grow into the abundant life that God has laid out for us in creation itself?
The readings are here.
Isaiah 55:6-13 – The trees and the fields shall clap their hands
This passage closes what has traditionally been called Second Isaiah and centers on God’s enduring word
God has plans in store for Israel that are far beyond what Israel can imagine. God’s purpose will be established through God’s word, which will give life to God’s people and to the entire creation.
The text has a clear rhetorical structure in making its case: "Seek…forsake…return…for…for…for…for…for." The several "fors" explain why the people should seek. Seek God, because…because God pardons abundantly; because God’s ways are not your ways; because God’s ways are higher than the earth; because God’s word will not fail; because God means to lead you out of exile with rejoicing. The promise overwhelms the imperative and provides the basis for Israel’s positive response to God’s invitation.
Isaiah uses the example of the rain and snow to illustrate the power of God’s word. There is a mention of the effect of rain in giving seed to the sower, the latter which is the subject of the Gospel Rain and snow come from God and cannot be coerced. Once fallen, they cannot be called back, but do what they came to do: provide water to nourish the earth and give life to the crops. God’s word is the same, says the prophet: it too comes from above and does what God intends–nourishing and feeding. Elsewhere in Second Isaiah we learn more about the "purpose" that God means to accomplish through the word of promise: Cyrus will carry out God’s "purpose" (same Hebrew word), which is to rebuild Jerusalem (44:28). And God’s word will accomplish even more than that: it will not return even when Jerusalem is restored, but will call the ends of the earth to be saved: "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (45:22-23). The point is not to force worship by divine power but to invite Israel and the nations to turn away from "praying to a god that cannot save" (45:20) and turn to a God who can (46:1-4).
Again in this text, God’s renewal is not only for people but for the entire creation. When God acts, everything is transformed and restored: mountains, hills, and trees of the field will have occasion to praise their Creator because their "enemies" (thorns and briers), too, will be removed. The text is poetry, of course, not deep ecology. The point is not that thorns and briers are beyond God’s concern (just as human "enemies" are not), but that finally God removes pain and death from creation
Psalm 104: 1-24 – Creator God Sustains the Earth
The Psalm is about God’s work in nature skillfully making rampaging waters and primordial night into a world vibrant with light and life. The psalmist reacts with awe which is not part of the passage. It echoes four of the six days of creation
After ascribing blessedness to the Lord the psalmist sings of the light and the firmament, which were the work of the first and second days Ps 104:1-6. He describes the separation of the waters from the dry land, the formation of rain, brooks and rivers, and the uprising of green herbs, which were the produce of the third day Ps 104:7-18. Then the appointment of the sun and moon to be the guardians of day and night commands the poet’s admiration Ps 104:19-23, and so he sings the work of the fourth day.
James 1:17-27 – Our part in Creation
Through the implanted power of the word, God has given believers birth as the first fruits of creation and so empowered them to effective action in the world.
The author speaks of the power of God’s word to bring about God’s longed-for righteousness. The language of "birthing," "implanting," and "first fruits of creation" describes believers who are empowered to act and persevere as not only hearers but doers of that word, that perfect law of liberty summarized in the call to love the neighbor as the self.
James 1:17-27 emphasizes actions Faith involves both action and abstention. Be doers of the word. Don’t just spout platitudes! Put your actions where your words are.
The image of a mirror, which in those times gave an indistinct reflection, is used for the forgetful hearer. The one who both hears and acts discovers the true self in “the perfect law” (v. 25) of Jesus’ teachings. True religion involves not only belief but also practical behavior expressing social responsibility (Exodus 22:22; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 John 4:20) and moral uprightness (1 John 2:15-17).
James grounds our behavior in the generosity of God. God is the everlasting, always generous, never failing source of all good gifts. In the spirit of Luther, God’s generosity flows through us – or ought to flow through us – in relationship to our neighbor and fellow companion in the way of Jesus. Divine grace fills us, enabling us to be a wellspring of life-giving love to others.
James provides a brief guide to healthy communication – listen well, speak carefully, and share you anger in ways that join not separate. “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger;” James recognizes that anger is part of life and is a reflection of the basic desire for self-affirmation, nurture, and protection; but anger need not be expressed in ways that strain relationships or community life. James is counseling a certain type of anger management: expression of anger seldom diffuses tension but actually leads to greater anger and hurt. While we are not counseled to deny our feelings, we are to keep guard about how we discharge them.
Mark 4:1-9 – Exploring the Miracle of Growth
Mark’s Gospel is about the Kingdom of God, and in chapter 4 Mark specifically begins to expose what exactly this kingdom is like. The string of parables in chapter 4 ask, and then begin to answer, one specific question: in whom does the kingdom best take root
In this first parable of Jesus, he chose the most common of experiences from the everyday lives of people: “seeds, sowers, hard paths, rocky soil, thorny soil, good soil.” These were as common as scenes as possible, but in the commonness, Jesus saw illustrations about God and his kingdom. In the soil and the sower, Jesus saw signs about how God works in this world.
The sower throws sees everywhere. Jesus’ first-century hearers would definitely have noticed that this sower isn’t simply generous, but downright irresponsible. Seed was too valuable a resource to scatter with such reckless abandon and no farmer in his right mind would waste seed like that.
God isn’t like any other farmer. God is reckless, wild, heedless, even downright wasteful in showering God’s people with grace, not just saving it for the “good soil” folks but “wasting it” on those living among thorns, the shallow, and the hardened
You may equate the seeds with grace. Apparently God’s grace is for everyone. The seed was the same in each place but the conditions of the soil differed. The soils are the hearts of the people who make a choice about the message. The condition of a person’s heart can be compared to the different kinds of soils that received the seed. Thus the places represent a response to the Gosel,.
Those in the hard place did not let the message seep into their heats and it would stlen by birds which are sometimes equated with Satan. Those in rocky places are happy to hear about Jesus message. On the outside, they may express great enthusiasm, but inwardly, they do not carefully consider it. There were great crowds who followed Jesus, but only a few were His true disciples. When these people face pressure or bad circumstances, they quickly forget about God’s word.
Other seed fell among the thorns. . Some people hear God’s Word and start to grow and bear fruit. But soon they become worried about the problems of daily living. They may think if they only had more money and more “things” they would be happy. These wrong beliefs take up all the person’s time and energy, just like the weeds steal all the nutrients from the good plants. These people do not focus on living for God, so they don’t produce any spiritual fruit.
The seed which fell on good soil This represents the people who heard God’s word and believed it. They put their trust in Jesus. Their hearts received the message of the kingdom, and the seed will take root.
The use of the metaphor of the seeds emphasizes the time if takes for fruits to appear. The varieties of fruit represents diverse responses to the Gospel