Fourth Sunday of Luke:
The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:5-15)
St Seraphim of Sarov said to one monk, “Sow, Father Simon, sow! Sow everywhere the wheat that has been given to you. Somewhere or other it will sprout and grow and bear fruit.” By this he meant that the monk should tell everyone about Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Kingdom.
“You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil.” —St Seraphim of Sarov
Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men. —St. Isaac of Syria
Dostoevsky, writing in The Brothers Karamazov, ‘‘If you had shone, your light would have lighted the way for others, and the one who did wickedness would perhaps not have done so in your light. And even if you do shine, but see that people are not saved even with your light, remain steadfast, and do not doubt the power of the heavenly light; believe that if they are not saved now, they will be saved later. And if they are not saved, their sons will be saved, for your light will not die, even when you are dead. The righteous man departs, but his light remains.”
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The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:5-15)
by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh
29 October 1989
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
How familiar, and how simple seems to us, appears to us today’s parable of the seed and of the sower; and yet, how relevant it is to us, and how much more thought we should give to it. We forget the setting itself of the parable, the imagery of the sower and the seed, and we dont see in it an image of Christ, walking along the roads and the paths of Galilee and Judea; and everywhere He went, people came to the roadside because they have heard, as the Blind Man have heard of whom Saint Marc reports, that He was a Teacher, that His words were true, that they had in them a power of life.
And people came, and lined the roads, and lined the streets, and listened. Some were prepared for the message; some have been in an agony of mind, have been asking themselves questions which hitherto no one have been able to answer. But others came, as so many people come now to a preacher, to an evangelist, to a leader of any side, came to see a man of whom one spoke, and to listen to what he had to say. He was not answering any of their questions, He was not meeting any of their needs, except perhaps the desire to see someone that was outstanding, someone unique in his time. They heard the word, but it fell at their ears, they find it beautiful, lovely, true – but it did not go beyond this. They were listening to words, they were not listening to the cry of their own soul that was hungry for words of truth.
And so, when He had passed, they all returned to what was their ordinary, their normal life. They might have gone home and repeated these words, saying, Wasn’t it lovely? Did He speak well? – and then they went back to what was life, ordinary life, day-to-day life…
Others, who had come to the roadside, received the message with emotion, it stirred something in their hearts, something in their minds, it answered something in them. And they received it and hugged it to themselves, and returned home; but the moment they were no longer by the road, at home, the concerns of home overwhelmed them: there was so much to do, so much to think about, there was so much in life, there was no time to reflect again and again on the words heard, there was no time to sit quietly and to look in imagination at the face they had seen, to rehearse the voice they have heard.
We have another parable about those who have been called to the Bridal Feast of the King: they heard a call, they knew they were called personally – but could they go? The one had bought a field, he was rooted in it, tied to it, a prisoner of it; others have bought five pairs of oxen – they had to try them, they had something to do in life, a vocation, a job, something great – or something simply that matters supremely in a personal way, as the last one: he had taken a bride – how could he spend time for anyone else?
Those are the people who receive the word, who receive it truly, in their heart, but there are so many things that matter – tomorrow will do, or, if we only could reduce the message to something liveable, simple, not to the absoluteness of it!
And then, those who receive the message, like the rich soil that could receive the message, receive a seed and bear fruit. Those people were not simply better people, they probably were not better people; they were people who had a question in their mind and heart, people who had a longing, people for whom their daily life was too narrow, too small, people who were aware that their soul was deep, and vast and could not be filled with the trivialities – or even the noble, the good things of life: they received the message, they took it to heart, deep into them, and they bore fruit because it was answering a need.
Now, we can apply it to ourselves: how many of us listen to the words of the Gospel, listen to the words of preaching, read books that are full of interest and depth, and they store it in their memory, they enjoy it – but that is the end; they can quote it, they can pass it on to others, – but that is all.
And there are so many of us who have received the message with enthusiasm, with passion, knowing that this message is an answer to all there is in us of longing, of hunger, of greatness, indeed; but then, life is so complex, there is so much to do! And in all this doing, in all this complexity the words is left aside – for another time, for another day, when I will be old enough not to have any concerns: then I can turn back to this glorious moment when life unfolded itself in all its splendour – I keep it in my memory!
What about us, receiving the message and bearing fruit?
But how does this message reach us? I remember a Russian priest saying to me, вЂI read the Gospel daily, and I respond to it very seldom. But I read it daily because I never know whether today, or tomorrow, or on another day I will be the barren roadside, or the weeds by the way, or, of a sudden, whether this word will not fall on a small patch in me which is capable of receiving it and bearing fruit.
Isn’t that simple, isn’t that encouraging? We all are the three things described in the parable of the Gospel; but if we give a chance to God Who speaks, to God, Who passes through our life, to God Who knocks at our heart – from time to time we will receive the message with joy and let go of it; but from time to time it will reach a depth in our heart, a core of our life and be the answer that will change it.
Let us therefore listen, listen to the words of the Gospel day in and day out; listen to the voice of our conscience, listen to what the deepest self says to us about life, about truth, about reality; and from time to time we will have been the good ground that can bear fruit.
This parable, so simple, so clear, if we only apply it, can be a beginning of a new life. Amen.
http://masarchive.org/Sites/texts/1989-10-29-1-E-E-S-EM03-036Sower.html
The measure of God’s mercy is illustrated in the following Biblical story. When King David sinned, the prophet Gad came and offered to him the choice of one of three punishments: Either the country will suffer three years of famine, or for three months the pursuing swords of his enemies will hang over him, or for three days the Lord’s sword and pestilence will wreak their destruction within the boundaries of Israel. “And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man” (1 Chron. 21:8-14).
