A lot is wrong with the parable of the sower…

 A lot.

 The story is in the wrong setting.

 Jesus is in a fisherman’s boat. On the beach there were nets drying. All the fisherman of lake Galilee were there. You would have expected him to have kept his message in tune with where he was. He should have started it – ‘There was a fisherman who went out to catch fish’.

 The story is boring.

 What is exciting about hearing about a sower sowing seeds? It’s not a scene that makes anyone want to rush to the front seat. As for thinking about how the seeds grow, that’s watching paint dry. And it’s predictable. We all know that when you sow seeds, there’s a lot of wastage. But some do grow. When you think of the stories dripping with drama that Jesus has to tell – Lazarus and the rich man, the Good Samaritan, the Lost Sons…and He starts with this one - a boring, predictable story about seeds. It’s odd.

 The story was opaque for most people

 Most shocking of all Jesus is not at all fazed that everyone is confused. Most of the crowd go home, probably a little ticked off, a few confused devotees remain and they ask what it was all meant and everything gets worse. Jesus says He wasn’t teaching for people to understand. He was actually teaching so people became confused.

And just to rub it in Marks tells us that Jesus always taught like this.

What’s going on?

Reality. That’s what’s going on.

 Jesus Christ is not a PR consultant – start with fishing, that fits. What is important is what He has to say, not the scenery. He is asking whether you are responding to God. Fish just get caught. Seeds have to grow.

 Jesus Christ disorientates people with an ordinary story, showing that in the most boring of events, there are other layers. That unnerves the mere materialist. And then the simplicity of the story swiftly becomes a mirror asking us who we are. Never an easy question because we all think we are all right; but most of the seed never made it. Maybe we’re not all right.

 Jesus Christ always divides. That is the purpose of the parable. Many will walk away, because they do not want God in their lives. Others will lean in to understand more. They will be rewarded, the others, even what they have will be taken from them. The opaque nature of divine language is not made of cement. As was said through Jeremiah – ‘When you seek me with all your heart, you will find me’. The parable is an invitation to seek.

 In the wrong setting; predictable; opaque – and still asking us today about where we are with God. Always the most important question for any man or woman.