Lent Devotional 2021 - Pittsburg - Flipbook - Page 10
these idols and turn back toward God—the God who tells
Abraham that his children will be a blessing to the whole
world—so that we may live more fully into God’s blessings,
and then share those blessings with the world.
labored as it could have been the planter’s error. Yet in this
parable there was enough good soil to yield an abundant
crop, thus compensating for difficult conditions—and the
seeds had to have been of good quality to grow even slightly
in poor soil.
PRAYER
God of grace and mercy, in this season of Lent, we ask that
you open our eyes and ears and hearts. We ask that you let
us see all our idolatries, so that we may repent and return to
you. We ask that you pour out your Holy Spirit, so that we
might see all those with whom we can share your blessings.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2021
Carmen Lee ’19
SCRIPTURE
Mark 3:31-4:9
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing
outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was
sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and
your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” 33 And
he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And
looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my
mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.” 4:1 Again he began
to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered
around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there,
while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land.
2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in
his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to
sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the
birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground,
where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly,
since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was
scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked
it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and
brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding
thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “Let
anyone with ears to hear listen!”
DEVOTIONAL
“Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain,
growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and
a hundredfold.” During Jesus’ time, farmers used plows to
prepare the soil for planting seeds rather than scattering
them haphazardly on the ground. If seeds fell on a path,
rocky ground, or among thorns, the problem could just as
easily have been the harsh conditions in which the farmer
10 Lent Devotional 2021
We know—because later Jesus tells his disciples so—that
the seed is God’s word of truth, and the soil represents the
hearts of people who hear the word. But who are the people
listening? We might assume that they are unbelievers—the
unchurched or non-religious, lacking previous familiarity with
God’s word. But the crowds around Jesus usually represented
the entire community, from religious leaders who questioned
or wanted to sabotage him to working-class people who
attended synagogue with varying degrees of regularity to
“sinners” who were social and religious outcasts. It was that
mix of people who heard Jesus’ teaching and into whose
hearts he planted God’s word.
The situation is similar today. The mixed “soil” hearing God’s
word could include people we would consider church leaders
or consistent church attenders, as well as those we might
view as distant from God for whatever reason. The “seed”
of God’s word explains salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ, but it also encompasses God’s truth about justice and
mercy as Jesus himself declares in passages such as Luke
4:16-21. There may be times when individuals who identify
as Christians will not listen to God’s truth about addressing
injustice and oppression, just as there might be occasions
when those who do not follow Christ reject the message of
salvation.
The Parable of the Sower is often viewed as a warning to
listeners to examine what type of soil represents the condition
of their heart, but for those wanting to be used by God in
others’ lives, it is also an alert about what to expect. The
world in which we live is a harsh environment, with much
rocky and thorny soil; yet we should not judge anyone’s
heart. The good seed, God’s word of truth, is hearty and
robust, capable of yielding an abundance of love, justice,
mercy, compassion, and faith. The quality of the soil will
reveal itself in due time; and as followers of Christ, we
need to be aware of the challenges ahead while also being
prepared to welcome a harvest.
Let anyone with ears to hear, hear.
PRAYER
Gracious Lord with whom we co-labor, help us not to be
discouraged by our world’s difficulties but to find joy in your
presence. As we look forward to celebrating our risen savior,
Jesus Christ, enable us also to look forward to times of good
harvest in its various forms. Amen.