worship this Sunday…

I find myself having to do something quite often when I read Scripture, especially when I read passages I’ve heard many times over the course of my life, and it’s this: what might this mean if it didn’t have to do with going to Heaven or Hell (uppercase H’s used intentionally here because of how big each of these places felt at the time)?

So much of what I was taught growing up in the church was that this was the point of everything--where I will go when I die. Over the years, as I’ve deconstructed and reconstructed my faith again and again, this is one of the questions that I continually ask myself, what if the point of this passage isn’t about avoiding eternal damnation?

Our passage for this Sunday urges us to ask that question again. It’s one of the more well-known parables Jesus told, and unlike many of the others it comes with its own explanation. And that explanation at a first read (especially for someone raised in evangelical culture) feels like it’s very much about our salvation from Hell and for Heaven. Seeds are scattered on various kinds of soil, and only a quarter of them make it into plants, the others dying in various ways. It seemed to say that only some of us will make it to Heaven. So this Sunday, let’s ask ourselves that question--what else might this mean? As we do, I think we’ll find something deeper, possibly more challenging, and wonderfully encouraging. 

Looking forward to wondering together what this passage means. See you Sunday!

Pastor Molly

Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!” “Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”