I was reading the Parable of the Sower this afternoon. It’s a familiar passage. It’s the story where Jesus describes the sower who drops seeds in various different growing conditions and explains what happens to them:

Luke 8:4-8:

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Just after this parable, Jesus explains that the Sower is God and the seeds are people who have heard the Gospel. Some fail to believe for one reason or another, and others take root and nourishment and grow into thriving believers.

As Christians, we have a tendency to want to apply this verse to those around us, rather than to ourselves. Perhaps its the part of us that itches for gossip. I don’t know. But in reality, it’s not for us to know where others fall in regards to this parable.

When we read this parable, it is for us to know for ourselves and watch our own steps, as well as understand the way the Kingdom of God works. But it is not for us to look to our left and right and say, “this person is a seed that fell along the path”, or “this person is a seed that fell among the thorn bushes.” Plenty of people may appear to have fallen along the path or among the thorns or among the rocks, but in time will find roots in good soil.

We should read this passage and wonder not about others, but about ourselves. We should use this passage as guide to aide us as we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. We should take this passage and pray that we are taking root in good soil, even though the enemy will try and pluck us up and the thorns of life will certainly try and choke us out, and we may fear at times that we do not have enough moisture to grow and survive.

if we are ever to apply this verse directly to those around us, it isn’t theologically or practically, it’s prayerfully in the same way we should pray for ourselves. For good soil, for faith and life.

When I was new Christian, I often wondered at the seeming lack of dramatic miraculous happenings. Healings. Exorcisms. Resurrections. They are talked about so much in the New Testament and often in the Old Testament that it appeared to be a major disconnect. And today, I still regularly hear people wonder at this very same thing.

And sure, there are still places and situations where these miraculous things take place. But they are far from the norm and though I’ve heard the arguments that it’s our national church’s deficiency to blame, I’m very much unconvinced.

What to me, is more surprising is that most of us miss the truly incredible, totally wild, thing that happens every day: the forgiveness of God’s enemies and their immediate resurrection from spiritual death into spiritual life. Then, their subsequent ascent into submission to Christ.

In Luke 5:20-24 Jesus is in a crowded room teaching. A paralyzed man is unable to reach him for healing, so some friends lower him through the roof. Most of us know the story. When the man finally reaches Jesus, this is what the scripture says:

And when he saw their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the man who was paralyzed—"I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home."

Now, the statement Jesus makes is not primarily that forgiving sins is greater than healing of the physical body. It’s more about his own supremacy. But the point comes across anyway.

We are apt to look around and feel a lack of legitimacy when we don’t see miraculous happenings around us. But I think that if Jesus would respond to this right now, he would marvel at how quickly we overlook what is truly impressive. I think he would say something like, “You want to see miracles, but you’ve missed the greatest miracle I’ve performed. Your very own salvation.”

Preceding the first chapter in the book Messy Spirituality (a book my girlfriend gave me over Easter), there is a quotation from Robert Coles of The Wittenburg Door.

“I go to church and everyone seems to feel so good about themselves. Everyone calls themselves a Christian nowadays. How dare we call ourselves Christians? It’s only for Jesus to decide whether we are Christians or not. I don’t think He’s made a decision in my case, and I’m afraid that when He does I am going to be sent straight to hell. I don’t feel I can call myself a Christian. I can’t be satisfied with myself. We all seem to be pretty contented with ourselves in church and that makes me sick. I think all this contentment makes Jesus nervous.

No, obviously, there’s a lot that’s theologically wrong with that quote. For example, eternal assurance is something we can enjoy—though it has to be discovered for ourselves. It can’t simply be learned or spoken. And, of course, God’s eternal nature would seem to negate the feeling of ‘nervousness’.

But, I think there’s also a healthy humility about these words.

If we are Christians, it’s not because of anything we’ve done or not done. It’s because of grace. In other words, it’s because God has said so. In this way, Jesus decides if we are Christians. And, I think we would do well to see our faith and salvation in that way. I am a Christian because Jesus has decided so.

“We really became one person. So now, I guess I’m only half alive.”

Lillian K. (Name Obscured for Safety)

These are the words of a newly widowed woman at her husband’s funeral yesterday. Last Thursday, Lillian’s husband, Tom, died. Since before I was born they lived reclusively next door. No children and no family, plus being very private people, they never really made friends in the neighborhood.

Though my family only saw them once every couple of months, my parents were perhaps the closest thing to friends the had. So when Tom died, the only place Lillian could turn was to my parents for support.

Unfortunately, Lillian borders on dementia or perhaps Alzheimer’s. Every 20 minutes or so, Lillian would forget that Tom was gone and would call my parent’s home saying she couldn’t find her husband. So, without a doctor’s diagnosis of a mental disorder, the only option for keep Lillian safe was for my mother to stay with her almost constantly. Still, even with my mother’s constant presence, Lillian continued to forget that Tom was really gone for good.

Nearly a week later, Lillian seems to have finally grasped it. Though healing has not even begun. And, at her age, most would wonder whether healing will ever come. And perhaps her heart will be forever broken. But for her soul, there remains hope till the last moment.

While Tom was still alive, he repeated to her many times that he didn’t believed in God, let alone trusted him. He was a self-proclaimed atheist. Lillian on the other hand, grew up in some form of the protestant church. And though she doesn’t practice, some kind of faith exists. She allowed me to pray with her, and even lifted her hands during Tom’s memorial service at the Crownsville Veteran’s Cemetery.

Now that the memorial is over and the reality appears to have begun to set in, Lillian is speaking words of suicide. Though she hasn’t made any kind of attempt as of yet.

Tom is gone, and though we don’t know what his final moments looked like (Lillian cannot deliver a clear account), we are left believing his death was a tragedy. While there is nothing more we can do for Tom, Lillian is still here and her heart is more tender than perhaps it has ever been in her 82 years of life.

We don’t want to see the effects of Tom’s death wasted and this may be Lillian’s last chance at redemption, forgiveness and salvation. If you pray, please pray for Lillian’s soul and her salvation. That in the wake of Tom’s death, she would believe on and trust in the Lord Jesus for these things and therein would find comfort and happiness that neither alcohol nor suicide could ever offer.

Psalm 80:19:

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
   Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

I love this.

While perhaps the context doesn’t translate directly, it reminds us that God’s grace, God’s grace in revealing himself to us in Jesus Christ on the cross, is where we find our salvation.

Seeing God, as he is, is the only way we see our need for him and so receive his total blessing.

That is beautiful.

After Jesus fed the five thousand, people the people who ate and had their fill followed him around. He was hidden and they sought him out. These were his words to the crowd:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves…”

This obviously isn’t seen as a good thing. Yet, there’s a whole chunk of the church that believes that having faith in Christ will ease their financial woes, resolve marital problems, bring home estranged children and right wrongs.

In subtle ways, even parts of the non-prosperity gospel church teach their congregations these things.

It’s even possible they might be true. But Jesus condemns this. He performed a great miracle in multiplying the food. A sign that he was the messiah and that salvation awaited those who would trust him for it. But although these people saw it, they ignored it and allowed their awe to be on their filled bellies.

I think this is a gut check. Not just for prosperity-Christians either. God has performed an outrageous miracle in producing new life in spiritually dead vessels. But I think that we sometimes have the tendency to focus on the perks associated with that over the miracle that points us to an all satisfying God.

Perhaps for overcome habits or destructive tendencies. More rewarding work or better friendships. But even though these may be amazing byproducts of a powerful miracle, they were never the point. God, in all his glory was.

This is a crucial combination. Jesus came to seek and save. He didn’t only come to seek the lost, to find they might end up rejecting him (they would). Nor did he stay put and wait for folks to find him (they wouldn’t) so that he could save them. No, Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

Luke 19:10:

“…The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Just like Zacchaeus, who Jesus went after, called down out of the tree, and lodged with (Luke 19:1-10), I owe my soul to this.

Thank God.