Written by Scott B. Hayashi
Luke 8:4-5a (NRSV) When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, [Jesus] said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed…”
Jesus is teaching the crowd using an example with which they would be familiar. That is important to note. The image of a sower resonates with a people attached to the land.
I read a story about teachers who worked with children from the inner city who were growing up far away from the world of agricultural production. When the teachers took the children on a field trip to a working farm, they discovered that the children did not know the vegetables at their grocery stores and bodegas were grown in fields. These city kids thought that carrots came from the grocery store, not from the ground. The children assumed that carrots always came in bunches. They were surprised to learn that carrots grow in the dirt, one by one!
Jesus uses a familiar image to tell people about God. The image of God as a sower wouldn’t connect with our young friends from the city. Imagine yourself speaking to these children about God. What are your parables for a hungry people?
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