The Seed, The Sower and The Expectant Mother

The Lord spoke this parable:  “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”

And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”   (Luke 8:5-15)

Seeds are not magical dust that bring about some magical change in the soil itself. Rather, seeds are the potential life of any species that must interact with the conditions around them to produce life.  Seeds are thus relational things, just like us humans, and in fact like all things on earth.  The seeds are dependent on other forces to move them through the world to a place where they might germinate, grow and bear fruit.  Those forces can be things like animals or humans, or wind or water, but seeds have no ability to propel themselves.  They are dependent on these other forces.   And the seeds cannot germinate, grow and bear fruit unless they have proper soil conditions, sufficient water, nutrients, air and sunlight.  Seeds are very dependent on the conditions around them to succeed in their purpose.

So it is fascinating that our Lord Jesus  in explaining His parable says that “The seed is the word of God.”  For Christ is acknowledging that the Word of God needs something in this world to carry it out into the world, and needs the conditions of the world to germinate, grow and bear fruit.   The Word of God is not a physical seed but a spiritual one.  Still, it needs to be in relationship with other things in creation to accomplish its mission.  In fact, God has entrusted to the Christian people the mission of planting the Word of God in our own hearts as well as in the hearts of others.  We are responsible for transporting those seeds, and planting them and nurturing them so that the Word of God can bear fruit.   Just as God could not become human without Mary to be His mother, so too God’s Word will bring forth fruit in creation only if we are willing to be the good soil in which this can happen.

And according to Christ’s teaching, we don’t have to pray that God will give us more seeds.  It is not the lack of seed which is even a problem for us.  When it comes to the Word of God, it is not the quantity of seed which brings about the abundant harvest.

“What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”  (Luke 13:18-19)

For even if we accept but one grain of seed and keep it in our hearts, it will bear fruit for God – both spiritual and physical.  For God cares not just about our souls but always also about our bodies and the world we live in.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. “For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off.”   (Isaiah 55:10-13)

What God’s seed needs is good soil, and it is in that good soil that the seed will come to fruition and bring about an abundant harvest.  But again it is not the quantity of seed which is important, for even one seed of God’s Word if it takes root in our hearts will yield an abundance of the fruits of the earth.

Christ’s explanation of the parable of the sower ends (vs 15) with Him comparing the good soil to “a noble and good heart” or a heart which is filled with beauty.  That kind of heart keeps the Word of God and then bears fruit “with patience.”   We have to cultivate our hearts to be good, beautiful, worthy, fine, noble.  And we have to cultivate in ourselves the patience of the good farmer or the successful gardener.

In Christ’s parable, it is not even the case that the good soil gets the most seed, for Christ has it that some seed fell on the good soil and some on the path and some on the rocky soil and some among the weeds.  The sower is generous is freely distributing the seed to all types of soil.  He does not withhold the good seed from the unproductive soil.  God gives rain and sunshine even to the wicked (Matthew 5:45; Luke 6:35-36).

Note also it is not the sower who gives growth to the seed.  The sower’s job is simply to spread the seed broadly over all the soil types.   The ability for the seed to come to fruition and bring an abundant harvest lies, at least in Christ’s parable, in the soil.  And as Christ explains, the different soil types represent us, the people.  It is the intimate relationship between the seed and the soil which is critical.  God has marvelously adjusted the seed and the soil which receives the seed to work together to bring forth the abundant harvest.  Without the seed, the soil cannot spontaneously produce crops, but also without the proper soil, the seed will fail to germinate and produce a viable plant.   God has created a marvelous world in which His Word and we who receive it work together to bring forth a wonderful harvest for God.

And the seed itself when it produces a plant produces more seed.  In effect God’s Word multiplies in us so that we have seed to give to others.  That seed is our deeds, our stewardship, our generosity, all the ways in which we give to the Church and to others.  As we heard last week in the Epistle:

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God; for the rendering of this service not only supplies the wants of the saints but also overflows in many thanksgivings to God. (2 Corinthians 9:10-12)

The divine seed, the Word of God, grows in us and allows us to bear fruit – to ourselves create seeds which we then can distribute.  God wants us to be so fruitful, and our faithfulness in the parish community, our giving in Church in part of the fruit which we bear for God.

Or sometimes the seed remains dormant in us prepared for growth, despite our choices and behavior.  This gives each of us and the entire world great hope.  No matter how bad the soil of our heart, or no matter how bad another person appears to us, as long as we are alive or as long as that other person lives, there is in him or her or in us that seed and hope of salvation.  The parable of the sower is a parable of hope for ourselves and for the entire world.  Even poor soil can be amended to become bring forth a crop.  Maybe not as rich a crop as other soil, but it can produce a blessing.

Knowing that the divine seed, the Word of God, is implanted in our hearts, minds and souls, is good reason for us to meditate on what it will take for that seed to gestate in us and produce fruit.  A good mother when she is pregnant takes precious care of that fertilized seed that is implanted in her womb.  She often organizes her life around and in relationship to the seed she bears within her, even though this seed is just a tiny part of her life.  So all of us can learn from the pregnant mother how to care for the seed of God in each of us.

Motherhood is more than something we remember on Mother’s Day.  And the sanctity of human life is more than something we call to mind when we hear Roe V Wade.  Both motherhood and the unborn child are good images for us to understand our relationship to the Word of God.

Sometimes we think that the Church is completely patriarchal, but the image given to us about the Word of God as divine seed being implanted in us means we are to love like a mom so that we can bring forth the good fruit of God.  We each must be a loving pregnant woman, nurturing God’s seed implanted in our lives, in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls, in our homes, in our families.   Indeed, in this sense, Mary, the Mother of God, becomes the very image of what each of us must be to fulfill the good promises of Christ’s Gospel commandments.  In this sense every mom becomes for us an image of what we are to be as Christians, living in God’s world, receiving God’s Word in our hearts.  Here is a case where only the image of a pregnant woman can help us understand the Gospel.

The Sower of Good Works

The Lord Jesus told this parable:  “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.  (Luke 8:5-15)

St. John of Kronstadt comments:

Why is that one evil word, one word of calumny, produces the most disagreeable impression upon us, agitates us to the depths of our souls, whilst on the contrary, sometimes thousands of good words, for instance, concerning God and His works in the world, do not reach our hearts at all, and are lost in the air? The Devil comes and catches away the word, sown in the hearts of men. It is also he, on the other side, who sows and grows in our hearts the seeds of evil, and does not miss the slightest opportunity of implanting enmity and envy for our neighbor in our hearts.

One glance of our neighbor at us, often quite innocent, but appearing suspicious to us, is sufficient to give rise to a feeling of enmity in us towards him. And, therefore, do not let us take to heart any evil occasioned to us, intentionally or unintentionally, by our neighbor, for we know the author if it, and that “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (St. John 5:19), from its beginning, but let us bear every affront offered us serenely, praying for those who offend us, as for our benefactors, for even in their affronts we may often hear words of good-will towards us, although not proceeding from a good heart. May the Lord teach them, and not impute their behavior unto us as sin to them, and let us be more careful, so as not to give place to the Devil.    (My Life in Christ, p. 64)

Telling the Secrets of the Kingdom

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”  Jesus said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”  (Luke 8:10)

In the 4 Gospel accounts, the word “Kingdom” (of heaven or of God) appears some 115 times.  The Evangelist Matthew uses “Kingdom” the most – 52 times, while the Evangelist John only mentions it twice.  Depending how you count the sayings, Matthew uses parables, metaphors or pithy statements thirteen times (25%) to compare the Kingdom of Heaven to something more familiar to his listeners: a sower of seeds, good seeds, a grain of mustard seed, leaven, a treasure, a merchant in search of fine pearls, a fishing net, a householder and his treasure, a king settling accounts with his servants, a householder hiring laborers for his fields, a king and the marriage feast for his son, wise and foolish maidens and their lamps, a man entrusting his property to  variously talented servants, and the separating of sheep from goats.

These comparisons give us a sense that the Kingdom may be different than we imagine – for all parables require some interpretation, but Jesus does not tell us exactly how the Kingdom is like these many different common scenarios.  The Lord leaves their interpretation open ended, for his disciples to hear and and grasp the hidden meaning.  Yet, He says the secrets of the Kingdom are given to them. The meaning of the ambiguous parables and enigmatic aphorisms are the secrets of the Kingdom of God which Christ is gifting to us.  The parables, metaphors and apothegms often defy common logic or our sense of “justice” causing us to have to lay aside an earthly sense of correctness in order to see or hear the hidden meaning.  They are like photos of a common object, taken from an unusual perspective – it can take us a long time before we realize what we are looking at, if we ever figure it out.

By describing the Kingdom in terms of parables, Christ moves us away from thinking about the Kingdom purely in terms of commandments, rules, regulations, or rubrics.  Christ uses the comparisons paradoxically – the Kingdom of heaven is like… – to give us a sense that it is like nothing we can imagine.  The parables and metaphors of the Kingdom turn out to be an apophatic way of thinking about the Kingdom exactly because Christ doesn’t explain how the things mentioned are able to enlighten us  about the Kingdom.

The parables of the Kingdom have been proclaimed by Christians for nearly 2000 years.  They are the true teachings of Christ, timely in every generation and situation, for the Kingdom of Heaven is not itself changing.  Whether the Faith is prospering or being persecuted, whether the listener is rejoicing in blessings or surviving through suffering, the Kingdom of God remains the same.  It is a reality not affected by our times or by our mental state.

St. Paul whom God chooses to proclaim the Kingdom, discovers that being faithful to God can leave one in perplexing circumstances.  If one believes faithfulness to God is going to automatically yield prosperity, just read 2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9, in which Paul describes soldiers hunting him down to arrest and kill him, and then also suffering personally some “thorn in the flesh” – an affliction he attributes to Satan, perhaps a serious, disfiguring illness which God will not take away from him.  Despite these setbacks, he remains faithful to that Kingdom which can be compared to seeds and sowers, talented servants as well as sheep and goats.

Even in the face of such terrible recent disasters – hurricanes in Texas and Florida, earthquakes in Mexico, wild fires in California, and a mass shooting in Las Vegas – the Kingdom of God remains the same reality revealed to us in the Gospel lessons.  Despite our worries about health care, and divisive politics, policy turmoil, soaring drug related deaths, the Church calls us to remember the Kingdom of Heaven, so that we can remain properly oriented in an uncertain world.   The mystery of the Kingdom, helps us to keep our feet on firm ground, even as the sands shift and the water rises against the house.

The Gospel does give us an answer to current worries – it gives us a vision of the Kingdom of God.  It is just that this insight is not necessarily the answer we think we need to solve all our problems.

The Lord Jesus taught this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”  (Luke 8:5-9)

Understanding Seeds and Parables

Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”  (Matthew 13:8-10)

“This tension is present as well in Jesus’ use of conventional proverbial sayings, using ambiguity to involve hearers and reader-learners in interpreting their meaning and to evoke something radically new. For example, Jesus used a familiar farming image of planting seeds that grow: “When the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:29).

The farmer does not make the seed grow but must use his judgment to discern when it is ripe, a judgement learned from his own farmer-father and his previous experience. But here the image is applied to the coming of the Kingdom! The reader-learner is invited to see the kingdom as growing seeds and ripening plants, but how does one judge that a kingdom is ripe?

If it is ripe, a harvest requires cutting down and threshing. What does that expect of reader-learners?”  (Charles F. Melchert, Wise Teaching, p. 244)

St. Cyril of Alexandria and the Sower of Seeds

In Luke 8:5-15, the Lord Jesus tells the following parable:

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

 

“St. Cyril of Alexandria writes about the types of persons represented by the three types of ground upon which the seed of the word fell. Concerning those of the first kind he says:

No sacred or divine word will be able to enter those who have minds that are hard and unyielding, for it is by the aid of such words that the joyful fruit of virtue can grow. Men of this kind are highways that are trodden by unclean spirits, and by Satan himself, and they shall never be producers of holy fruit, because their hearts are sterile and unfaithful. (Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Homily 41)

The second kind have

a religion without roots…when this kind of person goes out of the church, he immediately forgets the holy teachings he has heard there. And as long as Christians are left in peace, he keeps the faith, but as soon as persecution arises, he will be ready to take to flight in search of safety.

This holy Father finally exhorts us not to allow the cares of this world to choke the tender shoots of faith and commitment as soon as they sprout from the soil of our hearts and minds. We must not be deceived, thinking that thorns and new shoots can exist side by side.” (Archbishop Dmitri, The Parables, p. 14)

God’s Word is a Seed

“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, 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 with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.”

As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.”  (Luke 8:5-15)

Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich finds deep meaning in the parable:

“The field signifies the human soul; the various parts of the field signify different human souls. Some are like the ground alongside the path, others like stony ground, yet others like patches of thorns.

Others, though, are like good ground, well away from the path, clear of stones and thorns. Why does the sower not cast his seed only on the good ground, rather than along the path or among the stones and thorns? Because the Good News of the Gospel is common to all, not secret and not confined to just one group of people, as had been the case in much dark and ‘magical’ teaching among the Greeks and the Egyptians, that had as their goal more the acquisition of power over a man, or by one group of people over another, than the salvation of the soul. ‘What I tell you in darkness, that speak you in light; and what you hear in the ear, that preach you upon the housetops’ (Matt. 10:27).

Thus the Lord commands His disciples; the Great Sower commands the sowers. God desires the salvation of all human souls, for ‘He will have all men to be saved’ (1 Tim. 2:4), ‘not willing that any should perish’ (2 Pet. 3:9). Were the Lord to have sown His divine teaching only among good people, the wicked would have had the excuse that they had never heard the Gospel, and would have ascribed their perdition to God, not to their own sinfulness. No-one will ever come to perdition through God’s fault, for God is righteous and no sort of fault can approach the light of His righteousness.” (Homilies, p 214)

 ( BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Even if we think that some people have hardened hearts, hearts of stone or heads full of rocks, we are to share the Good News with them.  Even if we think they will never produce anything but thorns and weeds because we can see that in their lives, we are to live in such a way as to be light to them and to provide them with the seed of the Gospel.  It doesn’t matter what they are like, the Sower of Good Seed sends us into the world to continue His ministry.

Confession: Preparing the Garden of Our Hearts for God’s Seed

In Luke 8:5-15, our Lord Jesus Christ tells the parable of the sower of good seed:

“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant.  He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

Saint Gregory Palamas (d. 1359AD) comments:

“The Word which brings about the salvation of our souls is analogous to seed. Just as farmers first cultivate the earth with the plough, then sow seed, so must we prepare ourselves beforehand to accept the heavenly seed, by which I mean the word of spiritual teaching. But we are not inanimate, unfeeling earth which is cultivated and sown by others, but living, breathing, rational ground. For that reason we must make ourselves ready by means of repentance. To give you an indication of the starting point of repentance and the cultivation of the soul, it is what those who approached John’s baptism did on their own initiative: ‘They went out’, it says, ‘and were baptized in Jordan, confessing their sins’ (cf. Matt. 3:5-6, Mark 1:5). The confession of sins is the beginning of this cultivation, the start, that is, of repentance and preparation to accept within us the saving seed, the word of God, which is able to save our souls. Ploughing the ground was devised by farmers as a means of extracting wild roots from deep down in the earth, and rendering it capable of receiving our seeds and plants. Confession does exactly this for the reasonable field, our heart. It digs up the evil passions concealed within it and throws them out, making it ready to take in the sacred seeds and suitable to grow a fine harvest of virtues. Just as, after Adam’s transgression, the earth began to bring forth thistles, thorns, and other useless plants (Gen. 3:18), so man’s heart bears shameful and evil passions and thoughts, and the sins which they in turn produce.” (The Homilies, p 460)

(see also my blog Bearing the Cross: Putting Your Hand to the Plough)

The Nature of Good Soil

In Luke 8:5-15 we read the parable of the sower, who sows good seed but its yield is dependent on where it is planted.  Jesus said:

“A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.”

Archbishop Anthony Bloom comments:

“The word ‘humility’ comes from the Latin word ‘humus’ which means fertile ground. To me, humility is not what we often make of it: the sheepish way of trying to imagine that we are the worst of all and trying to convince others that our artificial ways of behaving show that we are aware of that. Humility is the situation of the earth. The earth is always there, always taken for granted, never remembered, always trodden on by everyone, somewhere we cast and pour out all the refuse, all we don’t need. It’s there, silent and accepting everything in a miraculous way making out of all the refuse new richness despite in spite of corruption, transforming corruption itself into a power of life and a new possibility of creativeness, open to the sunshine, open to the rain, ready to receive any seed we sow and capable of bringing thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold out of every seed. I said to this woman ‘Learn to be like this before God; abandoned, surrendered, ready to receive anything from people and anything from God.’ ” ( Beginning to Pray, pg. 35)

Prayers for the Increase of Love & the Uprooting of Animosity

Christ the Sower of Seeds

 

The St. Tikhon’s GREAT BOOK OF NEEDS  has prayers to be inserted in the Divine Liturgy “for the increase of love and the uprooting of hatred and all animosity.”  I’ve used these prayers not only in Vespers but in other services as well as I find them very moving.  The imagery of love being a seed planted and needing to be nurtured while animosity and hatred are the thorns and thistles which choke out love calls to mind the Parable of the Sower ( Luke 8:5-15 ).  I think the petitions of this service can be readily adapted by individuals in personal prayer involving these same issues of love, hatred and animosity.    These prayers are also good for communities which have experienced the divisiveness of a political campaign in which the candidates vindictively hurled all manners of slurs and name-calling against their opponents.  We in the church need to be reminded that all in the church are to be treated as brothers and sisters in Christ.

A SERVICE FOR THE INCREASE OF LOVE

AND THE UPROOTING OF HATRED AND ALL ANIMOSITY

AT THE PROSKOMEDIA:

O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, Who gave a new commandment to Your disciples, that they should love one another: Accept this offering for the remission of all the sins of Your right-believing servants.  And by Your Holy Spirit renew in us love for Your goodness and for neighbor, which has waxed cold in us.  Establish this with strength in our hearts, that, fulfilling Your commandments, we seek not on earth our own ends, but that which is to Your glory, the building up of our neighbor, and for salvation. 

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DIVINE LITURGY:

That we may be cleansed of our sins and transgressions which have dried up in us love for Him and for our neighbor, and that it may be established by the power, action and grace of His Most-holy Spirit, and rooted in all our hearts, earnestly let us pray to the Lord.

That there may be planted and rooted in us by the grace of His Most-holy Spirit the new commandment of His New Testament: that we love one another, and not merely satisfy ourselves, but rather always strive for His glory and the building-up or our neighbor, let us pray to the Lord.

That there may be uprooted in us hatred, envy and jealousy and all other passions which destroy brotherly love, and that there may be planted unfeigned love, fervently let us pray to the Lord.

That there may be kindled in us the fervent love of God and our neighbor by the grace of His Most-holy Spirit, and thus burn out to the very roots the passions of all our souls and bodies, let us pray to the Lord.

That there may be uprooted in us the passions of self-love, and rooted instead the virtue of brotherly love by the power of His Most-holy Spirit, with broken and contrite hearts let us pray to the Lord.

That we may not love the world and that which is in the world, but rather have true love for God and His glory, and that we may love that which is profitable and for the salvation of our neighbor, so that we may ever gaze on the good things prepared in heaven, and that we may seek these with all our souls, let us pray to the Lord.

That truly we may love, not just our friends and brothers, but also our enemies, and do that which is good to those who hate us, with the power, action and grace of His Most-holy Spirit moving us, let us pray to the Lord.

That we may examine ourselves, condemn ourselves, and ever looking upon our own transgressions, humble ourselves before God and before everyone, never judging our brothers or sisters, but loving them as our very self, by the power, action and grace of His Most-holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord.

That we may imitate the burning love of the Christians in ancient times for God and neighbor, and that we may be their heirs and successors, not only in word, but in true action, by the power, action and grace of the Most-holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord. 

That He may keep us immovable in the True Faith, in peace and the unity of burning love, increasing in all virtues, and preserve us unharmed from all soul-corrupting passions, by the power, action and grace of the Most-holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord. 

TROPARION, Tone 4:

You bound Your Apostles in the bonds of love, O Christ, and have firmly bound us, Your faithful servants, to Yourself, that we may fulfill Your commandments and have unfeigned love for one another, through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Only love of Mankind.

KONTAKION, Tone 5:

Kindle our hearts with flames of love for You, O Christ God, that being inflamed by this, in heart, mind and soul, we may love You with all our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, and that keeping Your commandments, we may glorify You the Giver of all good.

PROKEIMENON, Tone 7:

I will love You, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my foundation

My God is my helper, and I will hope in Him.

            EPISTLE:    1 JOHN 3:10-24

            GOSPEL:    JOHN 13:31-35

AFTER THE GOSPEL:

O Lord our God, in Your mercy, as You are good, look down upon the ground of our heart in which love has dried up, cruelly overgrown with the thorns of hatred, self-love, and innumerable transgressions.  And as You are the Source of all good, fervently we entreat You: having released a drop of the grace of Your Most-holy Spirit, richly bedew it that it may bear fruit, and make it increase, out of burning love for You, the root of all virtues—the fear of You—as also vigilant solicitude for the salvation of our neighbor, and the uprooting of all passions, evils of various forms, and hypocrisy, and as the Lover of Mankind quickly hearken and have mercy.

O Master Who gave a new commandment to Your disciples that they should love one another, renew this by the grace of Your Most-holy Spirit acting in our souls and hearts, that we will never become selfish, but always endeavor to please You and strive for the salvation our neighbor and pay close attention to that which is beneficial, we pray You, the merciful Giver of all that is good, hearken and mercifully have mercy.

You gave the first and greatest commandment, that we should love You, our God and Creator, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, and a second, like it, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, and that on both of these hangs the Law and the Prophets.  Having taught us to fulfill these commandments in deed, convince all of us by the grace of Your Most-holy Spirit, that pleasing You, our Savior, through the salvation of our neighbor, we may receive Your promised blessings, for, fervently falling down before you, our Master and Savior, we beseech You, quickly hearken and mercifully have mercy.

That we may be perfected in Your love, O our God, constrain us, by the grace of Your Spirit, O Master, to have sincere love for our neighbor.  For, to suppose that we have love for You, but hate our brother or sister, is a lie and to walk in darkness.  Therefore, O Merciful One, that there be kindled in our souls and hearts love for You and for our brother or sister, we pray You, as You are merciful, quickly hearken, and as You are compassionate, have mercy.

O All-compassionate Lord, by the Grace of Your Most-holy Spirit, establish in us Your Love, that we may truly love, not only our brothers, sisters and friends, but, according to Your divine command, our enemies, as well, and do good to those who hate us, striving sincerely for their salvation, we pray You, O Wellspring of Good and Abyss of Love for Mankind, quickly hearken, and, as You are tenderhearted, have mercy.

Communion Hymn:

The Lord said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love each other, even as I have loved you.”

Bringing the Seed to Fruition (2000)

Sermon Notes on Luke 8:5-15 from 15 October 2000

Seeds are not magical dust that bring about some magical change in the soil itself.

To some extent, we don’t even have to keep praying for more seeds, for it is not the quantity of seeds which brings about the abundant growth either, good soil brings to fruition a few seeds as well as the many.

It is not the case that the good soil gets the most seed, for in the parable Jesus tells us that SOME seed falls on the good soil, it is the same SOME that fell on the path and on the rocky soil and among the thorns.   The sower is generous to all, he does not withhold the good seed from the unproductive soil, just like God gives rain and sunshine even to the wicked.

We are also struck by the fact that it is not the sower who gives the seed growth, for he merely scatters the seed.  The ability for the seed to come to fruition and bring an abundant harvest lies, at least in Christ’s parable, in the soil.   So it is the intimate relationship between the seed and the soil which is critical.    God has marvelously adjusted the seed and the soil which receives it to work together to bring forth the abundant harvest.   God has created a marvelous world in which His Word and we who receive it work together to bring forth a wonderful harvest for God. 

The divine seed grows in us or remains prepared for growth, independent of our human actions.  This gives each of us and the entire world great hope.  No matter how bad a person appears to us, as long as that person lives, there is in him or her that seed and hope of salvation.   So our parable is a parable of hope for ourselves and for the world.

And knowing that that divine seed is planted in our hearts and minds and souls, may be good reason for us to meditate on what will it take for that see to gestate in us and produce its fruit.  A pregnant mother takes precious care of that seed growing in her.  A mother often organizes her life around and in relationship to the child she bears.    So we too should learn from the pregnant mother how to care for the seed of God in each of us.    

Sometimes we think that our church is very patriarchal, and indeed all is given to us from our father.  But we receive the Word of God in ourselves and in love are asked to bring forth the good fruit of God.  Here, we must be like the loving mother.  Indeed the Mother of God becomes for us the very image of what each of us must be to fulfill the good promises of Christ’s parables and teachings.  She indeed is the one in whom the Divine Seed blossomed and brought forth the salvation of the world.