Good Soil
What do you think would happen if we planted carrot seeds in a bowl of marbles? Would they grow? Of course not! They wouldn’t have any nourishment! Marbles don’t do anything to help a seed grow, they just sit there. Seeds need good soil, soil with nutrients in it, to grow. They need water and sunshine, and care from us. That’s kind of how it works with God, too. When we hear God’s word, the stories of Jesus and other things from the Bible, we can’t act like a bowl of marbles, just sitting there with the stories. We think about them, we act them out, we talk about them, we tell them, and we figure out how we can join them by showing God’s love to other people and to God’s earth. We want to be like the good soil, helping the seeds grow.
Read It
Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 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. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 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. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 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. 22 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. 23 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.” - NRSV
Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 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. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 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. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 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. 22 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. 23 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.” - NRSV
Do It
- Marbles vs. Soil: Using a bowl of marbles and some seeds, explain the concept in the above terms. Then take the seeds outside and plant them (or use a cup and some soil inside). As a family, tend the seeds. Give them water and sunlight, and pull the weeds away from them. Experiment with some of the surprising things that help seeds grow - coffee grounds! manure! If your children are ready for it, talk about how some of the things in our lives are like coffee grounds and horse poop. They seem like something you don’t want, something that can’t possibly help us grow, but when God gets ahold of them, those very things help us to be better able to share God’s love.
- Act it Out: Parables are wonderful for storytelling with children. Have members of your family act out the various characters of the story (farmer, rocks, sun, thorns, seeds…) and find ways to play with it.
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Pray It
God, thank you for your word. Thank you for these stories about your people, and thank you for letting us be part of those stories. Help us to be good soil, listening to your word and helping it grow. In Jesus’ name, Amen. |
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