It’s become, for me, a little bit of a ritual every spring, as soon as the sun is out and things really warm up. I plant these bulbs in four pots that are in front of the rectory in our courtyard. And these bulbs are called elephant ears.  

And so, every year I carefully take them out in the fall and I store them. And then in the spring and early summer, I carefully plant them again. And as the sun comes out and warmth increases, the plants grow into these beautiful green plants with the leaves that look just like these huge elephant ears. I couldn’t help but to think about that little ritual as I read through today’s gospel. How careful I am with storing these bulbs and then planting them every spring. And it made me think about today’s gospel.  

Wouldn’t the sower in the parable today be a little more careful with these precious seeds? A seed has such potential containing within its smallness, its own fruiting and harvest potential, and indeed, all it offers for future generations, so to speak. And so it’s mind boggling, as I read the Gospel, to think about how each seed in the story is so precious and has such promise.  

The sower in today’s gospel we hear is kind of messy, and he’s wasteful. And those listening to this story that Jesus tells would most likely have been distressed by that carelessness. It must have seemed so wrong. Or is it? What if some of our carefulness is really stinginess? What if the sower’s wastefulness is actually generosity?  

Isaiah, in the first reading, reminds us of something important to think about. God’s word will achieve what it wants to achieve. That’s the power of God’s Word. His words remind us today that we’re not God. And then the words of Jesus come. And they’re meant to remind us that God’s grace is really extravagant. And Jesus is the sower that sows that grace everywhere. It’s not so just in some expected and profitable places, but it is a seed that is sown everywhere. And that includes right here, even as we gather together in prayer over these airwaves.  

And so friends, I’ll leave you with this question to think about: What would our lives look like if we sowed the seeds of God’s grace as freely as God does? What would life around us look like if we sowed the seeds of grace as freely as God does?