Devotional for Fourth Sunday of Lent

No Seeds No Trees

“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”  

Mark 4:3-8

No trees no birds
No birds no poop
No poop no seeds
No seeds no trees
No trees no birds

Louis Dona Fieffe, by Cindy Corell,
Presbyterian Mission Co-Worker in Haiti.

An elderly farmer named Louis Dona Fieffe shared these words of wisdom with my group up in the mountains of southern Haiti three years ago, a gathering with local farmers arranged for us by PCUSA Mission Co-Worker Cindy Corell. His larger message about the need for ongoing reforestation to preserve good soil for farming and how the farmers there have noticed the climatic change on their mountainside from four distinct seasons to two—wet and hot—all came tumbling back as I read this Mark text in the context of Lent and environmental stewardship.

We are deep into the grittiness of Lent by now. We would do well to remember that this parable about sowing God’s word worked in Jesus’ day because good farmers understood issues of conservation (don’t waste seed in places it will not grow) and sustainability (every living thing needs roots in good soil). And the word “scorched” fairly jumps off the page with the global reality of fires burning out of control. Yet there is great good news in this text—the seed that gets the sustenance it needs grows, increases, and yields beyond imagination. This message flows naturally into our Lenten journey: pay attention lest we waste what we’ve been given as blessing; confess when we know we’ve willfully rejected bounty and beauty, or even unknowingly refused to sow life; and recognize that everything and everyone needs nourishment and deep roots to flourish. We are walking with Jesus knowing that we might be the ones who deny him, yet we can hope that some of the seed that falls from our hands will fall into rich soil that we have helped nourish, and thus grow. 

  

Prayer

Holy God, help us discern in our thoughts and actions how we might nurture all the soil of this world and then sow your life-giving seed into it so that your vision of a full and abundant life might become a reality for all your people. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Shelley C. Wiley is the Transitional Pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Ohio. In her years in pastoral ministry and academia she has traveled to Haiti nearly 40 times, learning much from those who work the land and those who struggle to survive in urban chaos.