RBWords

 

     "I said WHAT?"  Every writer, teacher, preacher or speech-giver knows that once a word is uttered or written it takes on a life of its own!  This "life" seems to be an independent reality from what the speaker/writer intended!  An old scholastic dictum says, "Whatever is received is received according to the manner of the one receiving it!"  A grade school teacher will know the experience of a parent quoting a pupil quoting a teacher as saying something the exact opposite of what the teacher intended!  Preachers know the experience of someone commenting on a homily in such a way that the preacher does not recognize what was originally said!

 

     In Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew today this relationship of the word to the hearer is presented in an agricultural image/parable.  Isaiah reports God's "word" as being effective because it is the equivalent of God's very presence.  This would later be thought of in terms of the person and mission of Jesus.  In Matthew, Jesus addresses the problem that all preachers experience of the varying reactions to the preaching!  Some will "get it" and others will not.  The parables, at times, would seem mysterious because the listener might not be able to go beyond the image to the truth of the Kingdom.  A preacher who is a good story-teller knows the experience of the audience remembering the story but not the reason why it was told!

 

     Jesus provides the explanation for the parable of the sower and the seed.  The invitation to consider where we fit into the picture is given.  What is our response?  The focus is on "response."  For the preacher, the warning is clear.  The response will vary according to the conditions existing in the hearers!  Furthermore, the speaker bears a heavy responsibility as well.  We are all part of the process of spreading the "word" of God's Kingdom.  We can be sower, seed or even soil!  Which one?  AMEN