Jesus told this story: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and at them up. 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. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:3-8).

The key to grasping the stories Jesus told, he said, is to “listen” (13:9). It’s a certain kind of listening: it’s listening to discover where I am in the story. When I get what’s happening to one of the characters, and say, “Yeah, I’m like that” – that’s the place where I can hear the Spirit of God speaking to me. For example, I might recognize myself as the thorny ground: when the word comes to me, it gets choked out by the “cares of this world” (13:22). Or I might recognize myself as the rocky ground: I respond pretty eagerly at first, but I fade out quickly when things get too hot for me (13:20-21). In either case, when I see where I am, I can hear the prompting of the Spirit: “So what are you going to do about that?”

I might find my point of identification in any of the four soils: and in fact I do, on different occasions. At other times I might see myself as the sower, scattering the seed all over everywhere, not yet knowing where or how it will grow. And sometimes I recognize that I am like the seed: Jesus the sower proclaims the word, and that word established in one life – my life – is one of the seeds he is sowing in this world.

In whatever way the Spirit enables me to hear the story, the next part of listening is to ask a question to help push myself forward. How can I weed out some of the cares of the world, so that the word of Jesus will grow strong in my thorny heart? Will I have the exuberance of a farmer who boldly plants where no farmer has gone before? Can I trust that Jesus plants me in the place where he wants me to grow?

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Speak your word to us, O Lord, in parable and proverb: and give us ears to hear, that we may indeed hear the prompting of your Spirit, and may grow as the saints of God whom you have destined us to be.