From the Daily Lectionary for Wednesday in the Second Week after the Epiphany
Mark 4:1-20
Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “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.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”
When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that
“‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,
and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
This parable is about possibility inherent in the truth. In our culture now the truth faces opposition. It always has. Jesus’ teachings, his life and his ministry are, as he puts it to Pontius Pilate during his mock trial, “testimony to the truth;” the truth of what it means to be fully human, the truth of God’s vision for the world, the truth of our agency as people of faith to restore things to the way they are meant to be.
Today Joe Biden was inaugurated as the forty-sixth president of the United States. His speech contained all the predictable clichés that new presidents say: he spoke of unity, equality, service, opportunity, justice, and faith in the potential of our democracy. Somehow, at least for me, he seemed to mean what he said; that he believed, perhaps naïvely, that those ideals are achievable in our common life. He said that his “soul” was all in for the cause of democracy. I believe him.
But what struck me the most about the president was his humility. Authentic humility. This presidency is not about him, his achievement. It is about us as a free people to whom the world looks as a model of self-governance, a multicultural experiment, and an inspiration as to the possibilities of living together justly. It is about the cause of life and liberty in a country that he loves, within a profession to which he has given his adult life.
We are a wounded people, but despite our wounds we live in the midst of infinite possibility. Perhaps it is the allegiance to the truth, and a new-found humility that will serve us. Arrogance in its many guises infects our culture. Truth cannot be apprehended in arrogance, only in humility. Humility engenders tolerance and forbearance, and most of all, it engenders empathy. That is what will heal us as a nation.
We people of the Way are seed-sowers, according to the parable. I propose that what we sow at this time are the seeds of truth and the seeds of humility; that we dedicate with whole hearts our “souls” to it, and pray that our labor will bear fruit… thirty, sixty, perhaps even a hundred-fold.
A Prayer for the President of the United States (BCP p. 820)
O God our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to your care, that, being guided by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of the United States, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill him with the love of truth and justice, and make him ever mindful of his calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
