The Word does not return empty without achieving its purpose.

 

God seems to be a carefree gardener some might even verge on saying he is careless where the seed is thrown or even wasteful. This is not how we are taught to approach projects in our own gardens or in farming some land. The focus is on producing something that is useful or beautiful. We start to plant with the hope that we give the best opportunity for something to benefit others and ourselves.

Jesus uses parables that help us to notice where God speaks to us in our daily lives. The parable of the Sower of the seed is no different. The Word of God is called to take root in our lives. Lectio Divina helps us to notice how the Word needs to take root in our lives. This way of prayer allows for a gentle repetition where we are called to first notice what calls us to raise questions about where that Word touches our lives. When we repeat it for the second time, we can start to notice how the Word touches our hearts and helps us to listen with our hearts. When we repeat for the third time, we start to notice what nourishes us and feels like real food, by taking the Word into our daily lives we can start to have something that can sustain us through the day. By gentle repetition we become aware of what allows to provide good soil in which the Word can take root.

Yet in Isaiah we hear that the word from my mouth does not return to me empty without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do. This can change our perspective from looking solely at ourselves towards what the Word of God seeks to achieve. If it falls on the path birds are fed, if it lands in little soil it can hold tenaciously before final wilting for lack of nutrients, if it falls in the brambles it seeks to compete for the attention it deserves and if it lands in good soil, it can flourish and grow.

This echoes of the words of St Paul to the Romans. “It was not any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God; but creation still remains the hope of being freed, like us from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God.”  There is a tension in listening to the Word that it seeks to bring about what it is sent to achieve.

So, in the heart of the teaching that the disciples are contained in the following phrases.

·      You will listen and listen again, but not understand

·      See and see again but not perceive

·      For the heart of this nation has grown course,

·      Their ears are dull of hearing

·      And they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes

·      Hear with their ears

·      Understood with their hearts

·      And be converted and healed by me

This is where we seek to allow the Word of God to be heard and lived in our lives. We need to notice where the Word of God can flow off us like Teflon. The Word can be carried away by another stray thought of something that seems more urgent. There are times when the Word gives us temporary consolation but then drifts away like the mist. Then there can be many things that can keep us busy during the day that rob us of our freedom. Yet the practice of Lectio Divina can stay with us throughout the day. When we notice those moments that rob us of peace we can gently focus back on the Word or phrase that we have received for the day. And at the end of the day give thanks for the fruits it has produced in our lives. The Word of God does not return empty without achieving its purpose.