Reckless Abandon: Devotion for May 11

The other day, I picked up my geraniums that I purchased from the Bethany auxiliary. I can’t wait to get them into my planter pots! It’s been a long winter and my heart aches for spring and color, which will be here in due time. One thing we can thank winter for—it helps us appreciate spring. Would we cherish the sunshine and green grass if they were always before us? Probably not as much. 

This beautiful “painting” will never hang in a museum or be critically acclaimed. I don’t know anything about the artist. But I still love to look at it. It brings to mind that Peterson Farms seed commercial that says, “Nothing holds more promise than a seed.”

Which causes me to think on the Parable of the Four Soils (Luke 8:4-8; Matthew 13:10-23; Mark 4:10-25).

The Sower, painted by James Tissot around 1894, is an opaque watercolor over graphite on grey wove paper. It is a visual offering of this Parable where we are told that some of the seeds are eaten by birds; some choked by thorns; some fall on dry soil; yet some fall on good soil and produce a crop. The seed represents the Word of God.

Tissot presents the Sower as a first century Palestinian farmer, indicated by the bare feet and the clothes. It was Jewish custom to wear a sash to show the separation of the “chosen ones” from the pagans. The scarf was typical Jewish head gear and had the Jewish name for God at its four corners (yud-hey-vav-hey). 

Notice how a flock of birds fly across the horizon. A group of weeds sway in the winds. Rocky terrain flows through the land. I love this idea of a farmer freely sowing without paying attention to where the seed is landing. This sower isn’t simply generous, perhaps downright irresponsible. Doesn’t he know that seed is too valuable a resource to scatter with such reckless abandon? Yet the sower walks undeterred. His outstretched arm may remind us of the Savior preaching the Word.

Which is, of course, Jesus’ point. God isn’t like any other farmer. God is reckless, wild, and heedless in showering God’s people with grace, not just saving it for the “good soil” folks. No wonder Jesus said, “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!” Apparently, God’s grace is for everyone. 

Pr. Laurie Neill

Featured images: Seed packet from John Gardiner and Co., 1896; James Tissot, The Sower, 1894. Noticed these two images were painted two years apart.