Isaiah 55:10-13

What do we expect in return for our faith? Cheers and a parade? Isaiah helps us to understand that when we are sent out by God, we do not come back for refreshment or accolates. Instead we remain committed to our ministries under that final peace that leads us back to God. We are sent out to minister to the world and when we come back to report on our ministries to the needy, or seniors, or youth, what happens? A few words of thanks perhaps, but mostly it’s ‘what’s next?.’ We’re not in it for the glory, but are sent to testify to our relationship with God through ministry - the memorial of our faith.

Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14

We are witnesses to God’s wondrous work in creation all around us – from the beautiful mountains now showing signs of snow, to the meadows, hills, and valleys crowned with the joys of the turning season. As we are called to steward the natural resources and blessings of creation, we are invited to trust in God rather than ourselves – and to know that whatever may be our own limitations, ‘the river of God is full of water.’ And so in our daily lives of ministry we are enabled to do God’s will not by our own abilities, but by God who is our Hope.

Romans 8:1-11

We need not confine ourselves to meditation and isolation from the world. In grappling with the Gnostic distinctions between the sinfulness of the flesh and the life of the Spirit that were so prominent in the Greco-Roman culture of his time, Paul clarifies that the issue is really one of priorities. Those who care only about the material aspects of their lives – who live according to the flesh – cannot truly know God. For they are too distracted by their material desires to submit to the reality of God’s presence in the world. But for those who let the Spirit in, who turn away from material luxury long enough to hear the still quiet voice of God, the indwelling of the Spirit brings life and peace. And so we Christians seek life for the soul even as we tend to the needs of our mortal bodies.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Jesus calls us to look before we leap, to consider what the life of faith requires before entering in. The parable of the sower takes on particularly challenging meaning when we consider that Peter, upon whom God would build the Church of Christ, has a name that also means rock (as in ‘rocky ground’). And when we review the pattern of Peter and the other disciples “immediately” following Jesus’ commands, we are cautioned against the superficiality of a faith that has no roots. Instead we are called hear and live into Jesus’ teachings, not with thoughtless immediacy but with careful and discerning hearts and committed action. We are called to be good soil for God’s word.