Luke 8: 1-15

At Gordon-Conwell, a Seminary here in Charlotte, there is a fresco painting of the parable of the sower in their chapel. It’s absolutely beautiful and is the center piece of their worship area. The painting portrays a sower (Jesus) walking along a path scattering seed from a bag. Behind him on the path you observe several things occurring. You can see the crows coming to snatch the seed, you see some of the seed falling on rocky territory and some falling among the thistles. One can only hope that somewhere along the path the sower found some fertile ground. It’s as if he is walking through history scattering seed to grow, but then amazingly the artist has painted Jesus to appear as if he is walking out of the painting into our time and space.

This leads the observer to wonder about the condition of the ground where Jesus now works to scatter the seed of God’s Kingdom. Is it fertile? Or is it rocky, crow infested or thorny? The bag appears to have an endless supply of seed, but what will happen to it when he scatters it along the path of our lives?

God’s Peace,
Pastor Brad

P.S. Here’s a link to see the painting online (http://www.steinmeyerstudio.com/sower/l-sower.jpg) or go to the Seminary to view it in person (14542 Choate Circle; Charlotte, NC 28273)