Rectory Ramblings…

And Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow.  (Matthew 13:3)  

Many of Jesus best known parables are based on stories that seem unfamiliar to us but would have been very familiar to those hearing them at their first telling. The parable of the lost sheep, the sower, and the prodigal son... were just stories of everyday life. They may seem quaint or strange to us, living as we do in 20^th century society, but many of them are about farming, connected with growing grain or grapes, or looking after sheep. Others are just stories about common scenarios and circumstances connected with daily living. In first century agricultural Palestine, they would have been, as the Archers was once described, just everyday stories of country folk. Talking of growing things, In my newly enlarged vegetable garden, most of the hard work of ground digging and seed planting is done for a while. It’s just pottering around: watering when it’s a bit to dry, picking out weeds and checking everything’s still OK, until the excitement and activity of the first harvests begin, but while nothing much appears to be happening right now, there is a lot of growing going on. Ordinary time in the church is the same. There are a few saint’s days, but mostly we are in 4 months when nothing major seems to happen. This does not mean that God has gone into hibernation until the harvest festivals begin. God loves it when we turn up for the big parties at Christmas and Easter, but the whole point of Christmas and Easter are that Jesus was God’s plan for restoring the relationship that he intended us to have with him. That is the relationship with Adam described in the book of Genesis where God and Adam simply walked and talked together in the garden of Eden, every day, while they tended and cared for what was growing around them. 

Of course, we all go through great times and terrible times occasionally. But mostly we live in ordinary times. And God really is delighted when we involve him in what happens in our ordinary, day to day lives. Had an especially good or bad day at work today? Then tell him about it! It doesn’t matter whether you are thanking him or complaining to him, Of course, he already knows what sort of day we’ve had, but he loves it when he hears about it from us because then it gives him a chance to get involved in our ordinary everyday lives with us. 

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)                             

Revd Eddie