Sowing Seeds of Hope at Matariki

Mānawatia a Matariki – Let’s celebrate Matariki! This gift from Te Ao Māori invites
us to remember those who have died, celebrate the present and our shared history, and plan for the future with whānau over kai (food), waiata (song), and tākaro (games).

Sowing Seeds of Hope

The Matariki themes of reaping and sowing beautifully mirror the parable of the extravagant and wasteful farmer in Matthew 13, who outrageously scatters the seeds of life across all types of soil. This story offers profound hope to a struggling church, asking us to reflect on what kind of soil we are and how we might cultivate our hearts and our world to receive these life-giving seeds.

Grace in Our Humanity

At times we are good soil; at other times, we are shallow, or even deceitful and conniving like Rebekah’s whānau in Genesis. That is simply what it means to be human. Yet, despite our flawed messiness, God relentlessly remains at work in every single kind of soil, transforming us and cultivating new growth.

“The calling of the community of faith is to have two good ears, and to be constantly open to having our worn down places ploughed up, turned over, loosened up; to having our rocky places named and removed, and our shallowness deepened and enriched; to having our thickets of cares and anxieties plucked out and space clear for new growth. Who knows, maybe instead of eking out the bare minimum to stay alive, we might be showered with God's extravagant wastefulness.” (David Ewart, www.holytextures.com)

The Sower by Vincent van Gogh

 

 

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