Intro

We are quite familiar with the Parable of the Sower and have studied the lessons learned a number of times. In the parable an anonymous sower broadly scatters the seed, which is the Word of God, some seed grows fruitfully while other seed does not.

This parable contains relevant truths for this time of year and this week in particular. This is the time of year when gardeners receive seed catalogues in the mail every day. I brought one along to show you just how many seeds there are! The Word of God is like that as well. The Word of God includes many different kinds of seeds, the seeds of love, seeds of faith, and seeds of justice and on it goes.

With it being the holiday of MLK I became curious about the seeds sown by Rev. King. As it turns out, Rev. King spoke a great deal about the various seeds of the Word. I want to give you a few examples and encourage you to read his sermons which can be found online.

The greatest seed of the Word is love. Here is what Rev. King said about the seed of love.

"Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you." This is what we must live by. We must meet hate with love. Remember, if I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement. Go home with this glowing faith and this radiant assurance.

But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it. Montgomery Bus Boycott speech, at Holt Street Baptist Church (5 December 1955)

Imagine the impact if Christians followed the Word and sowed the seed of love. We see people abandoning the Church and when I talk with some of these people I hear over and over that they do not see love in action. We have our petty squabbles that consume time, energy and destroy the health of the Church. Let’s turn Grace Church into one where the seed love bears good fruit.

Sometimes, we gardeners plant different seeds together. For example, a variety of salad greens grow together or a variety of wild flower seeds to grow a beautiful more natural looking garden.

Rev. King spoke about the seeds of love and justice being planted together.

Whatever we do, we must keep God in the forefront. Let us be Christian in all of our actions. But I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love, love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian face, faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love

That is what the civil rights movement was all about. “Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.” Rev. King used the Word of God to plant the seeds of love and justice. Let’s follow in his footsteps sowing the seeds of love and justice to correct that which revolts against love.