In the merry month of May, gardeners (like me) love to stand in our backyards and dream of abundant harvests of delicious flawless vegetables, borders overflowing with vivid blossoms, and lush, thick, healthy green lawns.
Yet by midsummer, the critters will have enjoyed our veggies and flowers immensely and the lawn will be as spotty as ever. The high hopes of May will fade. We will growl that we’re going to move to a condo and never grow anything more challenging than a little pot of basil on the windowsill.
But every spring, there we are out in our backyards again, planting seeds and raking mulch, having a wonderful time. Because this year, unlike all the years that have gone before, our gardens will be spectacular! We just know it!
Does this sound like a parable? Is the kingdom of God like a foolish gardener who never gives up hope even in the face of experience? How do you think Jesus would tell that parable? How would you tell it?
This message is excerpted from “Is the kingdom of God like a foolish gardener” by Audrey Novak Riley from the April 26, 2018, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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