The Fruitful Steward

10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

14 The sower soweth the word.15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. (Mark 4:10-20 KJV)

Fruitfulness is a vital facet of Christian stewardship. The parable of the sower is about fruitfulness, but traditional interpretations have been more about working than about fruit. Author Robert Farrar Capon makes this point with a close study of the parable in The Parables of the Kingdom.
The Sower is God the Father, not Jesus. What Jesus turns out to be - since he is the Word [see Jn 1:1-18] - is the seed sown. But note what that in turn means. It means that one the plain terms of the parable, Jesus has already, and literally, been sown everywhere in the world - and quite without a single bit of earthly cooperation of even consent.

Capon explains that the way the Word (Jesus) works is with catholicity - the seed is scattered throughout all times and throughout the world; the kingdom of the Word is at work 'everywhere, always, and for all.' It also works with mystery - like seed that disappears into the earth, there is an element of hiddenness of the Word, which [Martin] Luther said can neither be known nor felt, but only believed, trusted. It works with actuality - that the seed's life is contained within it (it was a common idea at that time that the seeds grew without help). 'The seed, and therefore the Word, is fully in action! Everything necessary for its perfect work is in the works from the start.' Finally, the Word works in the midst of hostility; just as seed eaten by birds still gets spread around, the Word's work, despite whatever efforts have been made by Satan or the world to stop him, has been done.

Capon continues:
True enough, and fittingly enough, the most obvious point in the whole parable is that the fullest enjoyment of the fruitfulness of the Word is available only to those who interfere with it least! Those on the good ground, he says, are those who simply hear the Word, accept it, and bear fruit; some thirty-, some sixty-, and some a hundredfold. It's not that they do anything you see; rather, it's that they don't do things that get in the Word's way.

The receptiveness with which we accept the Word, the extent to which we remain in the vine (see Jn 15:1-17), the extent to which we allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in us (see Gal 5:22-23) - these are our responsibility. Capon says that
The biggest difference made by responses to the Word is the difference they make to us, for us, and in us. They decide not whether the Word will achieve his purposes but whether we will enjoy his achievement - or find ourselves in opposition to it! For a plant, the failure to bear fruit is not a punishment visited on it by the seed, but an unhappy declination on the plant's part from what the seed had in mind for it. It is a missing of its own fullness, its own maturity - even, in some deep sense of its own life.

As you read through today's passage, try to reflect upon the ways you are bearing fruit.