The Fullest Potential

But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. // Mark 4:20 

I was sipping away my cappuccino when I began (yet again) complaining about how hard teaching has been, freely wallowing in self-pity and frustration. My dear priest friend gently interrupted my sharing with a question that left me awe-struck. He simply asked me, “Mary, how long have you wanted to be a teacher?” 

I did not know why he was asking me this but I sheepishly replied, “Since I was in 6th grade.” I added an uncomfortable giggle, hoping he would offer wisdom or encouragement. 

He said, “Just think, Mary: you are living your twelve year-old dream. You are where that little girl dreamed of being that long ago.You are doing so much for these little souls and planting the seed that will bear so much fruit.” I nodded in agreement as I pondered those words. 

In today’s Gospel (see Mark 4:1-20), Jesus teaches the large crowd using the parable of the sower. He leaves them each to their own interpretation of the parable, but to the Twelve He intentionally explains its meaning. 

The subject of this parable is not physical seeds. Rather, the subject is the Word of God, and the object of this teaching is to see the Word produce to its fullest potential, or “a hundredfold.” 

I forget so often that the Lord does so much with the little I bring to the table. I will selfishly mope that what I am doing is not enough, I need to do more, or that it’s my work that brings about growth. 

When I do His work, I am a mere instrument of the Holy Spirit. It’s God’s Word, the movement of the Spirit that produces its fullest potential. I often measure His Word on whether or not it was clearly received. And my measurements draw boundaries on the potential growth I might not ever see. Our thirty- and sixtyfold mentalities never reach the hundredfold opportunities. 

Friend, the Lord desires to have our full potential. No boundaries, no hesitations, no measurements. If we give Him everything, every seed that’s sown produces a hundredfold.

Fullness is a hundredfold.