Loving God, you sent your Son, Jesus, that we might have life, and have it abundantly.  Fill our hearts this day with your life and love and peace, that we might not only experience your abundance, but share it with others as well; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    With the parable that is told in today’s gospel, there are two things that particularly struck me this week.  The first has to do with people who try to learn the English language.  “A sower went out to sow” (Mt. 13:3), and look at all of the different spellings for “sow” (sew, so, sol), as well as the two different pronunciations and meanings for the word “sow.”  And we wonder why people have difficulties learning English!  So, it’s important to know that today we’re talking about sowing, or planting, seeds.

    The second thing that struck me is how much work the sower is doing for such apparently small returns.  As in most parables, there is some unusual and shocking behaviour – in this case, on the part of the sower.  Imagine that you are a farmer in first century Palestine, and it is time for you to plant your crop.  You have used either your hand plow or a plow that is pulled by some oxen in order to prepare the soil and open up some nice furrows in your field.  It is ready now for the seeds, and so you cradle either a large basket or a part of your outer robe (or mantle) that is full of seeds with one arm, and with your free hand you start throwing the seeds as you walk along.

    However, as you do this, you don’t just throw the seeds on the good soil in your field.  You also sow some on the hard ground among the rocks, and over there where the thorns are growing, and all along the path where people walk every day.  Perhaps it’s a glass half full or glass half empty kind of thing, but it sounds like about three quarters of the seed in Jesus’ parable is ineffective.  It seems totally wasted, and, perhaps predictably, doesn’t grow.  However, I suppose if you wanted to put a positive spin on things, you’d focus on the seeds that actually bring forth grain – “some a hundredfold, some sixty, [and] some thirty” (Mt. 13:8).

    At its root, however, there is a question behind this parable that has nothing to do with farming techniques.  Instead, this parable has to do with people’s responses to Jesus, and perhaps seeks to answer why so few people seem to see Jesus for who he really is.  Certainly, in the gospel of Matthew, all different kinds of responses to Jesus are recorded that are not so different from how people respond to Jesus today.

    Jesus comes bringing life and peace and salvation, and yet so many turn away from him.  In some cases, there is a barrier there that simply will not allow the life and light of Christ to come in.  For some people, they look at their own troubles or the troubles in the world and conclude that God really should have fixed it all – if God is really there at all.  For others, their hearts are full of anger, and they have closed themselves off to anything that might come from God.  Still others want answers to everything before they will believe, and thus are never quite able to make that leap of faith.  The responses of these people are kind of like the seed that is sown along the path.

    Of course, then there are those who initially do believe in Jesus and welcome him into their hearts and into their lives, but as soon as trouble arises they fall away.  Perhaps they thought that there wouldn’t be any trouble with Jesus.  Perhaps they thought that if they believed, God would reward them.  Perhaps they liked their lives better the way they were before – not so many difficult decisions, and not having to constantly choose between Jesus and popularity.  These, then, are kind of like the seeds on the rocky ground.

    As for the seeds among the thorns, how many different things can we name that simply choke out the good news of Jesus Christ?  The lure of wealth is a great big one that is named in the gospel, just like the rich young man who couldn’t conceive of making following Jesus more important than all of his possessions (Mt. 19:21-22).  The cares of the world are also mentioned, as people fill up their lives with work and sports and music and entertainment and collecting things and family activities, until pretty soon there is simply no space there for a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ.  Whether it is a house full of things like on Hoarders, or a mountain of debts from buying things we can’t afford, or one family crisis after another, so many things can simply crowd out the abundant life that Jesus came to bring.

    That abundant life, in fact, is the key to the good news that is in this parable that we heard today.  For, in spite of the fact that it seems like most of the seed is wasted, that seed that falls on the good soil yields a fantastically abundant crop.  One commentator, writing from an American perspective, says that an average crop in the U.S. would yield twenty to thirty-fold, and forty-fold would be an exceptionally good crop (Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 7).  From what I understand, that means you would get forty times as many seeds as you planted.

    However, in the parable from Matthew, Jesus is talking a hundredfold, and sixty-fold, and thirty-fold.  The seeds that bear fruit are all way above average, perhaps more than making up for all of those seeds that don’t end up bearing any fruit.  And so, the sower, it would seem, doesn’t mind sowing the seed on all different kinds of ground, for it is God who makes the good soil and God who gives the growth.

    Michael Harvey, who talks about reasons why we are afraid to invite people to come to church with us, emphasizes this same idea.  He talks about our fears that somebody might say “no” or might get upset with us.  However, Michael makes it clear that our job is not to get somebody to say “yes,” but simply to invite them.  It is God’s job to give the growth, or to speak to that person’s heart, or to get them to say “yes.”

    Actually, the same is true in our own lives.  If my heart is not “good soil” and is not open to receiving Jesus, there is very little that I can do that will turn it into good soil.  That, too, is God’s work.  Now, turning toward God might help.  Praying “I believe; help my unbelief!” might help (Mk. 9:24).  Or, opening myself to the Holy Spirit might help.  However, even with these things, it is the Spirit who works in our hearts to turn us toward God, just as it is the Spirit who nurtures the seeds that have been planted today in holy baptism.

    The Scriptures often talk about people bearing fruit or being fruitful, and it’s not always easy for us to know what that means.  However, one passage that gives us a little bit of help comes from Galatians, where Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23).  And so, when we are bearing fruit, God produces in our lives things like love and joy and peace.  We will exhibit things like patience and kindness and generosity.  God produces in us things like faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.  For, as we hear in today’s second reading, “to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6).

    Then, as we experience fruit like this in our lives, it becomes our job, as well, to sow seeds – for most plants, as they grow, produce more seeds for sowing.  And so, whether it means inviting somebody to church, or sharing with those in need, or giving generously to share the gospel, or sharing the love of Jesus with another person, the fruitfulness that God produces in our lives spills over into the lives of others – where God, once again, gives the growth.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lectionary 15(A)                            Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
July 10, 2011                            Romans 8:1-11
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2011 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved