Loving God, you call us to keep on sowing seeds and promise that you will give the growth. Teach us to trust your promise and to live by the power of your Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Listen! There once was a little congregation that gathered together week after week to hear God's Word and to share in his supper. Although it had been there for many years, the congregation never seemed to get any bigger. At times the people of the congregation would get discouraged and wonder if anything they were doing was worthwhile. They watched as some people moved away, and some people just stopped coming, and others started working Sundays so that they never saw them at church any more. Yet, the members persisted in hearing and studying God's Word, in praying and worshiping, and in sowing their seeds.

When the end of the age came, these people found themselves standing before Jesus. Many of them were feeling like failures, having gathered together for Word and Sacrament for all those years, yet never seeming to grow in numbers. Before Jesus had even said a word, some of them tried to explain what they had been doing and to express how they wished they could have done more. However, Jesus stopped them before they could say another word and pointed behind him to a large group of people standing there. The people didn't understand what he meant, and finally one man asked, "Who are all these people, Lord?"

Jesus said, "All it takes is a small seed to grow a great tree. You have been sowing seeds for many years and have touched the lives of many people. These people all heard the gospel from you or saw it at work in your lives. Some of you planted. Some of you watered. But God gave the growth (cf. 1 Cor. 3:6). Well done, good and faithful servants!" "Let anyone with ears listen!" (Mt. 13:9).

The disciples of Jesus were probably feeling about the same as the people in this little congregation. For all of Jesus' talk about the kingdom of heaven being near, they weren't too sure that they could see any evidence. People would listen to Jesus for a while and then fall away. The authorities always seemed to be outright opposed to Jesus, in spite of the miraculous things that he was doing. Also, in spite of the people whom Jesus healed, there always seemed to be so many more who were in need of healing. And so even the disciples were getting discouraged at times.

And so Jesus tells them the parable of the sower. It would be very easy for the person sowing the seed to get discouraged. After all, it seems as if the majority of the seeds sown don't produce anything. Yet, in spite of all of those seeds that land on the path and among the thorns and on the rocky ground, when it comes time for the harvest there is an abundant crop. How can this be? It would seem that we can't always see what the Word of God is doing.

In the little congregation that was mentioned earlier, the people couldn't always see what effect their ministry was having, either. It is true that people came and went, but the people who stayed a part of the congregation never stopped inviting others to come and join them and never stopped sharing their faith with others. Some who had been part of that congregation went on and sowed seeds somewhere else. Some maybe never came to church at all, but had their lives touched by a member of the congregation who was living out the gospel. What mattered in the end was not their size, but their faithfulness in gathering together to receive the Word and then passing it on to others.

It is for people such as these that today's gospel was spoken - for people who are being faithful but are getting discouraged at the results. We, too, are invited to change our perspective and to be aware of what's going to matter in the end. We, too, are invited to keep on sowing seeds, even when it looks like a lot of seed is going to waste. We, too, are invited to get ready for the harvest. These three things are the invitations that come to us from today's gospel.

First, our perspective: What our minds are focused on makes all the difference in the world, and there are at least two examples of this in our readings for today. The first example comes from the parable of the sower. To focus on all of the wasted seed and wasted effort is very discouraging and might lead us to stop planting any seeds at all. However, to focus on the abundant harvest that results reminds us that it is God who gives the growth, and all of this planting of seeds is ultimately worth it!

At the same time, our second reading for today from Romans asks us what our minds are focused on. When we focus on the flesh, the result is death (Rom. 8:6). This means that we are focused on ourselves and on the world around us and on what we want now. Being focused on the flesh means having a self-centered view of the world, and this focus can only lead to death.

On the other hand, to focus on the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace (Rom. 8:6). This means that we are aware of the kingdom of heaven and of the world that is to come. This means that the new community of faith is more important than our selfish passions. This means that we have a Christ-centered view of the world and are aware of the spiritual and the supernatural order. It is this focus that leads to life and peace. Keep in mind: Our perspective and our focus can make all the difference in the world!

At the same time, we are being invited and called today to keep on sowing seeds. This means spreading God's word about Jesus Christ in both our words and our actions. This means being open and inviting to the people we meet, always looking for opportunities to invite somebody to come and share in Word and Sacrament with us. This means being ready and willing to talk about the hope that is in us because of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 3:15). This means being open to allowing the Spirit of God to work through us in order to minister to others.

Finally, and in a totally different role in the harvest, we are being called and invited today to keep on growing and bearing fruit. All kinds of different images are used in the gospels in order to describe the growth that needs to happen between now and the final harvest, or the end of the age. We are like the branches that need to stay attached to and rooted in Jesus, the vine (Jn. 15). We are like the wheat growing among the weeds until harvest time (Mt. 13:24-30). We are the plants that need to keep growing and bear much fruit.

In order for such growth to happen, we need to be fed and fertilized and watered through prayer, through reading the Scriptures, through gathering together around Word and Sacrament, and through sharing with others in the Christian community. In all of these things the Holy Spirit is at work, producing faith within us, giving us the gifts that are needed for ministry, and producing fruit in our lives such as love, joy, peace and patience (Gal. 5:22). In all of these things we are made ready for the harvest - for the end of all things - when we expect to be gathered together with Christ.

In the mean time, our job is to grow and to bear fruit, to plant seeds and to set our mind on the Spirit and on those things that will really matter in the end. Anything else will most certainly discourage us, and in the end will come to nothing. "Listen! A sower went out to sow" (Mt. 13:3). Many of the seeds didn't grow or bear any fruit. However, "other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!" (Mt. 13:8-9) Amen.

Proper 10(A) Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
July 10, 2005 Romans 8:1-11
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore
? 2005 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved