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Pentecost 9, 07/13/2008
Sermon on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, by Jennifer Gold
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!" 18"Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." NRSV
SOWERS OF GOD'S KINGDOM
Purpose of Parables
Listen!
It's a word I tend to use often to get my four year old son's attention.
And it's a word that Jesus uses today to get our attention as well.
Listen, because Jesus is telling us a parable.
Jesus often taught in parables.
Parables are riddles or metaphors that serve a purpose to make us think - they kind of jolt us into a new way of thinking.
They disrupt our old patterns of thinking and free us to new ways of being.
Parables don't serve to inform us but to transform us as we wrestle with or question their meaning.
And of the forty parables that Jesus tells, only two of them are explained.
The Parable of the Sower is one of the parables that provides an explanation; however, scholars largely agree that it was a later addition to the original recording of the earliest biblical manuscripts and therefore most question whether this interpretation came from Jesus himself, but that does not discount its value.
On that day Jesus was speaking to a crowd of people so large that he had to get into a boat and speak from the water while the people were standing on the shore.
While he was speaking he may have seen a farmer off in the distance scattering seed or maybe not.
But it's interesting to notice how Jesus can take such a simple, seemingly commonplace, earthy, ordinary example and give it extraordinary, heavenly, out of place, complex meaning.
It's a reminder to us that God can indeed be at work in everything.
But it's also what attracted people to Jesus.
Jesus was a master at the art of communicating spiritual truths to common people.
The primary religious leaders in that day just interpreted the laws and imposed rules and customs for the people to follow.
But Jesus spoke and understood the language and the lives and the hearts of the ordinary people, and this is part of the reason why "great crowds" gathered around to listen to him.
Well, in this parable that Jesus teaches, there is a farmer who goes out to sow seed.
In first century Palestine, fields could be sown in the fall or spring.
Sometimes the field was first prepared by plowing, and then sometimes the seed was sown first and then plowed in.
But when the farmer sows the seed, the seed falls in all sorts of places - on hard soil, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil - and because of that much of it is lost - almost seventy-five percent of it did you notice? -
But some of the seed hits fertile ground so that the sowing is more than worthwhile because it yields a harvest that normally would produce only seven-tenfold, but instead it yields thirty, sixty, or one-hundredfold which was absolutely amazing.
These kinds of yields would be impossible for a farmer sowing seeds for a crop, but very possible for a sower sowing the seeds of God's kingdom.
So it is with the work of Jesus and his disciples, who proclaim the kingdom and do deeds which manifest it.
God will bless it abundantly, and they need not be discouraged.
The first weekend of June, I had the joy and the privilege to speak at a rather large youth conference on the theme of leadership - actually the theme was "Giving Opportunities for Leadership Development."
It's a conference that brings in about two-hundred youth from all over South Texas who have just completed their Sophomore year in High School, and these youth are chosen by their high schools to attend this conference.
This was my second year to come back to this conference and lead the final evening's inspirational talk and so I knew this was a neat group of youth to speak to, but I also knew that they came from a wide array of faith backgrounds or no religious background at all.
In fact, some of the people who serve on the leadership team for this youth conference, who are good friends of ours, I know believe in God but don't believe in Jesus, so they're always more attentive to wondering how the youth are going to respond to my speech knowing that I'm going to talk about God.
So when I go to speak, it is such a joy to be with such a neat bunch of youth, but it also makes me extremely nervous not knowing how the people on the leadership team and especially the youth are going to respond to my message.
But I was very upfront with them in my speech that I come to talk to them about being a leader, but I can't share about my own experience of becoming and being a leader without talking about God being part of that journey.
But I also told them that I understand that we all come from different walks in life with different beliefs and I respect that.
I told them, I am not here to "convert you," I am here simply to share my story of leadership with you, and God is very much a part of my story because without God I would not be where I am today as a pastor and religious leader.
That night after I spoke, I had countless youth come up and tell me how what I had said influenced them and most of them thanked me for being a woman in ministry because most of them had never seen a woman pastor before and they thought that was really cool!
And I appreciated their comments and took their strong words of affirmation to heart, but deep down inside I still wondered how my message was received by those who didn't believe in God.
Then just this past week, I received thank you letters from a group of the youth who attended that conference and I was amazed at some of the things people said, but there was one letter that caught my attention, and part of it read:
"You know I am not a religious person . . . or was not, but now you've got me wondering . . ."
And that comment made it even more worthwhile!
Seeds Sown in Unpredictable Soil
The main point of today's parable is this: We are called to sow the seeds of God's Kingdom into the unpredictable soil of the human heart.
Not only is it unpredictable, but invisible, which means we can't tell.
None of us knows the state of any person's heart by just looking at them,
but throw a little seed their way and you never know what God can do with it!
At that youth conference, I didn't stand up there and quote Bible verses, nor did I insist that people believe what I believe.
All I did was share my story and share how God was part of me.
Like casting out seeds into a field full of different kinds of dirt that day, you never know what the harvest is going to yield.
And I will most likely never know what will become of that youth who was left to wonder.
All I can do - all we can do - is plant the seeds and know that only God can bring the growth.
Our parable today teaches us that life with God is always an invitation, not an imposition.
And a relationship with God flourishes when the seed of God's Kingdom is cast on the fertile soil of our own hearts and the hearts of others.
The parable also recognizes the complexity that different life experiences open and close people to the presence of God.
And even different times in our own lives do we find ourselves more available or more skeptical to the seeds of God's Kingdom that are being sown into our hearts and minds.
And sometimes we are the sowers and sometimes we need to be sown depending on the condition of our heart soil.
I know from my own experience, and I wonder if you can relate, that there are times in my life when my faith is flourishing so much so that I want and am even eager to share it, but then there are times, sometimes too often, when I don't know what to believe anymore and how can I practice what I can't preach?
It's times like that when I pray, "Lord, let my heart be good soil."
Scattering Seeds
The parable of the Sower reminds us that God is less concerned about efficiency and more concerned with extravagance.
God is reckless in scattering the seeds of God's kingdom.
We see that in the witness of Jesus and his disciples every time the sick were healed, the dead were raised, the hungry were fed, and the skeptics and doubters came to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.
And we see that today in the witness of Jesus and us, his disciples, every time the sick are healed, the dead are raised to eternal life, the hungry are fed, and the skeptics and doubters come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
God is reckless in scattering the seeds of God's Kingdom throwing seeds everywhere hoping that somewhere, some how it will find good soil.
The soil of the human heart is unpredictable and invisible, so God calls us to be reckless sowers as well.
We never know that when we share our story of life with God to others - we never know what ideas or seeds are being planted into people's minds.
Just last week, Zachary and Zane were being quite mischievous all day long, and I remember at one point saying, "Boys, I know what you are doing because I have eyes in the back of my head!"
And at that moment I don't know who was more confused -
Zachary who was asking "You have eyes in the back of your head?" or me who was thinking, "Oh my goodness, I'm becoming my mother!"
And at that moment, I realized that as a mother, I was speaking to my own children the same exact words that my mother spoke to me!
Words lie dormant in us and in our offspring that we are not even made aware of until something brings them up again.
And in the same way, we never know that when we have only a brief conversation about God with someone that God can use those words in a lifelong dialogue that God carries on with that person.
The seeds of God's Kingdom are being planted in you and in me - and by you and by me, and we may never know what the harvest will bring.
Our call from God is not to know but to "sow" -
To sow the seeds and God can use our efforts to grow the seeds of the Kingdom and bring forth results beyond our wildest imaginations!
Amen.