Pentecost Six

Pentecost Six (Revised Common Lectionary) – July 12, 2020 | Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23 | Pr. Carl A. Voges |

The Passage

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down.  And the whole crowd stood on the beach.

“And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came, and devoured them.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose, they were scorched.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears, let him hear.’”

“’Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.  This is what was sown along the path.  As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.  As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’”    [English Standard Version]

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

[Romans 8.5]

 

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

 

The world is really, really smart when it comes to noticing things that are wrong in its life.  However, the world is really, really ignorant over the solutions to such wrongs.  Often the world does not recognize that its diagnoses and prescriptions are helplessly trapped in the workings of its own life.

For a little more than four months now everyone’s life has been under the threatening cloud of the coronavirus.  We have seen the world’s life playing out in ominous ways, revealing an anxiety and an emptiness that frightens deeply.

During this time span the Lord’s people have seen the life of their parish communities playing out as well.  It has not been easy; it has been a struggle.  People who have been used to seeing each other in the Sunday Liturgy have had that option shut down.  Pastors who have been accustomed to visiting their members in senior care facilities, hospitals and homes have had such access shut down.  We have had to adjust to liturgies that are streamed and to interactions that are conducted primarily on a phone.

Strangely, though, yet mysteriously, we have also noticed the reality of the Lord’s Word pressing in on our lives from his Scriptures and Sacraments.  And, as that reality keeps thudding into our lives, we are seeing the incredible fullness and richness of the Holy Trinity’s Life!  It has taken a while in these jarring and unsettling weeks for us to become aware of this, but the life and work of the Lord’s parish communities are not as non-essential as the local governments claimed when the virus was emerging!  What our Lord is revealing more and more is how essential his Life to the lives of his baptized people as well as to the life of a bewildered, self-absorbed, ignorant and trapped world!  Thus the reality of the Lord’s Word pushing into these unsettling months while holding our lives together still comes at us this morning from today’s Gospel.

We are quite familiar with this passage and it fits well with the various crops growing in South Carolina.  Is our Lord giving us a lesson in agriculture with this parable about seed planting?

A first look might indicate that this is the case.  The seed in the parable was thrown out by hand; the seed around our homes can be distributed by drop or broadcast spreaders; the seed around our farms can be distributed by tractors pulling equipment that drops the seed exactly where it needs to be, guided by computerized systems that provide for a maximum harvest.

Working off this look, then, would bring us to the conclusion that the parable’s point lies in making sure that the proclamation of the Gospel does not get wasted, that it lands successfully in more than one place out of four!  Perhaps, though, we should hold off on that approach.  We’re dealing with another reading that has a gap between the two sections of this passage.

It is significant that, at the end of the parable (verse 9), there is this phrase spoken by our Lord – “He who has ears, let him hear!”  This phrase is unpacked in verses 10-17.

In verse fifteen Jesus notes that people, because they are wrapped up in themselves, will listen but not hear; they will see but not understand.  In verse sixteen Jesus quotes Isaiah, noting that the heart of the people has grown coarse, that their ears are full of hearing, that their eyes are shut.

In and around today’s Gospel then, our Lord is ordering us to listen and to hear three times!  Recall that the biblical meaning of “listen” is much than a casual notice of something, it is an actual receiving and doing!  In order to cut through the natural self-absorption and dullness of the life into which we are born, it is necessary for Jesus to command us to honestly listen to what he is saying in this parable.

That phrase in verse 9 then brings us to the parable’s explanation in the second part of the reading.  What dominates this explanation are Jesus’ references to the “Word.”  This Word is THE reality streaming from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!  In the Old Testament it is described by the Hebrew word, “dabar” (it occurs nearly four hundred times!). In the New Testament it is described by the Greek word, “logos” (it occurs more than three hundred times!)

This Word is the actual speaking and doing of the Lord God!  This Word streams out from the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures (these holy Writings are the Word’s only source; the Word bores in on the world’s people from eternity to eternity!)

The Word is identified most clearly with the Son, Jesus Christ, and is most clearly expressed in his crucifixion and resurrection.  The Word’s activity breaks people from the world’s life.  Such a life, as attractive as it may be, is one dominated by the unholy trio of sin, Satan and death.  Thus, it is significant that Jesus mentions this eternal reality six times in his explanation of the parable!

He describes the people who hear the Word of his kingdom but they do not understand it.

The unholy trio snatches away what could make huge difference in their lives!  Jesus describes people who hear the Word and immediately receive it with joy.  Such people,   however, do not have deep roots.  When there are difficulties in their lives or they are thrown into turmoil because of the Word’s activity, the joyful reception disappears.

Jesus then describes the people who hear the Word, but the pressures of the world’s anxieties and the deceptiveness of its riches choke their reception of it.  Here, too, the unholy trio is able to push off the Word’s activity.  Finally, Jesus describes the people who hear the Word and understand it, their lives receive it and they reflect it on differing levels!

The parable’s point, then, lies in the activity of the Lord’s Word.  The activity encounters difficult and wrenching circumstances, but it is the Lord’s intent to keep bringing it to the people who are helplessly trapped by the world’s life.  The Lord desires to rescue people from the life given them by the world at birth and imbed them in the Life he gives at Baptism.

Today’s Gospel, then, is much more than a lesson in agriculture about seed planting!  What our Lord is doing is grounding the ministry of his parish communities in the activity of his Word!  This is startling, refreshing and energizing!  Through the Word’s activity he has gifted parishes with the four holy places of Baptism and the Scriptures, Forgiveness and the Eucharist.  Through the Word’s activity these places stand at the center of a parish’s life.  They make it possible for the Word to be reflected to all those who are grasping for it.

Today’s Gospel also makes it clear that such work is not easily done.  The unholy trio unleashes everything it has to ignore, blunt and distort the Word’s activity because, to them, it is death!  And there are times when parishes will cave into the attractions of the unholy trio.  But the Lord will continue to press his Word into the life of a parish and its members because it is Life to them!

Prior to the coronavirus our parishes were well acquainted with the Lord’s holy places and their members were having their lives steadily interacting with them.  The virus, though, has jumbled that interaction severely.  It has forced parish leaders to consider walk-arounds so those interactions can continue while protecting the immune systems of those who wish to participate in those places.

One such walk-around is to pick up the discipline of Daily Prayer.  This practice has been in use for thousands of years. Its roots are in the Hebrew tradition and it has been used significantly throughout the Church’s life.  Because of the way it is structured, Daily Prayer keeps us in close contact with the Lord’s Word.

We Lutherans have access to two excellent resources for this practice.  They provide five times a day where a person can be exposed to the psalms and the biblical readings designated for that day.  The resources are: “For All the Saints,” a four volume set (they are small), first printed by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau (ALPB) in 1996; and “The Daily Prayer of the Church,” a one volume book written by Philip Pfatteicher.  His book was printed by the Lutheran University Press and the ALPB in 2005.

Each day one can read through the appointed psalms (all one hundred fifty are covered in  month’s thirty days).  One can also read biblical passages from the Old and New Testaments, along with the Gospels.  These readings are consecutive (maintaining a good context for understanding).  Both resources enable the readings to be done during Morning or Evening Prayer, Noon Prayer or Prayer at the End of the Day (Compline).

“For All the Saints” has all the psalms and biblical readings in their volumes; “The Daily Prayer of the Church” has most of the psalms but not the biblical readings.  It has included, though, classic hymns for the prayer offices that are rich with meaning.

The discipline of Daily Prayer is a tremendous asset to a parish’s life because it keeps us in steady contact with the Lord’s Word.  It may be difficult to pick up on it, but it deepens our understanding of the Lord’s Life.  It strengthens us to endure the threats, fears and anxieties of the world’s life.

It also enables us to be aware of the needs of others so they can be included in our prayers.  Through Daily Prayer the Word keeps pressing the realities of the Son’s crucified and resurrected Life into our own so that we, in turn, can reflect those realities to the world in which we find ourselves.  Let us remember that those realities are overflowing with the richness and fullness of the Lord’s Life!

May our lives continue to be crossed by the Lord’s holy places so that we may remain imbedded in the Life he has given us.  May our lives continue to be crossed by those holy places so that when the Lord orders us to listen to him, we hear!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our

hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord

Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com