16 Jul SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2023
Jesus went out of the house by himself and sat beside the sea. Was he looking for a few moments of solitude or did he know in advance that by making himself visible, he would draw a crowd? When the crowds did in fact gather he did not retreat back into the house, he took center stage.
Center stage is that place right up front where the acoustics are better than standing in the middle of all who gather. Pulpits are always up front and up high so everyone has the chance to hear. Had Jesus remained sitting on the beach, or standing at the center of the crowd rather than perch himself on a boat in the sea up in front, only half the crowd would have heard what he had to say.
So this gospel scene begins just as church services do every Sunday morning, only instead of saying, “Good Morning,” Jesus says, “Listen.” By doing so, everyone finds their seat, stops talking to their neighbor and knows it’s time to start paying attention. Like you, they do so because they have come to hear God’s spoken word.
Knowing he’s gotten their attention, Jesus begins to tell them things through parables, illustrated lessons about moral or spiritual truths. In simple terms, parables contain a setting, action, and results. Along with those basics, there are objects and main characters. Interestingly in today’s parable, there’s only one human figure, the sower. Other things present in the story that influence the ultimate outcome are non-human and earthly. The parable involves plants and animals similarly to a fable since they pose threats and represent forces that oppose the sower’s intention and the very best ending.
The main character goes out to sow and a variety of things happen right away. His method of sowing is very different to my own. This summer when I sowed a packet of Pennsylvania wildflower seeds along the edge of my driveway. I didn’t just toss them. First, I weeded a nice patch of soil of sufficient dimension. I had to get rid of a bunch of crabgrass, wild strawberries, clover, and roots from shrubs nearby, remove rocks, and form neat little furrows. I wasn’t about to let any seeds fall on the hot blacktopped driveway or cement carport. That would have been wasteful. The seed would have amounted to nothing.
But not this sower. The first thing that becomes clear about him is that he’s not worried about the ratio of how much seed he sows compared to how many wildflowers he gets. He doesn’t seem to mind feeding the birds. It just happens. He apparently didn’t bother removing rocks or preparing the soil before sowing.
It just seems like the sower throws seed while saying to himself, “It is what it is. Whatever happens, happens.” This doesn’t mean the sower is careless. It could mean he’s got plenty of seed. So much so, he can generously sow. He’s able to afford the risk of letting seed lie where it falls, then waiting to see what ends up being useful.
As gardeners and farmers, you understand the value of preparation, application, and helping things to survive. Even before you sow, I’m sure that you educate yourself, learning what the seeds you plant need to survive. And you do your best to provide those things, nutrients, water, the right depths and quality of soil.
You pray for rain or sunshine, as needed. You continue to read catalogs, magazines, or watch tv shows about growing stuff. You talk to folks in the business of growing, ask what works for them, then keep trying your own hand at it. Perhaps you even buy new products or equipment. Almost anything seems worth trying once someone gets our hopes up.
Understanding God’s word is one way to grow our faith. Being part of God’s kingdom now and in the future requires work on our part, some preparation, application and help in order for God’s seed/intended results to take root and produce mature plants. There’ll be no harvest at the end of our lives, the growing season through which we’ve been planted here on earth, if a number of vital things don’t all come together.
Just like in the parable, there are things that need to be present for us to grow and just like in any gardening or farming endeavor, there are many obstacles to producing the desired result. What is the desired result? If God is the sower/farmer, the desired result is the same as any gardener/farmer: a large multiplied return of one’s initial investment, a payoff that comes from an ongoing investment of material supplies and labor.
That’s not unreasonable, right? There are even some of us who don’t garden because we know the potential yield is too great. We’re afraid that if we succeed, we’ll end up with more tomatoes and zucchini than we could ever eat or give away and the days of canning or putting up such things are gone on account of all the work involved, inconvenience or time necessary, or all the costs involved start to finish is just too high.
Funny thing about growing things. Many of the costs are upfront. Input precedes output; investment comes before any return. So let’s look at who’s putting out in this parable. God in the form of Jesus, the sower, initially purchases seed, or I guess in the case of God, the seed is created. In fact, it’s God who creates the entire ecosystem: including the birds, different soil types, and rocks. It is God who provides seed with the essentials of sun, roots and rain.
So what is the role of the listener, those people sitting around listening to Jesus speak God’s word? To see God’s word as seeds sown among us. To hear God’s word and allow it to go beneath the surface, taking root deep within us.
Cherishing God’s word emotionally in our hearts does make us feel good. Buying home decor quoting scripture might make our living spaces look faith-filled, simple and peaceful. Our faith may encourage pride in what our families may accomplish, but these things alone cannot preserve our religious heritage, strengthen American culture, keep families intact, raise responsible citizens, or create an environment where everyone can thrive.
Don’t be mistaken. This parable is not about people being seeds though it does accurately describe the misfortune of some. Most definitely, not all seeds/people do thrive, even though God brings them to life and sows them into the world. Some, right at the start, will perish, being consumed by larger beasts able to take advantage of their blatant exposure and obvious vulnerability. There’s plenty of evidence in the world of this scenario.
Unfortunately others, like some seeds, do perish due to lack. The most basic of explanations will suffice. They do not grow or thrive because they simply don’t have what they need.
Still other people, like seeds, have no choice but to grow where they are sown, in hostile places: where what surrounds them will dominate their chances and do everything within their power to keep the sown seeds or growing plants from thriving. These alternative outcomes are not acceptable to God. They are not the goal of the sower. The goal is for a large multiplied return of one’s initial investment, a payoff that comes from an ongoing investment of material supplies and labor, not a meager small percentage yield. Is that the measure of success we use?
Parables are relatable stories told by Jesus to help us identify with every perspective though we often tend to focus on one. Jesus ended by saying, “Let anyone with ears listen,” punctuated with an exclamation mark. The goal is for an abundant return: thirty, sixty, even one hundredfold. Evil is described as one who comes to snatch away what is sown in the heart. I used to say that I had to go to church to get my hard shell broken, my heart softened.
While in church, while watching an infomercial about a charity that rescues animals, feeds children or aims to somehow immediately relieve suffering, our heartstrings get pulled. Temporarily, we become willing to give or contribute. But what happens after we remove ourselves from that awareness, are no longer in the moment, or become distracted by things more appealing?
How often do we dabble in other people’s problems or take solace in the fact that we don’t have to live with or solve their problems. We just witness them. Realizing that we have that luxury is how God sows and stirs up compassion in our hearts. This parable is a warning that nothing God sows is meant to soon fall away: not the joy of hearing God’s word on a Sunday morning, not the joy of singing a hymn nor the effect of prayer or devotion some hours later when a thing comes along as trouble or persecution.
The care of the world and the lure of wealth are not meant to burden or diminish our chances of thriving. Understanding changes everything. It removes vulnerability, the effect of threats, predators, weeds and rocks. Increasing yield without being lured by wealth can be a godly goal. Hear then the parable of the sower. What is sown on good soil, is the word of God heard by one who understands its purpose: to bear fruit and produce a yield of thirty, sixty or one hundredfold. What is the lesson of gardening or farming? That success is measured by what comes of our efforts combined with the efforts of God.
Success involves the ability to feed ourselves and also share with others. Success is taking advantage of favorable conditions, not allowing the harvest to go to waste, seizing opportunity, helping family, friends and neighbors do the same.
I know that many of you are involved in these endeavors and can relate to this parable. My question is this: Will you put the same effort into understanding God’s word and growing your faith so that success may be measured likewise to that of sowing seed.
What will come of your efforts combined with the efforts of God during the growing season called your lifetime? Will you continue to read, watch, listen and ask questions in order to perfect the end result? Will you do everything to guard your faith against predators or threats? Will you prepare to receive God’s word and apply it in order that God may see a multiplied return on the investment of your life and the risk of creating humanity?
Had God merely been experimenting with seeds, he may have been satisfied with feeding the birds, seeing what came of sowing them on rocks, among weeds or thorns, but he wasn’t. He wished that evil had not snatched potential away, that obstacles hadn’t caused some to wither, that others were not choked. Therefore, we are invited to listen and do all we can to prepare, apply, water and nurture what God has sown. Let us pray.
God, we love to figure out how to make and grow things. We feel joy and pride at receiving. Help us to feel equal joy and pride at making preparations to be in your kingdom, at establishing it on earth, in applying your desire for every seed sown to yield a harvest. Come to think of it, each seed you sowed held equal potential. Only circumstances dictated their survival. Make those who thrive better at sharing opportunity, knowledge and skill so that people thrive on earth and in heaven. IYHNWP, Amen.