The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost --- 13 July 2014

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!"

18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When 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. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet 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. 22 As 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. 23 But 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." 

But 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.

• I took the liberty of looking over old sermons in preparing this one. Now there is a very good chance that no-one here – including myself – would remember what I preached on three or six years ago. Still it didn't want to go over old ground again and again, although there's always some virtue in further reminders of the Gospel. Nonetheless, I wanted to find a something new to say.
• In Jesus' preaching, he used figures and examples that would be commonly understood by his listeners. Since farming was such a common occupation, agricultural examples would make a lot of sense to just about everybody.
• The examples used in this parable – of the seed falling on different types of ground – would make sense to all the listeners. They might chuckle a bit at the image of the farmer tossing seed on the foot path, on the rocks, and in the weed-choked ditches, since no good farmer would waste seed on places where obviously nothing would grow. They would get the message.
• At the end of the story as it was told to the crowd, we hear of the yield of the grain. The yield is tremendous, 30, 60, or 100-fold. Surely no one would turn that down!
• The yield varies in each harvest and with each plant, but the yield is there.
• Now we know that Jesus is not giving a lecture on farming and how to increase the harvest. He is talking about the Kingdom of God and discipleship. When the Word of God is sown, some will hear the Good News and some will not. This is where what looks like wasted seed comes in; the Great Sower does not give up. He continues to sow the seed of the Gospel over and over again, even on ground that does not appear to be hospitable to the Word.
• What does the prophet Isaiah say? “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” What looks like us to be failure might be for God a further preparation of the ground. This will only be known at harvest-time... and it will probably surprise everyone.
• As to the harvest, Jesus says in the parable that the seed that lands on the good soil will bear fruit and that the yield might vary. There is a reminder for us in this.
• As much as we might try to do otherwise, we compare ourselves to others. We do it in so many areas of our lives – financially, socially, athletically, scholastically, you name it. We also do it spiritually.
• We say to ourselves “I'll never be a saint, so there's no sense in trying. I'm all I'll ever be. That's just how it is.”
• Truth to tell, none of us here might be preachers like Peter or Paul or Luther. We might not be great theologians like Karl Barth or Philip Melanchthon. We might not be great missionaries like the apostles.
• However, we are Christians just like all of those people I've mentioned. We have received the gift of God's saving grace just as they have. We have each received gifts of the Holy Spirit and have probably been given gifts we are not even aware of.
• Now for the hard part. It is very hard to break ourselves of the very human habit of comparing ourselves and our lives to others. As was said earlier, we do this in so many areas of our lives. Using the figure of the harvest from our Gospel parable, the reaping of the harvest is what is important and each will bear fruit as they will. It does not appear to upset the sower in the parable that there are different yields for the different plants. The fact that they bear fruit at all is far more important. Applying this to our own lives, None of us are expected to be like any other. Each of us who hear the Gospel and “understand” it will bear fruit according to our own ways and our own style, our own abilities and our own graces.
• There is an old saying: “Grow where you are planted.” A deeper relationship with our Father is possible no matter where we find ourselves because it is grace that give the growth. Both the Word and the “good soil” are grace-filled. This is far more important than what we think of our spiritual surroundings.
• There is a final note – the sower keeps sowing, day by day, year by year, life by life. No matter where the seed falls at first, he continues to sow. Each of those types of soil could easily be taken as symbols for part of our own lives as well as different types of people. It is the persistence of God's grace that will ultimately make all the difference. In time, the rocks may be moved or broken up and good soil exposed. In time, the footpath may be abandoned and become a garden. In time, the weeds may be removed or a stronger seed might be sown. All that is up to our gracious God – who never gives up.