First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-13
10“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11so 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 shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Psalm 65:1-14
1You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; to you shall vows be performed in Jerusalem. 2To you that hear prayer shall all flesh come, because of their transgressions. 3Our sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot them out. 4Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there! they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple. 5Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of our salvation, O Hope of all the ends of the earth and of the seas that are far away. 6You make fast the mountains by your power; they are girded about with might. 7You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the clamor of the peoples. 8Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous signs; you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy. 9You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; the river of God is full of water. 10You prepare the grain, for so you provide for the earth. 11You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase. 12You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths overflow with plenty. 13May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing, and the hills be clothed with joy. 14May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; let them shout for joy and sing.
Second Reading: Romans 8:12-17
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, 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 produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9He who has ears, let him hear.” 18{Jesus said to the disciples,} “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 has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along 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 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. 22As 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. 23As 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.”
The Sower and the Seed
After hearing the First and Gospel lessons for today, there’s little doubt that the central focus for these readings is how the gospel is spread and the effect it has on the hearers. The Kingdom of God was a main focus of Jesus’ ministry, but defining precisely what the Kingdom was is sometimes a bit more difficult. Indeed, even Jesus Himself was, at times, elusive about it. He didn’t always speak in absolutes; rather, He often chose to teach in parables. Such is our gospel text for this morning.
The parable of the Sower and the Seed is a story we’re very familiar with. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a farmer going out and spreading seed. Some of the seed fell on hard ground and was unable to take root. Some of it fell on shallow ground, and although it initially sprouted, the plants soon withered away. Some seed fell among thorns and although the seeds sprout, the weeds choke out the plants and they died. But some of the seed fell on fertile, well-prepared ground, and the result was a harvest many times the amount of seed spread.
In this parable, there’s little doubt that the sower is God, the seed is the message of the Kingdom, and the various types of soil represent the people who hear the gospel. One of the things I like about this story is that Jesus reveals to us something about the generosity of God. On the surface, it doesn’t sound as though God is a very frugal farmer. As you read this story it becomes evident that most of the seed being scattered, was scattered in areas that the seed had little chance of taking root or growing to maturity. But God sows generously anyway. And while this is a wonderful glimpse into God’s charity, this isn’t really a story about the sower or the seed. Jesus’ main focus for this parable is the different types of soil, or to put it another way, the responses of various types of people to the message of the Kingdom. So, the question is, what is the state of our hearts when the seeds of the gospel are sown within us? With that question in mind, we need to take a moment and examine the various conditions of the heart mentioned in this story.
The first condition of the heart Jesus illustrates is perhaps the most common: a hardened heart. Jesus painted a picture of soil that had become packed down under the feet of men. This was hard soil where seed had no chance of taking root and the birds simply came along and ate it up. It’s easy to become hardened in life. And while we cannot deny that things like pride, self-centeredness, and greed can harden one to the reception of God’s word, I think that our culture and even our political views also contribute to people becoming hard-hearted.
It’s easy to become hardened when you watch the nightly news or read the current events in our favorite news source. Think about how hardened we’ve become. We can be eating a meal while watching television or snacking on popcorn and candy watching a movie, and we can see dead, charred, and mutilated bodies, and we don’t even stop eating. We see news of teenagers killing each other over personal electronics, of mass shootings, terrible car crashes, or the effects of war, and we seldom find ourselves repulsed; off put perhaps, but overall, we simply go on with our lives. Maybe it’s because we’ve seen it all before. Wars, looting, rioting, and general violence on TV, in the movies, and even in electronic entertainment, all have, in many ways, desensitized us to the point that we’re hard crusted, just like the soil in Jesus’ story.
When we hear this part of the parable, we can’t dismiss it by simply concluding, “Well, this is a reference to some old reprobate, or some hardened criminal.” The truth is, we can all fall prey to developing a calloused outlook. And the seed of the gospel cannot take root in the hardened heart. Each of us knows people like this. Show a noble goal to a skeptic and they’ll look for a hidden agenda. Offer the scoffer a compliment and they’ll suspect manipulation. Offer up an idea and the doubter will tell you: we’ve tried it; it’ll never work. The gospel cannot take root in that environment. Something must first break up that hard-crusted top layer. A plough is needed to penetrate hard soil and turn over that soil and find the good soil below.
This hardened condition even happens in Christian charity agencies. People will come in and ask for assistance, and they’ll inevitably say two things. First, this isn’t a normal situation for them and second, they all say: “I’ll pay you back.” The problem many charitable organizations face is, far too many are running scams, or the requester is in the situation they’re in because of poor decisions. And we cannot ignore the fact that substance abuse is a real problem. Additionally, some who prey on charitable agencies go from one to another taking advantage of the programs. When helping out at these agencies, it’s hard not to become cynical. It’s hard not to suspect everyone of being a crook. With the proliferation of social media, people can learn how to manipulate the system for their advantage. Even for the kind-hearted, it’s hard not to become cynical. We must acknowledge that the seeds of the gospel sown on hard soil have little chance of ever coming to fruition. But the situation isn’t hopeless, and God knows this. How often do we find grass growing in the cracks of a sidewalk? Next Jesus addresses the seeds that fell among the rocks.
Jesus continues the parable by saying that some of the seed fell on rocky ground; rocky ground, of course, doesn’t have a great deal of viable soil. And because of the lack of worthwhile dirt, the seed will quickly sprout, but since there is no depth, the young plants soon wither away. Again, we all know people like this. These are the folks with commitment issues, those who’s enthusiasm for the gospel fades fast. These are the enthusiastic who find it hard to follow through. The message of the kingdom seems at first to have meaning, but then when the cost of following Jesus is realized, they hesitate to put forth the effort. These are the people who want the benefits of the Kingdom but refuse to acknowledge or pay the price of discipleship. This too is a very common condition of the heart.
These are the people who want eternity in heaven but want the pleasures and material things of this world more. These are the people who seek wealth, power, and prestige and are willing to find ways to cheat the system. These are the folks that live by the adage, “it ain’t wrong if you don’t get caught.” These people place sin in categories like inconsequential, little, big, and unforgiveable. Inconsequential sins aren’t really sins, and little sins like white lies don’t count, and when it comes to fudging the numbers, well everyone does that. The shallow soil people forward that as long as someone doesn’t get hurt then God doesn’t care. These are the people who say, “God has much bigger fish to fry, things like murder, rape, and child exploitation, so the little indiscretions in my life are of no consequence. These are the people who want the gain of eternal life, but don’t want the cost associated with discipleship.
The problem is, there are far too many people in our churches like this today. The shallow soil people are those who seem enthusiastic about the mission of the church and they might even show up for an event or two, but before long, something else comes up and church and the commitments made fall to the wayside. The reality of the cost of following Jesus becomes real, and enthusiasm wanes. The result is that the seed of the Kingdom of God never comes to fruition. Again, hope is not lost, and God continues to sow generously. The next group of people Jesus addresses is those who allow the distractions of this world to overcome the message.
Jesus explained that some seed fell in thick briar patches that eventually choked out the plant. Jesus went on to explain that the briar patches in life are worry and wealth, and that either can distract the heart. I think we all understand the basic principle of the deceitfulness of wealth. I like the story of the rich man who lived a miserable life. He visited a rabbi to talk about his depression. The rabbi took the rich man and led him to a window. “Look out there,” he said. The rich man looked into the street, “What do you see?” asked the rabbi. “I see men, women, and children,” answered the rich man. Again, the rabbi took him and led him to a mirror. “Now what do you see?” “Now I see myself,” the rich man replied.
Then the rabbi said, “Behold, in the window there is a glass, and in the mirror there is a glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, and you see only yourself.” We all understand how wealth can blind us from the world around us. But you know what our problem is. We suffer from junk overload. It isn’t that we’re necessarily doing bad things. In fact, most of us are doing good things, so called “Christian” things. The problem is that when these good and wholesome things crowd out the message of the gospel, then they can become a stumbling block and a snare.
The weeds and the briars of busyness can choke out the kingdom of God within us. Our self-imposed schedules can prevent us from setting aside time for Biblical reflection and prayer. The hustle and bustle of life tells us that we have no time for spiritual enrichment and worship. Why? Because the ground is covered with weeds, because we’re busy, because we’re worried this or that won’t get done and that other priorities won’t be resolved. Not many of us are wealthy in terms of the top 2%, but far too many of us are distracted by the cares of this life and we worry incessantly.
Worry has the same power as wealth to crowd out the more important things of life. Jesus understood this and He saw it as in impediment to the Kingdom. The result is that the cares of this world can prevent the seed of the Kingdom of God from ever coming to fruition. This is why the story of Mary and Martha is important. Mary prioritized Jesus’ teaching over worldly cares and Jesus commended her for this. Martha had done just the opposite. Her focus was on worldly things and Jesus gently corrected her for this. We know that both are important, it’s about priorities. Again, the situation isn’t hopeless, God can apply weed killer, so God continues to sow generously. Finally, we get to the good news in this parable. Some of the seed being scattered fell on good soil.
Jesus concludes this story by saying that some of the seed fell on a fourth kind of soil: good fertile soil. And in season a great harvest came forth and produced fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and even a hundredfold. It’s noteworthy that Jesus mentions this category last. It’s last because it’s the emphasis of the story. Sure, we experience failures, we’re still sinful creatures that struggle against sin, death, and the devil, but the good news is that in Christ there is also victory. Jesus explained that this last example was meant to be the person who hears the word of God and acts accordingly.
Some years ago, CBS ran a Sunday morning show called “On the Road with Charles Karault.” Many of you remember the human-interest stories featured on the show. Charles Karault, who happened to be an ordained minister, drove around the country finding enjoyable stories about people. In the very first episode he returned to Stanton, Virginia where 12 years earlier he happened upon a beautiful roadside park. He stopped to discover that behind it was fifty acres of what he called the most beautiful park he had ever seen in America. There were winding paths with tulips that were neatly kept, and in between the scores of large oak trees were literally hundreds of azalea bushes and ferns of all sizes and kinds. As he walked through this park, he said that he began to wonder about the battalion size maintenance crew that must have been hired to keep it up. Much to his surprise he discovered that it was the work of just one man—an 83-year-old man.
The gentleman owned a nursery in Stanton. His parents had raised him to believe that if you don’t leave this earth a slightly better place than when you came into it, what is the purpose for your having been here. So, this park was his gift to life. He had worked on it for more than twenty years. But since he was a widower and had no children, Charles Karault asked him, “what will become of your lovely park when you’re gone?” He said, “I’m afraid, the weeds and the thorns will come into it and take it over.”
Anyway, here it was twelve years later and for the first story for his new program Charles Karualt decided to go back to Stanton and see just what had happened to that park. He knew that the old gentleman died four years after they had taped the original story. Someone had sent him a news clipping. He wondered as he drove down the road, had the weeds and thorns indeed taken over the garden. Much to his surprise and delight, he discovered that the garden was intact and more beautiful than ever. What had happened?
A few months after he’d filmed the original story, a Korean lady drove by and stopped at the park. She too was met by the kindly old man. She said that she didn’t really want to go through the entire garden, but he insisted. A few weeks later, after she had returned to her home on the West Coast, the gentleman called her and pleaded with her to come and live in the guesthouse. He told her that when he was gone, he wanted the garden to be hers. The idea appealed to her, and she moved into the guest house. As she stood there with Charles Karualt explaining her story she said, next to my mother, no person in life ever showed so much love to me as did the old gentleman.
Charles Karault closed the show by saying that he was pleased to know that weeds and thorns had not taken over this lovely garden. He concluded by saying, where the seed of love is plated only good fruit comes forth. In today’s parable Jesus identifies four kinds of soil, four ways to receive the gospel. You and I are invited to examine the soil of our hearts. When the seeds of the kingdom are sewn, on what do they fall?
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He asked the question, “Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them (Matthew 7:16-20). The seeds of righteousness that God sows cannot thrive in bad soil. But the seeds of the kingdom sown in the good and fertile soil will yield a harvest thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and even one hundredfold.
Amen