Summertime brings many things other than the heat. For instance, Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, is currently being played. Tarpon season is still at its peak. And for the last several Sundays, summertime has brought us the parables of Jesus. In the Greek, para means beside, and ballo means to cast or throw. So parable, in a fundamental sense, means to cast besides. A “parable” is an illustrative story, by which a familiar idea is cast beside an unfamiliar idea, in such a way that the comparison helps us to better understand the unfamiliar idea.
The focus of a parable is on God’s activity working in the world, that needs to be understood in a new way. In using parables, Jesus wants to transform our hearts and minds. Jesus challenges us through his parables to enter into a new relationship with God that will change how we see and relate to others.
To understand a parable, you don’t have to go to the best theological seminary in the country, that is: Nashotah House Theological Seminary. (Obviously, the best school is Yale Divinity school, however, Father Robinson made me revise my sermon.) Nevertheless, those who have the right disposition understand its meaning, whether they are highly educated or untrained in Biblical hermeneutics.
The Parable of the Sower is, as the name implies, really about the Sower. This story is a description of our God. For a farmer wouldn’t just fling seed all down the road, on paths, rocky ground or thorns. Because God is the sower, he does so anyway. God spreads his love with reckless abandon upon us, that may be on one, or all four types of soil. If we think we are on the wrong path, on rocky soil or full of weeds; that there is no hope for us? We are wrong, however, in our world today. We see the rotten harvest that Jesus addresses. We see radical religious groups who kill or do horrendous evils in the name of God, because they do not understand the word. Or, those on rocky ground who have no foundation, and when times get hard, when pain, hardship, or suffering occurs, they curse God rather than cry out, rather than turn to him in their hour of utmost need. And lastly, those among thorns, who battle with the desires of this world, who battle with addictions such as: alcohol, drugs, eating disorders, body image, gambling, pornography, excessive work, the pursuit of wealth, gossip, or even place value on a person’s skin pigmentation rather than on his or her character.
My point is, each of us may have, or has had, soil in our hearts that at times didn’t produce fruit, that at times we regretted something; were not God focused. When God is not at our core, rotten fruit may sprout up because seeds bear fruit only when they can find proper nourishment. The proper nourishment in this parable is God. The more God is at the center of our life the more we can grow in love of him and produce fruit.
And here comes the twist in the parable.
The farmer’s effort seems to have been in vain. For he has tried three times, and three times failed. However, the farmer continues to try, and finally, some seeds fall on good soil. And these seeds produce an abundant yield. God continues to throw seeds at us. He pours out his love upon us relentlessly. And when he finds even the smallest patch of good soil in our hearts, he nurtures the Kingdom within us, producing an abundant harvest: 30, 60, even 100-fold. This parable is about God and his wildly extravagant love for us.
I have seen and heard of the fruit that Jesus talks about from this parish family. There was a man with an IQ of 70, that worked as a dishwasher, saved for three months to see a doctor of this parish, and when that man went to the doctor, and told his story of how he saved for three months, how people had stolen from him, and the challenge it was to save, the doctor only charged that man a dollar for his services. So that the man could say, I paid, I gave something. I have seen the outreach of this church, in particular, going to the Dominican Republic and painting houses, and being present in the lives of the poor. I have seen a family of this church take in a young man who had no room at his parents’ house, and needed a place to stay for the summer. I am eagerly awaiting the Day 4 Hope, an amazing program that will provide for 250 at risk children. And I have had the opportunity to stay with a generous family who have opened their home to me.
In the account of the Gospel, we see Jesus throwing seeds at the disciples who over, and over, and over again prove that they have hard hearts, stiff necks, and dim minds. But he continues to work with them and continues to help them see what God is up to in the world around them. He scatters the seed of the Gospel with wild prodigality, and even when it is clear that his disciples just don’t get it, when they turn him over to the authorities, abandon him in his hour of need, and deny even knowing him, Jesus continues to pour out his love for them and always invites them back into relationship with him. For he even cried out while in excruciating pain, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
If we are to be part of God’s kingdom, it calls for a radical change in our lives. If we have bad soil in our hearts, then we must turn back to God. We show again and again why we need forgiveness. However, we forget again and again to give it. The desired fruit is the intended produce of our existence and is the vision that God has for humanity, so, we must turn over our soil and let God’s seeds take root because God loves each of us, as if, there were only, one of us. Amen.
(Matthew 13:1-9,18-23)
Sermon preached by Seminarian Landon Moore
Summer Intern
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
6th Sunday after Pentecost
16 July 2017