Proper 10 -- Isaiah
55: 1–5, 10-13; Psalm
65: 9-14; Romans 8: 9-17; Matthew 13:
1–9, 18-23
A homily by Fr. Gene
Tucker, given at The
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in Springfield, Illinois on Sunday, July 13, 2014.
“PLANTING GENEROUSLY, REAPING GENEROUSLY”
(Homily text: Matthew 13: 1–9, 18-23)
This
morning, let’s set aside – temporarily – our focus on St. Paul’s wonderful
letter to the early churches in Rome.
Instead,
let’s concentrate our attention on Jesus’ wonderful parable about the sower and
the four types of soil, which we hear in our gospel text for this morning.
This parable is often known by the title “The
Parable of the Sower”.
By way of
introduction, let’s recall a few things about parables in general, and about
this parable in particular.
The first
observation we might make is that parables were a common way of teaching in the
ancient world.
Jesus certainly didn’t
invent this type of instruction, but He used it with uncommon skill.
Even today, the Lord’s parables contain
riches of depth that are waiting to be discovered.
Put another way, the more we dig into Jesus’
parables, the more there is to find and discover in terms of their richness and
meaning for our Christian life today.
It’s also worth noting that this method of teaching remains a common
approach to instruction in the world today.
Secondly,
we ought to remind ourselves of the simple meaning of the word “parable”
itself.
The word comes to us from the
Greek, where it literally means “to place alongside”.
So, a parable (usually) takes a common,
everyday event or experience and places it alongside something else, in order
to instruct its hearers (and readers) about the nature of the other, main
subject.
In the case of the parable
which is before us this morning, Jesus uses an agricultural subject, which
would have been common knowledge to His listeners, to instruct them about the nature
of the Kingdom of God, and the ways in which the spread of that kingdom will
unfold.
(More about that in a moment.)
Then the
third aspect of this particular parable is this one:
We ought to notice that Jesus supplies the
meaning and application of the parable.
Oftentimes, that isn’t the case, for the Lord quite sometimes leaves the
explicit interpretation and application of a parable to us to figure out.
Not so with this parable (nor with the one we
will hear a week from now)….the Lord spells out clearly and distinctly just how
the parable is to be understood.
Now that
the stage is set for us to approach this parable, let’s take a closer look at
it.
Among the
observations we might make, these arise:
1.
The sower is either generous – or careless –
in scattering the seed.
Notice that
Jesus says that the seed fell on some types of ground that wouldn’t be expected
to make a good return on the investment.
2.
The fate of the seed is far from
straightforward.
There will be
challenges to be overcome as the process of planting moves toward the harvest.
3.
The harvest is guaranteed, but only where the
seed (the word) is received and nurtured.
Now, it
would be appropriate for us to turn our attention to the Lord’s application of
the parable.
The first
thing we should notice is that the Lord is (implicitly) the sower of the
seed.
It is Jesus Himself who brings the
Good News (Gospel) of God.
In this
connection, it’s also worth noting that Jesus shared this good news with anyone
and everyone, including a number of types of people who – in the culture of His
time – were thought to be unworthy of hearing or receiving any sort of good
news.
Perhaps we should be more specific
in understanding the statement just made….Jesus deliberately hung out with many
“undesirable” types (by the standards of the time), including tax collectors,
prostitutes, and others who were considered to be “unclean” by the Pharisees
and others who were in authority.
Either the
Lord is being careless in His choice of company, or He is being generous in His
choice of social interaction.
Clearly,
the Lord is being generous.
At one
point, when others criticized His choice of associations, He responded by
saying, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are
sick.”
(Matthew 9: 12)
A bit later, He adds, “For I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners.”
Next, we
should notice that barriers will arise as the seed falls to the ground.
The first
two barriers have to do with hardened or rocky soil, which does not allow the
seed (the word of the kingdom) to be received with sufficient depth to allow
growth to take place, in spite of the difficulties that will most certainly
come along.
In the first instance, Jesus
tells us that some hearts are hardened by outside forces.
In other cases, hearts are hardened simply
because that’s the basic orientation of the inner disposition of those hearts
by nature.
(In the case of these types
of soil, it’s quite possible that the Lord had in mind the spiritual condition
of the Pharisees and others who opposed Him.)
The third
barrier has to do with conditions in the world around us.
Here, the Lord cites the cares of everyday
living, as well as a desire to prosper in material terms, as barriers to mature
spiritual growth.
As we’ve
remarked before, it’s important for us to draw conclusions from our reading of
Holy Scripture, and to make applications to our own lives as we do so.
So what
conclusions and applications might we make from hearing and reading this parable
today?
It’s fair,
I think, to start by saying that the main focus of Jesus’ parable is on the
condition of the soils that the seed comes in contact with.
Certainly, we can’t ignore the fact that the
sower (the Lord) is being generous in spreading the seed, for the Lord’s own
conduct during His earthly ministry demonstrates just such a generosity.
But if the
focus of this parable is on the types of soil, and the resulting harvest (or
lack thereof), then the question comes before us:
“What kind of soil am I?”
If we’re
honest with ourselves, we might admit that, at one point or another in our walk
with God, we’ve exhibited each of these four types of conditions of the
heart.
At one time
or another, our hearts and minds have been hardened by outside forces.
One example this hardening process would be
the inevitable difficulties of life that are a part of daily living.
Sometimes, the challenges of
living, day-by-day, can harden our hearts, if
we do not maintain a close connection to the Lord, offering up the cares of
this world to God in prayer and meditation.
Alas,
however, there are times when our hearts are simply hard, hard as rock.
There are times when our minds are closed to
receiving and harboring God’s word.
But it is
also true that there are times when the cares and occupations of our lives
simply threaten to choke out the proper and central place that God ought to
have in our lives.
I suspect this last
condition is the one most commonly encountered
in the world we live in today….after all, we
live in an age when there are more distractions available to us to dabble in
than ever before.
Many fall prey to
these temptations and distractions.
Focus on the things of God get crowded out, as a result.
But if we
allow the soil of our hearts to be prepared by the Holy Spirit, then God’s word
will find in us a rich and deep home, where the harvest of good works and
devotion to the Lord is guaranteed.
May this
ever be so of us, as we allow the Holy Spirit’s power to enlighten and disclose
the conditions of the heart to be evident in our lives.
AMEN.
