Proper 10 :: Isaiah 55: 10–12 / Psalm 119:
105–112 / Romans 8: 1–11 / Matthew 13: 1–9, 18–23
This is the homily given at St. John’s,
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, July 12, 2020.
“WHY IS IT?”
(Homily
text: Matthew 13: 1–9, 18–23)
Giving a
gift and receiving one can be a tricky business, especially in the age in which
we live. For example, advertisers sometimes offer “free gifts” that have
strings attached (often hidden ones). In a similar way, there’s often an
expectation that the receiver of a gift will have to devote a significant
amount of time and effort to the receiving of the gift: People may reject the
gift because they’re too busy to do whatever steps are involved in being
qualified to receive it (that’s one of the examples Jesus uses in His Parable
of the Sower).
Jesus’
parable addresses a question that has been on the minds of Christian believers
down through time: Why is it that some people accept the Good News (Gospel) of
what God has done in sending Jesus Christ among us, while others reject this
wonderful, free gift?
There may
be little doubt that the early Christians to whom Matthew was writing had
encountered situations in which people rejected the Good News. And yet, others
had accepted it. Why?
Our Lord
seems to be providing us with some of the explanations for the various responses
that those early Christians had experienced.
The
circumstances of the hearers and potential receivers of the Good News reflect
the situation of the early Church with which Matthew was active: Most
certainly, there were those who had accepted the gift of God in Christ, only to
fall away when hardships arose. There were others who also accepted the gift,
but who then fell away because of the pursuits (and attractions) of life, which
crowded out their relationship with the Lord. Still others seemed to be in the
clutches of the evil one to such an extent that that seed of the Gospel had
virtually no chance to germinate.
But then,
there were those who had accepted the call of Christ, those who had grown in
the faith, and who were bearing good fruit for the kingdom.
It’s a
healthy thing to remember what our lives as Christian believers were like
before we came to harbor a lively, intense and intimate relationship with the
Lord. Reflecting on our past deepens our appreciation for the difference that
our Christian walk makes in life. Or, if we haven’t had a markedly different
life before coming to faith, perhaps we can imagine what our lives might have
been like, absent God’s free gift of faith in Christ.
Another
good thing about such a reflection is the realization that any one of us is
still capable of having some of the various soil conditions our Lord describes
in the parable after we’ve come to faith. Are we capable of being lured away
from our relationship with the Lord because of the cares and occupations of our
lives? “Yes”, the answer must surely be. Or, are we susceptible to the
attractions (and distractions) of the world, which can capture our time,
imagination and energies? Again, “yes” must be the answer.
God’s
freely given grace (defined as God’s “unmerited and unearned favor towards us)
not only prepares the soil of our hearts to receive His truth, but God’s freely
given grace allows for us to provide a suitable environment for growing that
truth. And, God’s continuing gift enables us to cultivate the soil of our
hearts, again and again, so that we may present to the Lord good and fruitful
soil. AMEN.
