Faithful Sowing

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

July 12, 2020

10 Proper A

          For many years while I was in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, I served on the Commission on Congregational Life.  The commission was tasked with nurturing congregations that were struggling either with numbers, budgets, or relationships and helping those congregations become healthy and strong whatever their size.  The other work of the commission was to plant new churches.  We would study demographics, find places where an Episcopal Church was most likely to succeed, recruit a church planter, and do the work of growing a church from the ground up.  Some church plants were spectacularly successful, and some lasted only a few years and were closed.  But in those that succeeded, new people were reached with the good news of Jesus and a gospel difference was made in the communities around them.

          Those church plants that succeeded seem to be exactly what Jesus is talking about this morning when he says that seed planted on good soil would bring forth grain many times over.  Jesus is talking to a great crowd of people that has gathered when he says “A sower went out to sow” and gives us the parable known as the parable of the sower, or the parable of the good soil.  As Jesus told the parable, describing seed that was scattered on a path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and on good soil, I wonder what the crowds were thinking.  Were the people wondering what kind of soil they were? What kind of soil their neighbor might be?  Then Jesus explains the parable.  The seed is the word of the Kingdom of God.  When sown, some will not understand, and some will have an initial burst of enthusiasm which will soon die away for lack of deep root.  Some will receive the Word but that Word will be choked out by the thorns of the cares of the world.  And others will hear the word and understand it, bearing an abundant harvest of fruit.

          This parable probably made a lot of sense to those listening.  Those who were not engaged in the business of fishing were likely engaged in agriculture and knew quite well the need to plant in good soil.  Those listening probably wondered how their lives could be good soil so that Jesus’ message could grow in them and bear fruit.  The parable makes sense.

          The problem is that this understanding of the parable is common sense and Jesus is not a common sense savior.  Whenever Jesus seems to be offering common sense advice, we are called to listen more deeply.  In fact, Jesus himself calls us to listen more deeply when he says “Let anyone with ears listen.”  This is our clue that perhaps the parable does not mean what one might think.

          What farmer is actually going to waste good seed on ground that will obviously produce nothing?  No farmer is going to deliberately sow seed on rocky ground, on packed dirt, or among thorns.  That would be wasteful.  But this sower does.  And Jesus never criticizes the sower for doing so.  In the gospel economy, what looks wasteful is actually God’s extravagance. So, in God’s economy, the Word of the Kingdom, which is the message of God’s extravagant love, is to be sown without regard for where the seed might land, whether the seed will grow there or produce much fruit.  God’s economy is about abundance and there is no need to be picky about where we sow the seeds of gospel love or make assumptions about whether our sowing will do any good or not.  But Jesus is telling us that the seeds of the gospel are not going to grow everywhere.  That is just a fact.  But we don’t get to decide where the good soil is.  The good soil will be revealed by the fruit that is produced.

          In the reading from Genesis, we hear of the birth of twins to Isaac and Rebekah.  Esau and Jacob are as different as they can be.  Esau is a skillful hunter and Jacob is a quiet man living in tents.  Esau is the elder by mere moments and thus holds the birthright of the eldest son.  Jacob is jealous of Esau’s birthright and so he takes advantage of Esau’s hunger when Esau comes in from a day of hunting and is famished.  Jacob buys Esau’s birthright from him then serves him some bread and lentil stew.  Jacob becomes the heir of Isaac, which means not only does Jacob inherit his father’s property, but Jacob is also the heir to the promise to Abraham that his descendants will number the stars of the sky.  So, basically, a jealous brother who is a thief and a cheat is the person God will use to move the story of God’s extravagant love forward.  Is that where one would think to sow the seed that is the story of the salvation of God’s people?  Probably not.  Jacob looks to the naked eye more like thorns or rocky ground.  But in God’s economy, Jacob becomes good soil that bears fruit many times over. 

          The parable of the sower is a parable about extravagantly flinging the abundant seed of gospel love as far and wide and covering as much territory as possible, not worrying about whether the seed falls on good ground or not.  We may be very surprised where the seed takes root and where the seed does not.  We sow the seeds of gospel love in all kinds of ways.   Thanking the weary cashier at the grocery store by name may just give her the energy to be kind and gracious to the grumpy shopper who follows, who may go home  less grumpy.  We know that anonymous acts of kindness and generosity encourage the generosity of others.   Words of encouragement in this stressful time help others give encouragement.  A phone call, email or note to someone who might be feeling isolated may help that person reach out to others. And sharing how our faith and our church matter to us in this difficult time could help another person find faith.  The list of possible ways to sow is endless.  The parable of the sower is about faithful sowing even when we know that not all seeds will bear fruit.  The parable of the sower calls us to spread the abundant seeds of gospel love lavishly and let ourselves be surprised where the fruit grows.

                                                                             Amen.