Stories

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
July 16, 2023

10 Proper A

My former parish sat on the edge of the poorest neighborhood in the city.  The neighborhood was not the most crime ridden, although there was certainly plenty of crime, nor was it the most drug infested, although there was certainly an abundance available.  But the neighborhood was the poorest in town.  So every year the church would throw an epic neighborhood fair with free games, prizes, a rummage giveaway, a mobile food pantry, and food.  Lots and lots of food.  Hot dogs, walking tacos, ice cream, cookies, and all sorts of fair food was free for the taking and folks could have as much as they could eat, no questions asked.  The church wanted to be a good neighbor and to create good will in the neighborhood.  While we expected nothing in return, we knew that when the neighbors felt like we cared about them, they cared about us, and the neighborhood was a much better place to be.  And because we engaged the neighbors in conversation and sometimes even in prayer, we were often moved by stories of deep faith in the midst of circumstances more trying and more complex than any of us could imagine. 

I think about the neighborhood fair when I read about the extravagance of the sower this morning.  The sower is just flinging seed around like we were flinging hot dogs and walking tacos, with no thought to whether the ground deserved the seed or not.  The sowers job is simply to sow. 

Jesus’ explanation of the parable is interesting, for the explanation is without judgement.  If someone hears the word and does not understand it, which could be any of us from time to time, the evil one comes and snatches away what is in the heart.  If the word is sown on rocky ground, it does not take root.  If the word is sown among thorns, the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word.  But if the word is sown on good soil, the seed grows and bears fruit.  There is no judgement; just an explanation for why the seed does not grow.

Jesus’ gardening tips, however, are common sense.  Even I, with my 10 green thumbs, know that if you plant seed on rocky ground, or among thorns, or on hard soil, not much will happen.  But rather than tell us to only throw seed on the good soil, the parable tells us to scatter seed everywhere, regardless of what common sense tells us. 

Jesus’ gardening advice is completely consistent with Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus hung out with tax collectors and sinners, and not too many folks of his time would have thought of those people as good soil.  In the passage from Genesis, we hear the story in which Jacob, the younger twin of Esau, cheats Esau out of his birthright as the eldest son.  This cheat is the one through whom God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah will be carried.  We do not get to decide which ground is good and which ground is not good because our ways are not God’s ways.  Perhaps God is a bit skeptical about our ability to discern God’s thoughts about which ground is good and which is not, so God would prefer that we just scatter seed and let God do the rest.  And, of course, the parable calls us to think about what kind of soil we are as individuals and as a church.  Do we have deep roots that get us through hard times, or shallow roots that leave us with little endurance?  Do the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke out our faith or are we soil that bears much fruit? 

          However, I think there is more going on in this parable.  The sower throws seed all over the place with no thought to where it lands, and Jesus never criticizes the sower for doing so.  But I wonder, and this is a wonder, why the ground is so hard that the seed will not take, or why there are so many thorns, or where all those rocks came from.  I wonder if the parable calls us to think about what we can do to loosen the dirt, or pull up the thorns, or remove the rocks so that the seed can take root.  I wonder if Jesus is also calling us to prepare the ground as extravagantly as we are to sow seed so that more of the seed does take.

Our first thought can easily be to serve those in need, that by providing people with food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care, we can improve the soil.  While those things are extremely important, I know from serving in a very poor neighborhood that many people who live in poverty already have very deep faith.  The people I met at the neighborhood fair year after year know that they have not much other than God to rely on and their faith is humbling to those of us who have plenty.  I know of their faith because they shared their stories with me in ways that moved my heart and strengthened my own faith.  I wonder if the way we prepare soil, the way we break up hard ground, pull thorns, and move rocks is to be willing to tell our own stories, to share our own faith in ways that others can hear.  Perhaps the seeds we are called to spread so extravagantly without thought to where they land are the words of our own stories of how our faith has gotten us through hard times, or shaped our values, or made a difference in our own lives in other ways.  Stories change lives.  Jesus tells us that the seed is the word of the kingdom, which is a story.  Jesus calls us to be like the sower, spread seed and tell the story with extravagance, and see what happens.

                                                                                      Amen.