The Rev. Robert Lundquist           VIII after Pentecost     7/3/05        St Paul’s, Ft Collins

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23   - Online Text -

Do you know how to tell when you’re hearing a parable?  You find yourself scratching your head, trying to puzzle it out.  A parable makes you think, it may even confuse you.  Today’s Gospel lesson is probably one of the most puzzling.  What are we to make of the Parable of the Sower?

Some suggest that this is actually the parable of the soil – it’s the soil that differs from example to example.  Scholars suggest that the second telling (v. 18-23) is actually an allegory, an explanation of each of the scenarios given by Jesus.  This may have been added when the Gospel of Matthew was recorded some 60 years later, by someone who was trying themselves to explain the parable.  While I’m not proposing that we excise this part from our Bibles, I think it best to set to one side today.  It just doesn’t sound like the Jesus who tells his disciples to “tell no one” what they had seen, and who rarely explains himself.

I always look at the ways I can fit myself into a parable.  Which character speaks for, and to, me?  In today’s story I see 3 perspectives – the Sower, the Seed and the Soil.

Sower

Back in the 1970’s I worked at a summer church camp in Virginia.  For 2 years I was the Camping Director, the senior staff member who took all 270 kids, in groups of 18, on an overnight camping trip.  In later years as I would return in other capacities I was greeted by former campers, now older and bigger, asking, “Do you remember me?”  Many of you know I’m better at faces than names, so these impromptu reunions were tough on me.  I remember one young man, though, who wanted to tell me something important rather than quizzing me.  “I wanted to make a point of speaking with you,” he said.  “You changed my life.”  How in the world had I had that kind of impact on this former camper?  “You taught me how to build a fire.  And that was the beginning of my self-confidence and self-realization.  Suddenly I could take care of myself in the woods, I wasn’t afraid of getting cold and wet.  I grew to love camping, and my confidence spilled over into the rest of my life.  And a big part of that was you teaching me how to build a fire.”

What a gift to me, to learn that my small action had had great significance in the life of another.  A seed sown, one among hundreds in my summer camp days.  We all sow seeds, whether we realize it or not.  Mind you, Jesus is not giving particularly good gardening advice!  We take our important seeds and lay them carefully in furrows, with care to water and nurture them, don’t we?  Jesus’ concern, though, is with the sowers effectiveness in distributing the seeds quickly and widely.  He has no interest in complications or excuses.  He says, in effect, “The task of sowing is worth the doing.”

It’s important to realize that the outcome of the task of sowing is God’s responsibility.  The sower’s job is to sow, not to make grow.  Our job is to sow without considering the cost or the success of our task.  In this and in all things, we are called to be faithful rather than successful.  The values of our world tell us otherwise, but Jesus calls us to faithfulness over success.  It’s about the ministry.  You were made a minister at your baptism.  The question is not whether or not you’re a minister, the question is, how effective are you?

Seed

Nature is lavish, careless and wasteful.  Look around you – and consider the dandelion.  The ones in my yard grow up faster than I can pull them.  And if just one goes to seed, the entire lawn is re-infested!  Each of those floating white spores certainly bears 100-fold!

Jesus applies this observation to the spiritual realm.  Through his life and teaching he seems to say, “Give, care and love lavishly.”  Don’t hold back.  You know, Paul reminds us today that we are heirs of God’s kingdom – we can afford to be generous!  What will your life look like when you truly live as an heir to God’s kingdom?  Over-the-top generosity would be one of the things I’d look for…

Now not every seed yield 100-fold.  Some yield 60- and some 30-fold – and that’s OK, says the parable.  The truth is that each seed seeks fertile soil and good growth.  The Good News and stories of God’s love are sown everywhere, every day.  Perhaps we might say that each day is a seed.  Some days prosper, some die.  Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you.  How happy we are for the fruitful days, the fulfilling mountain-top experiences blessed with unique gifts and unique joys.

Soil

What kind of ground am I?  Stony, hard?

What stones are in the soil of my soul?  Old fears, inhibitions, resentments and lingering guilt?

So what am I (with God’s help) going to do about it?

What are the thorns that choke God’s activity in my life?  Habits, routines, baggage?

What keeps the Good News on a superficial level and keeps it from germinating, spreading and   bearing fruit?

Am I majoring in the minors and sweating the small stuff?  Am I overcommitted and overexposed?

Or am I just lazy?

What kind of soil do we provide, St Paul’s?

Are we warm and well-watered?  Or are we cold, hard and dry?

How can we be more hospitable to each other and to God’s guests in our midst?

Today’s Gospel lesson is the first of three in a row about seeds and about growing.  And as we begin our time together as priest and people, these are important themes to keep on the front burner.  Here are three of the perspectives I bring with me:

• The Church of Jesus Christ is to be about celebration, not survival.  We are to be about mission, not maintenance.  Surviving is nothing to brag about – thriving is.  I hear my fellow clergy say things like, “We’re barely hanging on, just surviving.”  That hardly gives glory to God.  Who wants to go to a church that’s “surviving”?  Now I’m not scolding, I don’t hear this talk around here too much.  But I do hear the close cousin:  “We can’t afford it.”  Much better to say, “How can we make it happen?”

• In a purely business model one might look at St Paul’s and say, “Well, they have a staff of 1 full-time and 6 part-time personnel, and 300 customers.”  Maybe I’m odd, but if someone asks me, I’ll tell them, “We have a staff of 300 and a potential client base of 200,000.”  You see, we exist for those who are not members (according to an Anglican archbishop).  Our mission field is the Fort Collins area, and we are part of the Body of Christ.  Take a look at your bulletin cover – it says, “The People of St Paul’s, Ministers.”  You’re not looking at the minister right now – look around you, and look in the mirror. 

• What is one of my main tasks as your Priest-in-Charge, in my view?  To get out of the way of people doing ministry!  I’m called to tend the soil, to keep it ready for creativity and generativity.  I’m not here primarily to give orders and stand in the spotlight – I’m here to get out of your way in you carrying out your ministries.

In the parable, the sower creates a harvest despite the wastefulness of the sowing.  As you proclaim God’s love, the harvest will be rich, though you may never see it.  Remember, the seeds are good.  So sow freely, bloom where you are planted, and clear the obstacles to growth in and around you.  “Let anyone with ears listen!                              AMEN