Pentecost 5

July 29, 2014 in Sermon by R0s3m@ry

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” 

I was reading the current issue of The Lutheran magazine and noted with interest the article about the Gospel cruise. Seems a church in Wisconsin has a yacht they take out each week and have church while they cruise the lakes. I like the idea. Perhaps we should investigate doing something like that here. After all there is biblical precedent. It was Jesus himself who got into a boat in order to teach the crowd. And what he taught is most interesting. Using parables he taught them about the word of God. Now I’m no farmer but I’ve got to believe throwing seed all over the place is not how you plant. I mean come on; can you not keep the seed off the road, out of the rocks, and away from the bushes? How hard can it be to throw the seed in the field? Nevertheless, Jesus paints a word picture of a farmer who just slings that stuff all over the place. Now some interesting things happen to this seed. The seed that landed on the road became bird food. The seed that landed among the rocks sprouted but it was weak so eventually the heat killed it. The seed that landed in the briars also sprouted but was choked out by the weeds. Of course the seed that landed in the good soil sprouted and produced much grain. Now here’s the question, which seed are you? We naturally want to say the seed that fell in the good soil but is that true? Granted there are times when we are like a seed in good soil. Everything is clicking, this word of God business all makes sense, we get it and life is grand. Yet, I suspect there are other times when things aren’t so clear for us. Bills mount, children mess up, bosses become tyrants, doctors deliver bad news, people die or even the opposite, bank accounts increase, more stuff is accumulated, new relationships develop, on and on it goes and before you know it in both good and bad cases the word of God is but an echo, weak and distant, choked out by the concerns, pains and joys of life. There are times when faith seems so strong but a barrage of doubts and questions knocks us down until we don’t know if we believe all this stuff or not. And then there are times when the fact is we don’t believe and we don’t understand this word of God thing. 

So actually my question was misleading. We are not one type of seed but all four of them. Now being the original sinners that we are we don’t really see this as a problem just a challenge to be overcome. Avoid the road, the rocks, and the briars, get yourself in the field and all will go well for you. Well how do you do that? With that question come the long lists of ways to ensure you are right with God. We launch out on a quest to land in good soil and as with all attempts to be made right with God by works of the law we fail. In our efforts we can never know for sure we’ve done it. Some days, most days but then what about those other days? We can’t help it. Guilt, doubts, fears, and death and all the rest are uncontrollable. So what in the world is a seed supposed to do? Well listen and understand! This parable is more about the sower than the seed. God just flings his word all over the place. He doesn’t wait for us to move off the road, out of the rocks and briars, and get in his line of sight. That is why he is throwing it in all the wrong places because that is where we are. And this is the thing about God’s word; it comes with a promise. “My word goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it” Isaiah preached. So here we are on the road, in the rocks, among the thorns and in the field waiting on a word from God that is guaranteed to work by none other than almighty God. Thanks be to God he is still just flinging his word all over the place and no matter where you find yourself this morning his word is for you. You are forgiven unconditionally by the Father for Jesus’ sake. 

You are in Christ Jesus put there at the font, fed there at the communion rail, comforted there through a word of promise and that promise is there is no condemnation of you. Yours is the forgiveness of sin and the resurrection from the dead. Let anyone with ears listen! Amen