Proper 10 July 12, 2014
Just because I grew up on a farm doesn’t mean I know anything about farming. I have memories of tractors and fields and really hot summer days. I remember the smell of tobacco barns where we cured the tobacco before taking it to auction. I can remember sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table, shucking corn with the other women in the family. I can remember my father and the other men move irrigation pipes along the fields. Over dinner, we’d watch the farm report on tv to find out the going prices for soybeans before going back to finish up the day’s work. Farming was both a science and a business. There wasn’t time or money or seeds to waste. For years I have struggled with this parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. It didn’t make sense to me because of the context in which I grew up...no sane farmer would dare waste so much seed; it isn’t good business and it isn’t good farming. According to the story that Jesus tells those who have gathered on the shore, there are four types of soil--hardened, shallow, thorny and good. Now before we go any further, I want to change the word for “good” to “fertile”. The word “good” is often used as a judgment about a person, place or thing--she’s a “good” girl, he’s a “bad” boy. So let’s not complicate matters and just think of one of the types of soil as “fertile” instead of “good”. Ok? Now back to the soil. In the story, as the farmer is scattering seeds, some fall into the walking path and the birds come along and eat the seeds. What does this tell us? It tells us that the ground was hard and packed, the soil was incapable of absorbing the seed. It may have been dusty and untended. The seeds were exposed and quickly eat up by the birds. As the farmer continued his work, other seeds fell along parts of the ground that were rocky. There is soil there, but it isn’t rich and fertile, so when the seeds begin to grow, they aren’t able to really take root. These seedlings wither away and aren’t able to produce plants. The seeds that fell among the thorny bushes and weeds weren’t able to survive either...while they may have started to take root, they are overtaken by the other plants and don’t produce. And then there are the seeds that were planted in fertile soil that grow into productive stalks of wheat. These seeds were absorbed by the soil and nurtured. These seeds were able to take root and go through all the necessary developmental stages of plant life. These seedlings had enough water and sun to grow and be healthy. These seeds were neither better nor worse than the other seeds, but the soil and the environmental conditions made all the difference. What if this parable of the sower is about those early Jesus followers and now us? What if the listener isn’t the sower or the seeds, but the soil? What if the story is about how to receive the Good News? Can we imagine people being like soil? There are some who have become hardened by life and incapable of absorbing the love, forgiveness and grace of God. There are some who are receptive to God in times of crisis, but when the sun shines again and life is good, their roots--their seedling faith--withers away. And there are some who have become cynical and prickly with others and God, and so as living examples of God’s grace begin to spring up around them, their negativity and nay-saying choke the life out of others. If we only had the story of the difficult soil and seeds that were unsuccessful, then there would be no hope in this story. If we imagined ourselves as the soil, we would find ourselves under nourished, over exposed, and any Good News quickly devoured. But that’s not the end of the story of the farmer and his seeds. Not only does some seed get scattered along the way, but some of it does take root! Some of it is absorbed by the fertile ground and allowed to grow. The “good” or “fertile” soil is representative of those who have an open heart and mind to God’s grace, forgiveness and love. This fertile soil is permeable enough to allow for not just the seeds to take root, but it also has the capacity for rain, sun and nurturing. The fertile soil not only receives all that it needs, but is also able to give back through the production of wheat...and according to the parable, the wheat production is rather miraculous--as much as a hundred-fold! Can we imagine being like this fertile soil--capable of receiving God’s love, forgiveness and healing, and then sharing that grace in our lives with others? Are we fertile soil for God’s seeds of grace? Are we willing to nurture the gifts we’ve been given by God--our skills, talents and resources--so that they can be gifts for others? In the novel “Singing in the Comeback Choir”, Bebe Moore Campbell writes, “Some of us have that empty-barrel faith. Walking around expecting things to run out. Expecting that there isn’t enough air, enough water. Expecting that someone is going to do you wrong. The God I serve told me to expect the best, that there is enough for everybody.”1 This is the miracle of the parable of the Sower...that there is more than enough of God’s love, forgiveness, nurturing and healing grace to go around regardless of the soil conditions--the conditions of our hearts. And when we allow ourselves to be fertile soil for the Good News of God through Christ, we are able to share our abundance with others. Amen. Bartlett, David L.; Taylor, Barbara Brown (2011-05-31). Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 3, Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16) (Kindle Locations 8558-8561). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
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AuthorI don't know what the future of the church is, but I know that we will continue to be a place of sanctuary and hope, working towards healing in the world. Archives
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