Sermon at St. Paul S Episcopal Church, Clay Center, KS

Sermon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Clay Center, KS

The Fifth Sunday of Pentecost

July 14, 2014

“Gospel seed”

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A wise grandmother once said, “She who sings prays twice.” I’m not sure whose grandmother first uttered those words, but I’ve often seen them quoted – and maybe you have too. So, thinking about song as prayer, we can hear the opening verse of this morning’s entrance hymn as a prayer for the word – the Good News – of the kingdom of God to be spread around, and to be spread extravagantly:

“Spread, O spread, thou mighty word, spread the kingdom of the Lord, that to earth’s remotest bound… all may heed the joyful sound.”

That is the picture Jesus paints in today’s Gospel lesson – the story that’s frequently called the “parable of the sower.” As I stand here, I can see the lovely window in the back of our nave – saved from the old church – depicting this parable. Want to turn around and take a look? It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

In an agriculture-focused community like Clay Center, I imagine a lot of folks might wonder just how smart that sower is, though. He isn’t taking much care about where he tosses the seed, or about what kind of soil it will land in. Wouldn’t that be a waste of good seed? But maybe that’s the point. The sower just tosses the seed, and trusts that some will find fertile ground – and will be fruitful.

Parables are a fundamental form of Jesus’s teaching. In his parables, Jesus paints a verbal picture or recalls an experience that will be familiar to his audience. On the surface, the parables may seem quite simple. And sometimes, a simple message may suffice. It’s easy to understand; it’s memorable. Perhaps it helps us think more easily about what it means to be a Christian.

The simplicity of a parable, however, may obscure a deeper meaning. And it can be interesting, even enlightening, to go deeper, to see what we can discover.

As I’m pretty sure you know by now, we’re focusing on the Gospel of Matthew during this current church year – which is called Year A in our Lectionary of scheduled readings. (Aside: Year B will begin December 7, the first Sunday of Advent.) You may, or may not, know that Matthew was writing to a largely, though not exclusively, Jewish-Christian audience. This was the time, around the end of the first century (about the year 100 AD), after the Temple had been destroyed, and the Jewish people were working out what it meant to be Jewish and to sustain their community in the absence of the Temple, which they considered the dwelling place of God. It was the center of their worship.

At the same time, the Jews who followed Jesus, who accepted him as the long-expected Messiah – these folks, including Matthew, were trying to understand and explain why Jesus’s new “word” was being refused by some Jews. Apparently, the word was falling on deaf ears… or upon poor soil. Why did some people gain understanding, while others did not?

Jesus seems to say some folks will get it, that is, they will receive the word, understand it, and act on it. And some won’t. They question is, “Why?”

Matthew – and others, from then until this very day – struggle with that mystery. Are some “elected” to understand and respond… and other “not elected”? The writer of the Gospel of Matthew – as had Mark before him – reached back to the prophet Isaiah for an explanation. It was simply part of God’s plan, they reasoned (Isa 6:9-10). We didn’t actually hear this part of the story today – it’s included in verses 10 to 17, which were omitted. They read (in part): The disciples approached [Jesus] and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered, “Because to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to those it has not been granted.”

That kind of interpretation can be very dangerous, though, and can support “sectarian” thinking, or “othering,” that is, creating categories of who is “in” and who is “out.” The Jews are bad; the Christians are good. Catholics are bad; Presbyterians are good. Fundamentalists are bad; progressives are good. You can see where this leads.

But I cannot accept that Jesus intended some people were somehow worthy of getting it, of being “saved,” and others were destined to miss out on the gift of eternal life. That is not the God I worship.

Instead, I would like to suggest that this lesson presents us with an opportunity to grasp the complicated process involved in the writing of our Gospels. The evangelists were drawing on tradition and Jewish understanding of Temple and worship. They were interpreting Jesus’s words for a variety of audiences and social contexts. They wrestled with the mystery of election and rejection. And faithful Christians continue to grapple with the questions. That is part of a living faith.

I wonder if the parable means that folks were not pre-destined to reject the word as preached by Jesus, as much as they simply refused to hear and act on it. Maybe Jesus – who was a master at understanding human nature – just knew that would be the case. But he went on preaching it anyway.

Perhaps that is the message for us today – from this Parable of the Sower. Regardless of the readiness of the soil, the sower continues to spread the seed widely and extravagantly – knowing that some of it will take hold and some will not. But just like our landlord here in Clay Center, who continued to throw grass seed on our rather sparse front lawn when it seemed – time and again – to blow away, or wash away, or just dry up… Jesus continued to preach and teach. And finally, finally, some of the grass seed sprout and grew. Just like the word of Jesus. With the gracious blessing of God Almighty, it would flourish and bear fruit. [PAUSE]

Our opening hymn seems to imply that the word will spread itself: “Spread, O spread, thou mighty word,” it goes. But in truth, if the seed is going to be spread, if the word is going to be broadcast in our neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces, it is our call to be sowers of that word. This is an important key to the work of discipleship. A disciple will not abandon the task, even when the soil is rocky and the going is rough. The disciple doesn’t try to decide who is worthy of hearing God’s word… and who is not. Disciples keep on spreading the Good News of God’s love. The one who receives the word of Jesus… and acts on it… then becomes the bearer. Like an oak tree, the fruit eventually becomes the seed, producing a hundredfold.

So we are to sow the seed in all kinds of places, with all kinds of people, in all kinds of circumstances. We may never know what took root and what didn’t. After all, ultimately this is God’s work. We are simply called to be faithful disciples. And to keep on sowing the Gospel seed. [PAUSE]

I want to close with a poem I came across the other day. The author is Skip Johnson, who is an ordained minister as well as a poet. Here it is:

One flew off in the belly of a bird.

One sprang up, but withered fast.

One choked by thistles, or so I’ve heard.

One gained a hundred when it was cast.

Come hear the wise old story

Of a sower and his seed.

He flung it far to fall

Then battled bird and weed.

Some seed sprouted quickly,

Then withered in the sun—

But some seed fell upon good soil

And repaid the work he’d done.

But nothing can start growing

Until we begin sowing.

Gospel Seed, that’s what we need.

Gospel Seed, sweet Lord, we plead.

Draw deep truth from God’s own word,

Cast it far until it’s heard.

Gospel seed, new life within.

Gospel seed, some soul we’ll win.

Nothing’s growing till we’re sowing

Gospel Seed.

Sun and rain and time pass by,

And what was sown awakes.

First the blade, then the ear,

Then full ear it makes.

Come now golden harvest,

We’ll reap what we have sown.

Seed once watered by our tears

Will be glad sheaves brought home.

But nothing can start growing

Until we begin sowing.

Gospel Seed, that’s what we need.

Gospel Seed, sweet Lord, we plead.

Draw deep truth from God’s own word,

Cast it far until it’s heard.

Gospel seed, new life within.

Gospel seed, some soul we’ll win.

Nothing’s growing till we’re sowing

Gospel Seed.

Bringing in the sheaves,

We will come rejoicing,

Bringing in the sheaves.

Bringing in the sheaves,

We will come rejoicing,

Bringing in the sheaves.

But nothing can start growing

Until we begin sowing.[1]

Amen… and AMEN.