July 16, 2023 St. Andrew Church Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Isaiah 55:10-13
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that 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. 12 For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Second Lesson: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
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.”
We have had a cold swnmer, following a wet winter. Yet the microclimates we are so aware of still hold. Seascape can be blanketed in fog, while Soquel is all sunshine. Day Valley has warm mornings while Rio del Mar holds the marine layer. Microclimates remind us that settings matter. Location and context matter. I think farmers would also say setting matters. They chose what crops to plant based on the soil, weather and seeds. We are blessed to be in the salad bowl of the nation with so many fruits and vegetables grown locally.
Jesus tells of a sower who planted seeds. Like any good parable it holds layers of meaning. You can take it at face value, spreading seeds into varying settings. Yet the sower is also Jesus who is planting the seeds of faith within the hearts of people who respond differently. The classic question from this parable is which soil are you? Did Jesus’ seed of faith take root in good soil, or did it struggle from hazards of the settings in your life? Maybe you needed to have Jesus plant seeds a couple of times in you after a rocky start, before finding the faith that took root. I know I told you about coming forward several times for alter calls in my youth because my faith seemed to take root then wither, before finding its good soil. This morning I want to look at this story in a slightly different way. Thinking about parables, location and good soil.
This parable of the Sower is the first of seven parables Jesus tells in Matthew’s gospel. He tells the parable to the crowd before he interprets it to the disciples. The crowds don’t understand, but the disciples are “given the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (11). Parables are not just some hidden stories, but rather a way for the truth about Jesus to be revealed and revealed in common everyday ways. Parables can be like a proverb, a riddle, or an allegory, yet they will always reveal a truth about God and faith. Parables remind us how we tell a story, matters. We each have a choice in how we tell our own story. Do we share what is really happening or simply gloss over our challenges? Do we complain about every ache and pain, or do we see the grace God has blessed us with as we face hardships. It is often hard to see, to express the gratitude we have, while enduring a trial. Yet this is part of us sharing our faith and holding a truth that God is working in our life. We might try and practice how we tell our story, sharing honestly and with gratitude as our own way of sharing a parable. Here’s an example: When we are aware of how we are thinking and feeling we can shift our fears and worries. A tool I learned this week is the idea of bringing just 5% more awareness to your feelings such as anger, fears or happiness. Or bring 5% more awareness to an event or argument, so that you might be able to see it a little differently. The one I really like is bringing 5% more gratitude to my life and how I tell my story. Because the harvest we will get when we do, creates a space for hope and a lighter mood.
Location also speaks within this parable. Jesus speaks from the water, while sharing very earthy teaching with the crowd. And the location of where the seeds fall effects how the word of God, the seeds of faith. respond. Yet Jesus is sowing these seeds in people’s hearts, creating hardened, distracted, defeated or hopeful hearts. Where did Jesus’ seed fall in your heart?
Because we are all here this morning, our hearts are not hardened, even though the soil might benefit from a little turning. We have also not fallen away, having some form of a root system bringing us back to church. Yet the thorns may still prick at us. The cares of the world and lure of wealth are the thorns we might struggle with.
The story is told of a wealthy man who was miserable. He sought out the council of his rabbi. The rabbi took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. “Look out there,” he said. The rich man looked into the street, “What do you see?” asked the rabbi. “I see men, women, and children,” answered the rich man. Again, the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. Now what do you see?” ”Now I see myself,” the rich man replied. Then the rabbi said, “Behold, in the window there is a glass, and in the mirror there is a glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, and you see only yourself’ (Brett Blair, Sermons.com). Wealth can insulate us from the world around us and blind us to the needs of others. Of course, business and worry can also take their toll on our connection to God. The weeds and the briars of busyness have a tendency to choke out the kingdom of God within us. We don’t allow ourselves time for reflection and prayer. We don’t allow ourselves time for worship. Why? Because the ground is covered with weeds, because we are busy, because we are worried this won’t get done and that won’t be resolved. Worry has the same power as wealth to crowd out the more important things of life.
Finally, we get to the seed that falls on the good, fertile soil, producing a great harvest, up to a hundredfold! The disciples will soon plant seeds and they need to know much will fall and produce nothing. But the seed that falls on good soil, there lies the victory, the hope.
Some years ago, CBS ran a Sunday morning show called “On the Road with Charles Karault.” Many of you remember the human-interest stories featured there. Charles Karault, who happens to be an ordained minister, drove around the country finding enjoyable stories about people. In the very first episode he returned to Stanton, Virginia where 12 years earlier he happened upon a beautiful rode-side park. He stopped to discover that behind it was fifty acres of what he called the most beautiful park he had ever seen. There were winding paths with tulips that were neatly kept, and in between the scores of large oak trees were literally hundreds of azalea bushes and fems of all sizes and kinds. As he walked through this park, he said that he began to wonder about the battalion size maintenance crew that must have been hired to keep it up. Much to his surprise he discovered that it was the work of just one man, an 83-year-old man. The gentleman owned a nursery in Stanton. His parents had raised him to believe that if you don’t leave this earth a little bit better place than when you came into it, what is the purpose for your having been here. So this park was his gift to life. He had worked on it for twenty years. But since he was a widower and had no children, Charles Karault asked him what will become of your lovely park when you are gone? I am afraid, he said, the weeds and thorns will come and take it over.
It was twelve years later, and Charles Karualt decided to go back to Stanton and see just what had happened to that park. He knew that the old gentleman died four years after they had taped the original story. He wondered as he drove down the road, had the weeds and thorns indeed taken over the garden. Much to his surprise and total delight, however, he discovered that the garden was intact and more beautiful than ever. What had happened? Just a few months after he had filmed the original story a Korean lady drove by and stopped at the park. She too was met by the kindly old man. She said that she didn’t really want to go through the garden but he insisted. A few weeks later, after she had returned to her home, the gentleman called her and pleaded with her to come and live in the guesthouse. He told her that when he was gone, he wanted the garden to be hers. The idea appealed to her, and she moved into the quest house. As she stood there with Charles Karualt explaining her story she said, next to my mother, no person in life ever showed so much love to me as did the old gentleman.
Charles Karault closed the show by saying that the older gentleman would be pleased to know that weeds and thorns had not taken over his lovely garden. He concluded by saying, where the seed of love is planted only good fruit comes forth.
Maybe what Jesus is really saying to us is that goodness does have a chance in this life. The way is hard; the obstacles are many; and granted more often than not the seed of goodness simply withers away. But where good ground abounds, then there will be an abundant harvest. That is our hope and that is the good news of the Kingdom of God (Brett Blair, Sermons.com). Amen.
