Hymns:

Sing to the Lord of Harvest ELW 694

God Whose Farm is All Creation ELW 734

God of the Fertile Fields ACS 1063

Today we listen to the tale of four soils, or four conditions, or four possibilities.  We hear a tale of an evil detractor, a shallow disposition, a craving for more, and openness to wisdom – to grace – to God.  From one perspective, it is a tale of unexpected abundance, of outcomes unimagined.  It can be a hopeful word telling us that God’s Word is able and capable beyond our expectations and beyond our chronologically limited view.  It holds out promise that God’s Word will be fruitful, accomplishing that which God purposes (Isaiah 55) even when the first results aren’t readily apparent, even when some of the soil types aren’t suitable enough.  In a way therefore it is a cautionary tale reminding us to not be too quick to give in or give up; to not judge ourselves or our accomplishments before their time; to understand that perhaps God’s gardening of grace germinates in mystery we just can’t penetrate.  It is a tale that asks us to trust the sower.  The success is up to God’s will and not our own.  After all, our own will is probably just one of the soil types, which one, it doesn’t really matter. God’s action and God’s will is what matters. Trust the Sower. Indeed, trust in the Sower is in itself a seed.  Trust is a lifeline.

We can therefore say that this parable operates in two ways.  It is descriptive of the variety of ways in which humanity has received and welcomed, or rejected and ignored, the wisdom and way of God.  And the parable itself is the seed.  As with many parables, this one invites self-reflection, and, in the course of reflection, it challenges decision.  In the story told by Matthew to his first listeners, the parable may have been offered to the early church as an explanation of why God’s message in Christ was not welcomed by all, why some positive responses are short lived, and why some responses are opposed. The story may have served as an admonition to trust and have patience. Keep preaching and teaching the grace of God even when you don’t see the outcomes for which you had hoped. Trust that God will secure the outcome God desires. Again, trust the Sower.  As a teaching of Jesus remembered by disciples, it also functions as a challenge – what kind of response will you give?  Inherent in the story-telling process is the imperative and the invitation to follow. Why else does a story-teller tell a story but to provoke a response, awaken a new perspective, to enliven resolve? A story offers a perspective, can create a culture, provide an interpretation of life and daily decisions, build shared beliefs, and lay down a legacy of values.

I believe that the Sower has cast some seed on your own heart. Though the harvest may not yet be fully apparent in your life, already the Sower has given you a sack full of grace and, by the reception of this story, has also given you a teaching example to follow. And contrary to good gardening practices, the Sower invites, even instructs that you just start throwing some seed. Don’t hesitate, don’t doubt, just trust and throw!

If this parable blurs the lines as we try to discern who is the sower and what kind of soil are we, the other question worth asking is, what do we mean by the seed?  The Sower has given you a sack full – so start throwing. But what are you tossing out there?  If it is a sack full of grace, and if grace is God’s redemptive action in Christ for everyone, then we have indeed a broad-spectrum sack full of God’s love to sow!  To me that means we must expand our concept of mission way beyond the idea that the seed is some theologically orthodox understanding of personal atonement. The seed must include far more love than just to evangelize for the sake of conversion.  A sack full of persuasive proclamation is a good thing.  But it is not the only thing.

The seed is about the arrival of the kingdom of love – God’s love for the world – that is, love for all the world. That means that the seed you sow can be thought of in horizons as wide as God’s grace. The seed you sow may be the balm of knowing Jesus and the reconciliation available to all, to know they are children of God, and given abundant life in Jesus Christ.  The seed may be peace for troubled and anxious souls. The seed you sow may also be plans to invest in renewable energy, plans to install solar panels on your church or help enable another community to do so.  The seed may be protests and other public action to save the wild rice your neighbors need and which some politicians and corporations care nothing about. The seed may be legislating for gun control to protect the children and other innocents from harm.  The seed may be a Habitat for Humanity project, a community food drive, advocating for or building affordable housing, seeking restorative justice and turning back the tide of retributive action.  The seed may be actions and effort to care and assist the vulnerable, whoever and whatever they are.  And all these actions too will bring peace to troubled and anxious spirits.  The seed may sound like old fashioned social gospel.  Yet I wonder, how can the gospel not be social?  How can the gospel not be political?  The seed of God’s love is always connected to the many commandments of Jesus, the words of the prophets, and in fact a living out of the letter of James. (albeit not a Lutheran favorite.) The seed of love becomes a broadminded effort to live the ‘new commandment’ that Jesus gave us on the night on which he was betrayed.  When he said “love one another as I have loved you,” the little word “as” packs so much meaning, so much punch and possibility. To love “as” God loves.  Wow, that is big.  To love as God has loved opens the gates wide to our caring and concerned imaginations.  That little word “as” leads me to hear the command as expansively embracing all loving action, as we  till and keep the earth,  protect the vulnerable and care for the sojourner,  heal, feed, advocate, forgive, and yes, to teach about God’s inseparable love revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. 

Listen to the Sower and pick up your sack and start throwing some grace.