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8th Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 25:19-34 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Gospel according to Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 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. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!" "Hear then the parable of the sower. 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. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 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. 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. 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." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR THE PAST SUNDAYS WE HAVE BEEN READING MATTHEW’S RETELLING OF JESUS’ CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP. IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT MATTHEW’S GOSPEL WAS WRITTEN SOME TIME AROUND 80 C.E., SOME 50 YEARS AFTER JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED. HE WAS WRITING TO THOSE MANY GROUPS OF FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO CONTINUED TO CARRY THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST TO A 1ST CENTURY WORLD, A WORLD THAT WAS GENERALLY HOSTILE TO THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. THESE FOLKS HAD FACED THEIR SHARE OF REJECTION, AND PERSECUTION, AND IN SOME CASES THOSE WHO HAD INITIALLY BEEN CALLED TO FOLLOW JESUS HAD FALLEN AWAY FROM THE CHURCH. JESUS HAD NOT RETURNED AS HE HAD PROMISED, AND AS A RESULT MANY OTHERS FOLLOWED THOSE WHO FIRST HAD GIVEN UP. IT SEEMS MATTHEW AND HIS COMMUNITY HAD A CRISIS ON THEIR HANDS, AND HE WAS DETERMINED TO RELATE THE STORY OF JESUS IN A WAY THAT WOULD STRENGTHEN THEIR FAITH, THAT WOULD SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE. THE “PARABLE OF THE SOWER“, AS IT IS CALLED HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE ONE THAT HAS BEEN VALIDATED AS A PARABLE THAT HAD BEEN TOLD BY JESUS. IT WAS RECORDED IN ALL THREE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, THE FIRST TO BE WRITTEN BEING THE GOSPEL OF MARK. AND MATTHEW, AS DID MARK, FELT THE NEED TO GIVE THAT DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE STORY IN ORDER TO INSURE THAT THE HEARERS WOULD UNDERSTAND IT. THIS WAS NOT JESUS’ USUAL STYLE, AND MOST BIBLICAL SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT THIS “PROBABLY DID NOT ACCOMPANY THE PARABLE IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM.”
IN VERSE 10 OF CHAPTER 13, WHICH IS NOT INCLUDED IN TODAY’S READING, THE DISCIPLES ASK JESUS THE QUESTION “WHY DO YOU SPEAK TO US IN PARABLES?” IT MIGHT HAVE SEEMED TO THEM THAT JESUS WAS TRYING TO HIDE THE TRUTH BECAUSE SO MANY PARABLES SEEM OBSCURE AND COMPLICATED. BUT JESUS REASSURES THEM SAYING THAT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE PRIVILEGE OF UNDERSTANDING. AND OUR EXPERIENCE IN READING PARABLES INFORMS US IN A WAY THAT STIMULATES THINKING, SO THAT THE TRUTH WILL BECOME CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIBLE. TRUTH CAN BE REMEMBERED MORE EASILY WHEN IT IS TOLD IN PARABLE FORM JUST AS WE FIND THAT WE UNDERSTAND AND REMEMBER BEST WHEN WE HEAR STORIES THAT INVITE US IN, THAT RELATE TO OUR EXPERIENCE. I LIKE TO HEAR THINGS THAT ARE TRUE TO LIFE, WITH ALL ITS SUBTLETY AND COMPLEXITY. AND I LIKE TO THINK THAT THERE CAN BE MANY DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF THE PARABLES. I MIGHT ADD THAT FOR ME, MATTHEW’S DETAILED ANALYSIS OF TODAY’S PARABLE TENDS TO HINDER MY IMAGINATIVE SENSE. BUT TO GET BACK TO THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER, WE CAN START BY ASKING WHO ARE THE LISTENERS IN THIS SITUATION? AND WHAT IS THE SITUATION? GREAT CROWDS HAVE GATHERED AROUND JESUS AND SO HE GETS INTO A BOAT AND GOES OUT INTO THE SEA. IN A SENSE THE SEA BECOMES AN AMPLIFIER, CARRYING HIS WORDS TO THIS THE GROUP. SOME MUST BE THE FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS, SOME DOUBTERS. HE MAKES A COMMENT TO THE EFFECT THAT THIS PARABLE IS TOLD TO BOTH TO THOSE WITH EARS TO HEAR AND TO THOSE WHO CAN’T UNDERSTAND. AND I WONDER WHERE WE FIT IN? I CAN REMEMBER HEARING A SERMON ON THIS PARABLE IN THE WHICH THE PREACHER GAVE A WONDERFUL PICTURE OF GOD AS A FARMER . I’M NOT SURE WHEN IT WAS, BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN A NEW IDEA FOR ME, SINCE TYPICALLY I THINK OF JESUS AS THE SOWER OF THE WORD IN THIS PARABLE. ALTHOUGH THE DETAILS OF THAT ORIGINAL SERMON HAVE SLIPPED MY MIND, I HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO THIS FARMER NOTION. IT GIVES ME A SENSE OF GOD NOT IN THE TYPICAL ROLE AS A FATHER OR A JUDGE, BUT AS A FARMER WHO IS SOWING SEED, WHO HAS CREATED US AND PLACED US HERE IN THE GARDEN OF EARTH, WITH EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED IN ORDER TO GROW. I WAS WORKING IN MY LITTLE FLOWER GARDEN THIS WEEK, IT WAS CROWDED WITH WEEDS AFTER ALL THIS RAIN. AND I STARTED TO THINK ABOUT WHAT A KIND OF A PERSON ONE MUST BE TO SURVIVE AS A FARMER. IT TAKES A CONTINUALLY CARING PERSON AND AN OPTIMIST, SOMEONE WHO HOPES, WHO SIMPLY TRUSTS THAT SOME OF THOSE TINY SEEDS WILL SPRING UP UNDER THE SUN AND RAIN. AND IF GOD IS LIKE A FARMER, WAITING FOR US TO GROW, WANTING EVERYTHING TO BE GOOD FOR US, HOW VERY DIFFERENT THAT GOD WOULD BE FROM THE GOD THAT MANY ENVISION. SOME LIVE WITH THAT OLD TESTAMENT GOD WHO FROM A DISTANCE SENDS DESTRUCTION ON THESE WHO DO BAD THINGS AND BLESSES THE GOOD. GOD THE FARMER HAS HOPE FOR ALL OF US, HOPING WE WILL GROW INTO FRUITFUL PLANTS. THIS GOD IS INVESTED IN US! I THINK THAT GOD THE FARMER HAS BEEN WITH US FROM THE BEGINNING. I THINK OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE WHEN WE WERE YOUNG, WHEN WE HAD ALL KINDS OF HOPES AND DREAMS. I ENVISIONED HAVING A LARGE FAMILY, OTHERS ENVISIONED SUCCESS IN A PROFESSION SUCH AS MEDICINE. SOME HOPED TO BE IN THE SAVING PROFESSIONS SUCH AS FIREMAN OR SOLDIER, AND OF COURSE THERE WERE THOSE WHO WANTED TO BE THE BEST BASEBALL PLAYERS OR A MOVIE STAR. INEVITABLY FOR SOME, THOSE DREAMS NEVER CAME TO PASS, BUT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG WE HOPED, AND GOD THE FARMER HOPED WITH US. ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE. AND HERE WE ARE TODAY. WE HAVE HAD TO ADJUST OUR HOPES IN MANY CASES TO CIRCUMSTANCES. MOST OF US HAVE FOUND OURSELVES IN SPOTS WE NEVER COULD HAVE DREAMED OF BACK THEN, SOME GOOD, SOME NOT SO GOOD. IF YOU HAD MET ME TWENTY YEARS AGO AND TOLD ME I WOULD BE AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU YOU WERE CRAZY! AND I’M AWARE THAT FOR SOME LIFE HAS BEEN A LOT HARDER THAT THEY EVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED. SO MANY THINGS HAVE BEEN OUT OF OUR CONTROL. BUT HOPEFULLY WE WILL COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT TOO. HOPEFULLY THOSE THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN MOST DIFFICULT WILL ALSO MAKE US STRONG, STRONG AS SURVIVERS. WHEN GOD THE FARMER DECIDES TO THIN THAT ROW OF SEEDLINGS, THE ONES THAT ARE LEFT ARE STRONGER. WHEN WE SUFFER LOSSES, WE BECOME MORE POWERFUL. TREES GET STRONGER WHEN THEY ARE PRUNED AND SHAPED. WE GET STRONGER WHEN WE LET GO OF WASTEFUL WAYS AND UNNECESSARY APPENDAGES. THE FARMER HAS SENSE OF WHAT WILL ENABLE US TO GROW. I CONTINUE TO FEEL JOY AS I THINK OF GOD THE FARMER THROWING THE SEEDS OUT ON THE EARTH WITH HOPES THAT WE CAN FIND A WAY TO GROW. IT’S TRUE, AS WE LEARN FROM THE PARABLE, THAT A GOODLY NUMBER OF SEEDS WILL FACE INEVITABLE EARLY DEATH IF INDEED THEY EVEN GERMINATE. THE FARMER ACCEPTS THESE LOSSES AS PART OF THE WAYS OF CREATION. HE LETS GO OF THEM AS LIVING THINGS ON EARTH, CALLING THEM TO A HIGHER PLACE IN DEATH. HIS HOPE IS IN THE SEEDS THAT LIVE, AND IT IS A SURE HOPE. IMAGINING GOD AS THE FARMER INSTEAD OF THE DISTANT DISPENSER OF JOYS AND SORROWS, HELPS US TO THINK OF THINGS IN A DIFFERENT WAY. THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN WE HAVE PRAYED FOR CERTAIN THINGS WE WANTED VERY MUCH, FOR SOMEONE TO GET WELL, FOR SOMEONE TO GET A JOB, AND THEY DIDN’T HAPPEN. WE ARE LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT IT JUST WASN’T GOD’S WILL. THAT DISTANT GOD UP THERE OR OUT THERE HASN’T PLANNED FOR IT TO HAPPEN. I AM SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE THINKING OF GOD THE FARMER, BEING BESIDE US AS WE GROW, CARING FOR US, WALKING WITH US NOT JUST WATCHING. I OFTEN THINK OF THE PAIN THAT GOD MUST FEEL WHEN WE HUMANS MESS UP, OR WHEN WE EXPERIENCE SOME OVERWHELMING DISASTER. AND I SOMEHOW TRUST THAT GOD, THE FARMER WEEPS WITH US, AND HELPS US DEAL WITH THINGS WHILE STANDING BESIDE US. WHEN JESUS USED THE METAPHOR OF THE SOWER, THE FARMER, THE GARDENER, TO HELP US UNDERSTAND GOD’S LOVE, HE SPOKE TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT PLANTING SEEDS. IT WAS THE MOST FAMILIAR WITH THING HE COULD HAVE SELECTED FOR THOSE FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS. IT WAS THE MOST NATURAL METAPHOR IN THE WORLD FOR A KIND OF GOD THAT WAS QUITE NEW TO THE HEBREW PEOPLE. IN JESUS, GOD CAME CLOSE TO US. HE SHARED OUR EXPERIENCE, OUR PAIN, BUT MOST OF ALL OUR EXPERIENCES OF HOPE. JESUS SAYS THE ONE WHO HEARS THE WORD AND UNDERSTANDS IT “BEARS FRUIT AND YIELDS, IN ONE CASE A HUNDREDFOLD, IN ANOTHER SIXTY, AND IN ANOTHER FORTY.” THIS IS FAR AND BEYOND THE TEN BUSHELS OF WHEAT WHICH WAS THE USUAL HARVEST OF THE 1ST CENTURY GALLILEAN. AND GOD’S HOPE FOR HIS PLANTINGS IS BEYOND MEASURE. The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate
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