Though it seldom happens, we have the benefit today of Jesus’ own interpretation for His parable of the sower. Except that He told the parable to one group and gave the interpretation to another. Which might be cause for me stopping right here since the interpretation was given to the apostles while the parable itself was given to everyone. That probably won’t work. So let us venture forward.
While we are quick to rush in so that we can discover why some continue in the faith and others fall away, I am not sure we should begin there at all. Parables are mostly pictures of God and if we are too quick to rush to an explanation to comfort worried parents or explain empty pews, we would miss the picture of God given here. It is, after all, God who is on display in Jesus’ words and not simply people who have always grown hot and cold about everything.
As someone from a farm state, I could say that the picture of God given here shows He is not a very good farmer. Seed is expensive. So is fertilizer and herbicide – not to mention the time, labor, and energy invested in making sure that the seed grows roots and bears fruit. No farmer can relate to this parable. Every farmer knows his soil – which soil is a safe bet for the seed to grow and a harvest to be made and which is not. Except God. He does not spend His time finding the right soil. He is wastefully extravagant. He sows His costly seed everywhere.
God the sower sows without care or concern for the kind of soil upon which He is sowing the seed. He does not worry about wasting the seed or about the cost of His extravagance or wastefulness – at least by our standards. He does not spend His time worrying about the kind of soil that is right but purposefully sows His seed in those places everyone knows is a big risk. He does not stick to fields and soil which can be expected to produce a good crop but simply lets the seed fly indiscriminately on all kinds of worthless soil. What kind of God does that?
He drops the seed along the rocky paths that mark where people have walked it hard – places hardly amenable to planting or harvesting. He sows the seed among weeds and thornbushes where no one in their right might would even walk – much less plant. God the sower is not looking for the right places to sow the seed from which His kingdom will grow and flourish but is extravagant enough to toss away some seed at places where not much can be expected. He simply sows everywhere.
What kind of God does that? We are so quick to rush into the explanation and to some answer to why some and not others that we have missed the most important thing about this parable. We are so quick to nod our heads at the obvious explanation of what happens to some who come to faith and then fall away, that we miss the God who is wasteful enough (at least in our eyes) to put the seed of His Word everywhere and not in the places we think wise. This is a parable of God’s unfathomable mercy more than it is an explanation to tell us why some believe and some do not, why some endure in the faith and others fall away.
The Word of the Kingdom is not something reserved for the right people but for everyone. Everyone already knows that the world is made up of all kinds of mixed soil. We know about the rocks and paths worn hard and weeds and thornbushes. We do not know about the mercy of God. That is what we need to have revealed to us. We know all about the reasons why faith is hard, why we struggle to keep the faith in hard times and amid all the distractions of this world. We all know the limitations of our strength, the ease at which we surrender our hope to despair, and the sins that we struggle to feel are forgiven. We all know these things and we are too often overcome by them. But what we do not know as we should is the limitless mercy of God and the grace that is sufficient for our every need. Yet this is precisely where our focus should be and it is the focus of Jesus’ parable.
Every step of this life for every Christian is filled with constant temptation, with a world of competing values, ideas, ideals, rights, and wrongs. We seem to spend our lives trying to reconcile our faith to these in a way that will satisfy us or make it all easier. We think there are secret ways to making peace between the things we know are right, true, and of God and the things so enticing to us but just plain wrong. We think there is some hidden way to resist temptation without it costing so much or being so hard. But our focus is not meant to be on these. Our focus is meant to be on the Lord, whose goodness will never fail us even though it is impossible to understand.
We are all the rocky paths, the hardened soil, surrounded by thistles and thorns. We are the worthless soils in which God has dared to waste the seed of His Word, calling us to faith, washing us in baptismal water, guiding us by His voice, and feeding us at His table. Faith is not the predictable response to a reasonable set of circumstances but the surprise of the Spirit, the surprise of grace, and mystery of a love that refuses to give up.
The good soil is not the sinless soul or the righteous heart but the one who hears the Word of God and keeps it. The miracle is not that some fall away but that any believe. It can only be the work of the Spirit and the mystery of God’s extravagant love. His Word that proceeds from His mouth shall not return to Him empty but shall accomplish His purpose and succeed according to His own intention. That is the mystery revealed in this parable. God’s mercy is His most important character trait. And of any, we Lutherans ought to know this best of all.
At some point we forgot this. We began to treat the church like a business and outreach like a business plan and we borrowed from the business world to try and figure out where to sow the seed to get the highest yield. It has not helped the Church to grow but it has succeeded in making us think that the secret lies in the soil instead of the seed of God’s Word. As parents we try to figure out the secret to raising good kids who will do what is right and keep the faith plated in them. We all know that there is no secret. The parent knows you love every child the same, teach them and provide for them as best you are able, and pray for them as if you have done nothing at all. The results are uneven. They are always uneven. But you do not focus all your energy where you think the best results will be found. You give your extravagant love to every child over and over and over again. It is what you do. It is what God has done. It is what God is still doing.
He does not focus His resources on those most likely to come to faith or remain in the faith. He sows the seed where nothing is expected and sends forth His Spirit on those we deem a wasted effort. He does not know how to give up. He just sows the seed. If we are failing to grow as a Church is it because we have failed to figure out the key to marketing the Gospel successfully or have we forgotten to sow the seed everywhere, no matter what it costs, because that is what was done for you and me? Do we trust what we think will bring results or do we actually dare to believe that God’s Word shall not return to Him empty but will accomplish His purpose in sending it?
Sow the seed like God does, without prejudice or constraint. Be as lavish sowing the Word of God for the sake of others as it was sown into you. It will not fail even if you never see results. The focus is not on the soil but the seed. We will only accomplish His purpose by sowing the seed of His Word and trusting that God will bring the results. To you has been given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of heaven and blessed be your eyes to see and your ears to hear this Gospel of Christ crucified and risen. Amen.
1 comment:
What a wonderful parable indeed. Great sermon on this theme. I would like to refer everyone to a poem/hymn written by William Cowper, “The Sower.” You can find it online easily. The poem is too long to write here, so I will just refer to the opening verse and the closing one. The opening, “ Ye Sons of earth prepare the plough. Break up your fallow ground. The Sower is gone forth to sow, and scatter the blessings around.” The verses that follow describe the soils, and “seeds that find a stony soil,” shooting forth a “hasty blade.” But that soil, like the thorny soil, withers and fades. Some seeds fall and are taken away by the birds, imagery of the attraction of the world taking away one’s faith. Some seeds die from the scortching sun. But the final verse is key: “Father of Mercies we have need, of thy preparing grace. Let the hand that gives the seed provide a fruitful place.” Oh, how I love good poetry, insightful poetry, encouraging and uplifting to read. For me, it seems Cowper is suggesting the idea of grace, that the soil needs preparing, which God provides, and in the receiving of the seed, we inherit the blessings and bounty which results. It is very deep.
Just wanted to share this. Soli Deo Gloria
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