16 July 2023 Pentecost 7
Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
When we think of this gospel, we usually consider it in terms of the different soils. Am I so distracted or absorbed by what is going on around me that I do not have time to hear, or listen, or accept God’s presence in the situation. So, while I may hear God speaking to me, I am not in the right mindset to listen to that voice. Or do hear God speaking to me, and it sounds great, and I want to explore it and get into it, but other things happen, and my enthusiasm or attention is taken to other things, and God’s word to me is overwhelmed by the other things, and so that I can’t hear it anymore. Or do I hear God speaking to me, but God’s word is drowned out by all the other things of life that are speaking to me, and while I continue to hear God speaking, the volume of life is so loud I can no longer hear God clearly. Or when I hear God speaking to me, I dismiss what the rest of the world is saying so I can concentrate on hearing God, and I am able to follow where God is leading me and, as I follow, God’s voice to me gets louder and I am able to share my experiences, my knowledge of God with others, so that they too are better able to hear God speaking into their lives too.
And the thing is, this parable may actually play out for me entirely in one day. In the space of 24 hours I may experience all 4 of the soil types, but I am getting better at knowing when the first 3 are affecting me, so that I can ask for help to minimise their affect and I can, gradually, become the 4th type for longer.
However, as I explored this parable, it was pointed out to me that if I am just focusing on the soil types, I am probably missing an important point of the parable. This is not a parable of the 4 soil types, it is the parable of the sower. The parable reveals for us the nature and character of God; God’s kingdom; God’s provision; God’s extravagant generosity when it comes to God’s beloved creatures; when it comes to us.
When we look at the actions of the sower, we notice that as he sows the seed, he takes fistfuls of seed and throws them everywhere. In every direction. Gardens, fields, mountains, parks, backyards, roadways, alleys, footpaths; the sower is unconcerned about where the seed falls because he seems confident that what needs to flourish will flourish. Maybe not immediately, maybe not all of it, but the important thing is not where the seed falls, but the necessity to keep sowing that seed. He keeps throwing the seed in every direction, fistful after fistful. He also knows that there is enough seed to go around, enough seed to accomplish his purposes. In other words, there is enough seed to ‘waste’.
Now compare that with how we plant seed. In industry, there are machines which track along specified lanes and a probe digs a hole a specific depth and the seed is placed at the bottom of that hole and then covered over. Even in our home gardens, we dig holes, or we get seed-raising trays and place one (or maybe two) seeds in each compartment or hole and then we wait for them to start growing. We decide where, how many, and which plants will grow. And if we translate that to the Word of God, do we find ourselves doing the same thing. Do we decide how we will share the gospel, do we decide who will hear it, do we decide who are ‘the right people’ to receive it or which stories are the right story for a given person or situation. We probably don’t consider taking it to the marginalised, to the outcast, to those who are sleeping rough in this cold climate because we have decided they don’t, or wont, want to hear it. We will only take it to the places and people we think will want to hear it. But the sower doesn’t care where the seed falls, he isn’t worried about the birds that might eat some of it, he isn’t worried about rocks or uneven soil or weeds, because what grows will grow and nothing I do will change that. I can’t make the seed grow, I can provide some nutrient and fertilizer and I usually will remove unwanted weeds or other plants, but that doesn’t guarantee anything growing, it just provides better conditions in the hope of something growing.
How the gospel is received by other people is really not in my control. What soil type a person might be is also not in my control. I can control how I share it, trying to make sure I do so gently and openly and ready for any questions I may be asked, but I cannot control what happens in another person once I have shared the gospel. That is in God’s control.
So as you go about your daily lives, spreading the good news in word and deed, do so abundantly, do so generously, do so without trying to control how it is heard or who hears it. When we spread the gospel by what we say, and what we do, let us be like the sower who spreads the seed liberally, fistful after fistful, throwing it in every direction without caring where it lands or settles. The sower was unconcerned where the seed fell, he just knew he had to keep sowing, so let us do the same, because the rest really is up to God not me or you.