It's not about us?

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

The Parable of the Sower

 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!”

The Purpose of the Parables

 

The Parable of the Sower Explained

 “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.”

The parable we read this morning - of the sower and the seed is,perhaps, one that is familiar.

A parable that we've heard a few times and think that we know what it means.

After telling this story, Jesus said: "Let anyone with ears, listen!"

I wonder what we hear when we listen to this story today? 

And I suspect that many of us hear, in this story words of judgment. 

We hear Jesus telling us that we don't measure up.

We see ourselves as the wrong type of soil, like those in Jesus' story.

Some of us might think of ourselves as the path on which the seed landed, a hard ground, trampled on, walked over. Any fleeting joy is snatched up and taken away, like the seed snatched up by the birds from the path.

Or maybe you feel like that rocky ground.

You want to believe but there is too much that distracts you,that causes you to question.

The state of our world, the suffering some people have to endure, the injustice,the inequality, the lack of evidence of a God of love.

You started out believing but too many weeds have sprung up to squeeze the life out of that faith you once had.

Or what about those thorns.

Do you feel as though your faith is doomed before it begins, thwarted by the pain you endure just to get out of bed every day? Pain that is physical or emotional,maybe even both - chronic illness, the ache for a loved one...

So you hear this parable as a parable of judgment but you look around this morning and see folk whom you gauge to be the good soil of which Jesus speaks - folk who have got it together, who know the drill, who understand faith much better than you do and so are providing that good soil that measures up.

This morning, I want to read this parable to you again.

And I want you to listen.

I'm going to read it from The Message version of the Bible and I invite you to listen, really listen.

Listen without your judgment hat on just for a moment:

Mat 13:1-9

A Harvest Story ​ 

At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. "What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?" 

The Parable of the Sower Explained

 “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.”

What if this story Jesus told was not so much about what type of soil we are.

Not so much about how we don't measure up.

What is this story was more about the sower- the one who took seed and just threw it anywhere, the one who didn't carefully dig a hole and place in it a seed but who scooped up a handful of seed and threw it willy nilly, so that it landed anywhere and everywhere.

Focussing on the sower of the seed, allows us to see this parable completely differently.

To be as scandalised by this parable as were the disciples and all the folk who heard it.

For the sower was indiscriminate.

The sower allowed the seed to fall anywhere, the sower took all kinds of chances.

The folk around Jesus did not see that kind of extravagance in the farming practices around them or in the purposes of The God they worshipped.

Gods love was meant for a chosen few.

It was inconceivable that Jesus was suggesting that seed could be scattered far and wide, without limit, without boundary.

And still today, we have trouble grasping that.

We want to limit the bounds of  Gods love.

We want to place some people and some places out of reach, beyond the pale.

God never deems any cause not worthy of effort.

God never gives up on potential.

If we look at this parable and think of all the different types of soil.

If we think about when and where we have been a particular type of soil, most of us have been all of these at sometime, perhaps all at once.

If we think about the types of soil, of course we won't measure up.

But if we look instead at the sower as God.

A God who doesn't reserve love for just the right type of soil.

A God who keeps on throwing love in all directions, never giving up hope, always offering more love.

If we look at this example that God the sower sets us, the parable takes on a whole different meaning.

It's a call to us to be extravagant.To keep on throwing out seeds. To keep on hoping that some of them will find rich soil in which to grow.

But, even when we don't see results, this parable is a call for us to keep on making the effort - and leave the rest to God.

It may not be good economics.

But it is faithful discipleship.

Continuing to sow even when the harvest seems lost - it's to that kind of faithfulness that our extravagant God calls us.

So,let's not get all tied up in trying to work out which kind of soil we are.

Let's respond, instead, to God's call to keep on throwing out seeds of love, never giving up as God never gives up.

The gospel reading this morning missed out a chunk in the middle of the passage, the bit where Jesus explains why he uses parables.

I'd like to share that with you this morning - those missed out verses, 10-17:

Why Tell Stories? (10-17)

The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. "But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.

Today, we have God-blessed eyes and God-blessed ears.

Let's be ready to use them.

Let's be ready to be nudged by God into action.

Sowing seeds in seemingly hopeless situations.

Living in extravagant love with a God who never gives up.

For the glory of God.

Thanks be to God.