Inspired by Genesis 25:27-33, Romans 8:1-6, Matthew 13:1-9
Many of us spend time each year dreaming about and planning for the seeds we will use for planting season. Seeds are remarkable creations because they have everything they need within them to create a new plant just like the one from which they came. Given the right soil, water, sunlight and nutrients, they will germinate and flourish and provide you, the sower, with an abundance of produce.
All of us who garden or farm know that one of the major trials and tribulations of this endeavor is that we are constantly battling weeds. There are about a gazillion different kinds of weeds that we navigate each year to harvest a crop. We have come through a time of extreme drought over the last year and the one thing that flourished was the weeds – in fact, for most of this summer the only green in my lawn was weeds. Weeds are created to be quite hardy, to produce an abundance of seeds and to be able to grow in any kind of soil. Because of those attributes, weed seeds will quickly germinate, take over any area on which they land and quickly eliminate any other plant competition.
We humans do not only collect and sow physical seeds, but we also collect and sow metaphorical seeds. We have a tendency to be receptive soil for the metaphorical seeds that others sow. In fact, in the current media world, there are an almost limitless number of seeds being sown – some of which are good seeds, but many of which are seeds which produce the weeds of hatred, violence, distrust, oppression, division, lies, greed, conspiracy and corruption. Like the weeds in my lawn and gardens, these metaphorical weeds propagate quickly, spread widely and become deeply rooted and difficult to remove. In other words, those weeds have a tendency to overtake our lives.
We heard our scriptures today speak to us about sowing seeds and the outcome of the type of seeds we allow to grow in our lives. Our first reading is the description of the seeds of discontent that were sown between Isaac and his older brother Esau. From the womb they were “jostling” within Rebekah and Isaac came out holding onto Esau’s heel. Like most siblings, they were very different with Isaac staying around the tents while Esau was an outdoorsman. The weed of discontent and division was sown and began to sprout when Esau sold Isaac his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup.
The Apostle Paul writes to the believers in Rome and teaches them about how the seed of freedom has been planted in them by the suffering of Jesus the Christ. Paul writes that all who allow the good seed of the Christ to grow in them find themselves set free from “the law of sin and death”. Those who nurture the seed of the gospel through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit grow abundant lives that are filled with peace.
Jesus is teaching a large crowd of people from a boat on the Sea of Galilee. He began to tell them parables about how to live their lives in the kingdom of God. Jesus spoke of a farmer who went out to sow seeds as widely as he possibly could. His sole mission was to spread the seeds, and he didn’t seem to care about where they might land. Some of the scattered seed fell on the road and was eaten by birds; some fell on areas with shallow soil and while it grew, it quickly died; some seed fell among the weeds and was choked out; yet some did find “good soil” where it flourished yielding 100, 60 or 30 times the seed that was sown. Jesus hopes that those who truly follow his teachings will not only be good soil but will also sow the seed of the gospel as widely as possible.
Jesus came to show us all how to live in God’s kingdom here on earth. His teachings show us how to reimagine our lives as beloved children of God and how to live in a way that reflects that kingdom orientation. The parables of Jesus are creative teachings that are supposed to not only engage the ear, but to engage the heart and mind to change the way we live. We are to put those teachings into practice and to interrogate our lives to see where we might not be living as God desires.
Spiritual writer, Libby Howe, provides these helpful thoughts on how to live into this parable of Jesus. She teaches, “…Using images of a farmer, seeds, and soil, Jesus names the realities of his disciples’ everyday lives and points to the range of possibilities that he and his early followers encounter as they follow him and preach his message. For Matthew’s audience it is likely descriptive (and inclusive) of the various kinds of people who are part of his community.
But it also sets a prescriptive expectation the disciples can have for themselves and others as they hear the word of God and heed, in varying degrees, the teachings of Jesus. I appreciate how the four soils/responses normalize not just differences among people but the ways that different teaching may be received (or not) by one individual. It is possible for a person to be all four different soils at various times.
Using images of birds, sun, and thorns, Jesus points to the truth that the way we hear and receive the word of God is impacted by more than our own will and desire. There will always be circumstances beyond our control that keep us from being the good soil we hope to be….”
I know that over the course of my spiritual journey that I have been those four different types of soil. I also know that I haven’t always been one who has exclusively sown the seeds of the gospel. Our lived reality is that we are not static – each day is new and different and each of us is in a different place. We find ourselves more or less receptive to outside inputs depending on what is happening in our lives and in our reactions to what we perceive is happening in the world around us. When we are worried about our life or the lives of those around us, then we are particularly vulnerable to projecting all sorts of “doom and gloom” onto possible futures. We are so consumed by our anxieties and fears that we cannot hear the good news of Jesus about focusing on the needs of today and allowing him to help bear our burdens.
In that state, we wander through our world, going through the motions of attending worship and church, locked into a downward spiral of negative inputs and worsening anxiety – seemingly unreceptive to the Word of God. However, the great good news of God is that no matter what our current receptiveness might be, the seed continues to be sown. God knows that people and situations change. The seed of the gospel contains within it all we need to begin a life that is fruitful, peaceful, kind and loving. Our outlook on life and how to live it can change in a moment. A word, song lyric, comment, act of kindness or compassion can break through and begin to build a place where God’s Word can germinate and flourish.
God’s grace is all about God never abandoning us. It’s about God persistently loving us even when the weeds of the world cause us to reject the premise that God exists or that God is active in our lives and world. It’s about continuing to sow the seeds of the good news of Jesus the Christ widely and wildly, because God hopes that at some point we will be receptive. The first seed might get snatched away by the Adversary, the next seed might take root but not be fed or watered by a supportive community, the third might falter because we are too worried about that which we cannot control or focused too much on the misleading voices of the world. Yet, God keeps sowing with the resilient hope that we have all been created with the image of God inside us and that we can be good soil.
God’s persistent love for us makes all things possible. We needn’t worry about where the seed falls – in fact, the seeds we plant today may not actually grow until many years from now. According to Jesus, our job is to sow the seeds and leave the rest to God. Our job is to receive the word and transmit it with the same persistence as God – never tiring, never giving up, never allowing the world to get in the way of our vocation as disciples of the Christ. May God open our ears so that we can hear the word, understand it, live it and sow it. Amen and amen!