July 14, 2002 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 8:1-11
    RSV KJV NIV CEV
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
    RSV KJV NIV CEV

“The Gardener's Guide to Spiritual Growth”

"Listen, a sower went out to sow . . ."

Who would ever think that a profound spiritual message could begin so simply?  Yet, Jesus' teaching in parables used simple concepts in simple words to bring home life-changing truths.  Technically this passage is called 'the parable of the sower,' but I think it could aptly be named 'The Gardener's Guide to Spiritual Growth.'  Before we take a closer look at this guide I'd like to spend a moment or two on parables.  Over the next several weeks we're going to be hearing a series of Jesus' parables in Matthew's Gospel and a quick refresher on their form might be helpful.

Parables are a literary form, or genre, not exclusively found in the New Testament.  The Gospel parables are perhaps the most familiar, but there are other examples of parables found in ancient literature.  Parables use very familiar images or situations to weave a narrative that imparts a far deeper message.  There is a great deal of meaning packed into a parable, even though that meaning may not be readily apparent.  It has been said that the parables of Jesus unveil some of the highest realities of faith, but in halftone, or a subdued light.  One feels that there is so much there, but it's hard to get hold of it easily.  It takes time, and effort to begin to understand what Jesus is trying to teach.

Jesus tells the disciples, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.  The reason I speak to them in parables is that 'seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.'"  [Matthew 13:11-13] Jesus doesn't use this form to conceal knowledge, but to reveal it.  Arland Hultgren writes,

"Jesus speaks in parables because they do not see, hear or understand.  The parables are media of revelation (cf. 13:34-35), not of concealment."  [The Parables of Jesus, p. 462]  

The hearer, however, must be attentive and open to the things of God if the parables are to offer their meaning.

It could be said that one of the more original traits of parables is that they are aimed at hearers who can accept both confrontation and questioning.  Parables are sort of 'literary sucker punches.'  They draw us in with their cute little stories and then – WHAM!  We're confronted with a side of ourselves we'd rather not see or a need within us we'd rather not think about.  Parables are meant to bare our souls and open our minds so that we can move from self-centeredness to God- and other-centeredness.  The French Biblical scholar J. Dupont has written:

"parables direct the listeners to their life experience and derive their efficacy from that experience which we must own . . . But to understand them, we must allow ourselves to go through the personal experience of Jesus, to which they direct us . . . and endeavor to comprehend the manner in which Jesus spoke of himself . . . to see reality as Jesus saw it." [quoted in Days of the Lord vol. 4, p. 124]

So parables work because they invite us to bring our own experience, our own logic, and our own work and relationship with us as we hear them.  Because they so rely on human experience, we are able to connect with the church in ages past as we look at how our forebears interpreted these stories.  I suppose that's why we tend to forget the great truths espoused in sermons, but the stories – and the jokes – stay with us.  One commentator I read told a story about a former student.  It seems this young man was sent to a rural church for his internship.  When it came time for him to preach his first sermon he went after this very text.  He did a workmanlike job – he studied hard, read through every commentary he had available, even did his own translations from the Greek.  Fully armed he strode into the pulpit and unloaded on the congregation.  He let them know the fullness of this text's meaning he even pounded on the pulpit as he spoke of the cares of the world and the Word bearing fruit.  When the service was over, people left with even more than the normal glazed look and the obligatory, "Nice sermon, Pastor," and handshake.  One old weather-beaten farmer wasn't so glazed, however.  He stopped and said, "Son, it's a lot simpler than that.  Come on down to the fields sometime and we will teach you something about planting."  Parables speak to our experience and invited us into God's experience.  Jesus invites us to hear and to understand that coming into relationship with God is often far simpler than we try to make it.

Now, lest I end up like that intern, what is this Gardener's Guide to Spiritual Growth all about?  Contemporary books on gardening and agriculture tell us that this 'broadcast' method of planting is not the most efficient.  All of us, however, have seen how little seeds can end up in the most unusual places and still thrive.  About a year ago Julie and I drove through southern Indiana and I showed her one of the great sights – a tree growing from the roof of a county courthouse.  So, the sower goes forth with some very high quality seed and, in an act of trust, sends it out on the wind to begin its growth.  The seed being sown here is God's Word, the message of God's will to relationship with us and of God's great love for us.  Without question, this is powerful, hybrid stuff that should produce a tremendous yield – so why doesn't it work, why doesn't it take hold everywhere?

Well, gardeners know that for seed to grow – regardless of planting method – one needs to prepare the soil.  Yet, Jesus doesn't tell us to go and prepare our soil.  Rather, what we're shown is a really generous Gardener-Creator who sows the potential of salvation and relationship with absolute abandon.  What Jesus seems to be telling his disciples is to rejoice that some people get it at all.  Don't worry about the result – live the life, walk the talk, sow the seed and let the Master Gardener worry about the harvest.

Long ago John Chrysostom (the second name means 'golden mouthed') preached this text to his people in Constantinople.  What he said then still holds true.

Now these things Jesus said, showing that he preached to all without grudging . . . His concern is with sowing the seed.  What is this illustrating?  That obedience now will be quick and easier and will presently yield its fruit . . ..

Note that Jesus does not say: The careless received some seed and lost it, the rich received other seed and choked it, and the superficial received some seed and betrayed it.  It is not his intention to rebuke them severely, lest he should cast them into despair.  Christ leaves the reproof to the conscience of his hearers.  Remember also in the parable of the net that much was gathered in that was unprofitable.

But he speaks this parable as if to anoint his disciples and to teach them they are not to be despondent even though those lost may be more than those who receive the word.  It was with the same ease that the Lord himself continued to sow, even he who fully foreknew the outcomes.

The sower is persistent, as is the kingdom, and the Word.  God continues to be generous because that is God's nature.  As Chrysostom said:

But why would it be reasonable to sow among thorns or on rocks or on the pathway?  With regard to the seeds and the earth is cannot sound very reasonable.  But in the case of human souls and their instructions, it is praiseworthy and greatly to be honored.  For the farmer might be laughed at for doing this, since it is impossible for a rock to bear fruit.  But with respect tot he rational soul, this is not so predictable.  For here is such a thing as a rock changing and becoming rich land.  Here it is possible that the wayside might no longer be trampled upon or lie open to all who pass by but that it may become a fertile field.  In the case of the soul, the thorns may be destroyed and the seed enjoy full security.  For had it been impossible, this sower would not have sown.  And if the reversal did not take place in all, this is no fault of the sower but of the souls who are unwilling to be changed.  He has done his part.  If they betrayed what they received of him, he is blameless, the exhibitor of such love to humanity.

The soil of the human heart can be worked and can be transformed, but it takes not only the work of the Master Gardener, but of the land itself.

The Gardener's Guide to Spiritual Growth tells us to live in this transforming love of God and to open ourselves to it.  Spiritual growth will come when we respond to the seed that is planted within us and cultivate it.  We cultivate it by promoting our love of God to a higher priority than the love of self, or of pleasure, or fill in the blank.  Rather than making God the last person we consider, we make God first.  It's not an easy process, it takes time, and patience, and work – just like gardening.  It's very easy for us to talk about God, or talk about our spirituality, but what matters is talking with God, living in the presence of God, and growing in spiritual depth.

I would suggest that a simple way to cultivate the faith would be to follow what Robert Wicks calls the "seven minute rule."  It's this simple: give God seven minutes every day.  When you rise in the morning give God two minutes of your undivided attention.  You don't need to ask for anything, you don't need to say anything.  Just place yourself in God's presence and listen, listen deeply with the ear of your heart.  Before you go to bed or at some point in the evening, take five minutes to read from the Scripture and reflect on what it says.  Reading the Bible is like watering and fertilizing the plant.  God sows the seed in us again and again and waits for us to bear fruit in renewed lives and spiritual freedom.  The lesson is fairly straightforward: spiritual growth comes from lavish sowing and even more lavish patience and work.

We worry and worry that some people don't get it, but we need, like the disciples, to rejoice that there are people who do get it.  We need to celebrate the seed we see sprouting all around us and work at nurturing it, all the while following the example of the sower, flinging the seed of the Word with abandon.  I came across a reference to a poster that showed people dancing and other people looking at them rather disapprovingly.  The caption read: "Those who dance are often thought mad by those who don't hear the music."  Rings true, doesn't it?  People will look at our coming to worship, taking time to do the 'seven minute rule,' entering into deeper prayer or study of the Bible, doing good for others, or giving our money away and they will think we're a bit daft.  But they don't see the seed growing in us.  Maybe that's what Paul's vision of life in the Spirit is about.  He says, "you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you."  The sower sows with abandon and the abundant harvest is the Spirit freely given, animating us and empowering us to live generous, loving lives.