?Good Seed + Good Soil = Good Fruit
First Congregational Church Å| Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
9th Sunday after Pentecost Å| July 10, 2005
Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.
[texts: Romans /Matthew 13:1-9. 18-23]

ÅgAnd he told them many things in parables, saying: ÅeA sower went out to sow.ÅfÅh

Jesus teaches in parables because through them he can bring people into contact with the Transcendent, the deep things of God, using the language of everyday experience. We know little of sowers and sowing in our culture, but if you live in the Midwest or suburbia in general for that matter, you know about gardens and lawns Å| at least you should! So, the language of this parable is familiar to me because I have sown grass seed Å| just recently in fact Å| and while it may have come in a sealed plastic bag, mixed with nicely dyed shredded-newspaper mulch, I was a sower and went out to sow.

Jesus uses accessible language, however we deceive ourselves if we think that Jesus did this to make it simpler or to Ågdumb downÅh the message he was bringing. Parables require attentive listening and hard work. The listeners would only catch the subtle point of reckless sowing producing an abundant harvest if they were really tuned in. Regardless, this is not a lesson on farming methodology. The key is the repeated phrase, Åglet anyone with ears listen!Åh If we want to reap the benefit of the wisdom and relationship offered in this story we must be willing to open the ears of our hearts and pay attention to the LordÅfs truth. At the core of the parable is the invitation to be brought into Divine Wisdom and to be transformed by it. What we hear is that the Wisdom is a gift Å| it comes where it will Å| but that we have to be willing to work to receive it.
In Matthew we have two ÅetellingsÅf of the parable. The first is just the parable in its original form. The second is an allegorical interpretation of the parable. Some scholars think that this is a later addition to the Gospel and an attempt by a later community to gain further understanding of their place in GodÅfs kingdom. What we see in both versions are four components: the sower, the seed, the soil, and the harvest. I think the essence of the story is this: good seed plus good soil equals good fruit. Let me tell you why.

As I said earlier, this isnÅft a lesson on farming technique. The English Congregational Bible scholar of the last century, C.H. Dodd, pointed out that it was customary in Palestine in JesusÅf time to sow first and then to plow. Perhaps the sower was going to come back and work the seed into the ground? The text isnÅft clear; it certainly gives no indication of anything like that going on. What we get, then, seems to be sloppy farming, or is it? The seed, as the allegory explains, is the Good News of GodÅfs Word to us Å| GodÅfs willingness to share our life and draw us into a unitive relationship.

So the problem isnÅft the seed, the seed is the kernel of Divine Wisdom, the ability to perceive in a new way, for which all of us long. As with any seed there is great potential locked inside, the task is to release that potential and allow into to grow and to bear fruit.

The sower spreads this seed with abandon Å| GodÅfs generosity is great. God is willing to take the risk of relationship and sow this seed in the hope that it will take root and bear fruit in the lives of the hearers. To follow the parable Å| if you have ears, listen! The seed is good.

We should then look to the soil. Even a rank amateur at gardening, like me, knows that the soil must be well-pre pared and good if the seeds are to achieve their potential and become plants. The parable shows seed falling on the hard path, other falling on rocky ground, and other on thorny ground. Each type of soil was inhospitable and not conducive for the growth of plants.

The allegorical interpretation built into the text offers an explanation for these various soils. Some have the word snatched from them because they never let it get beneath the surface of their lives. Others have it spring up, in other words they start off strong, but canÅft sustain growth to spiritual maturity because they donÅft put down good roots Å| they burn out. Those among thorns also begin well, and maybe even have good roots, but they are choked out, overcome by weeds Å| the distractions and the difficulties that we all encounter in our spiritual lives. In each case weÅfre looking at a question of spiritual preparedness, of openness to Divine Wisdom and spiritual growth in response to it.

I think all of us know people whose faith is only on the surface, who donÅft have deep roots in faith, or who have allowed themselves to be choked out or distracted by everyday life. The truth is we may very well be those people! The demands of home, family, job, the worries of living in the world we live in, name it, so get in the way that the seed isnÅft given the chance to grow. Let the one who has ears to hear, listen! The problem is with the soil Å| not with the seed!

If we wish to overcome the hard path, the rocky soil, and the weeds of distraction we have to till the ground of our lives to make it ready for the seed. We do that by first entering into the life of faith and the disciplines, thereÅfs that word, the life requires. The spiritual disciplines call us to regularly bring ourselves to worship, which opens us to GodÅfs presence in our world and reminds us that weÅfre not in this by ourselves. (Worship, by the way, is about our responding to God and not about coming to have our needs met Å| worship is not about us, itÅfs about God, but more on that later!) Growth in the life of faith also requires our spending some time with God each day through prayer and study. It doesnÅft have to be hours and hours, I would suggest that a good beginning is five or ten minutes at either the beginning or the end of the day when you can have a little quiet time. Read a verse or two of scripture, we have various devotional aids available and can recommend more, spend a little time thinking, digesting what youÅfve read, and enter into a little quiet conversation with God. ItÅfs restorative and it tills the soil of the soul so that the good seed of GodÅfs Wisdom can send down deep roots and bring forth good fruit in your life. Any gardener will tell you that to have good, healthy plants you need to tend them regularly Å| itÅfs no different for the soul, for the spiritual life. The same kind of discipline we apply in any area we want to become good at Å| golf, fishing, gardening, what-have-you Å| involves the same regularity and attention. If we can do it to unlock the potential of our plants or our golf swing, why not unlock the potential of our souls?

This kind of spiritual growth is what we commit ourselves to here at First Congregational Church. DonÅft look surprised. ItÅfs right there in the covenant that we made with God and one another when we became members of the church. We say that we commit ourselves to the worship and service of God and to grow in the knowledge and expression of our faith. Moving beyond the surface, sending down roots, getting past distractions are the only way that weÅfll make that commitment more than lip-service and allow it to make a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us.

Because this kind of growth is so important weÅfre going to take some time to do something about it in the months ahead. YouÅfll be hearing more about this soon, but weÅfre going to take some time to really look at what it means to be a covenant community and how we can grow together as faithful people. WeÅfre going to be asking folks to make a commitment of an hour to an hour and half of their time for six weeks this fall to go a little deeper into understanding our covenant. I firmly believe that this is going to be an exciting time for our community of faith and that good things, wonderful things are going to come as a result of the time we spend.

Let him who has ears listen! When the seed hits good soil the yield is incredible. Scholars tell us an average harvest in JesusÅf day was only four to six times what was sown. When Jesus talks about thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold heÅfs holding up the promise of something abundant beyond belief. And so GodÅfs love and care for us is Å| abundant beyond belief. When we open ourselves to Divine Wisdom, allow it to take root and grow in our lives it does produce an abundant harvest. It produces a yield of loving acceptance, heartfelt, concern, genuine kindness, and waves of transformation Å| it shifts our whole outlook on ourselves and on our world. Some of the most profound changes in society, like the movements to end slavery, promote civil rights, educational reform, and the promotion of health care to name only a few, have been initiated because people have been motivated by an awakened and deepened faith. Listen! Good seed plus good soil equals good fruit!

I came across something from Catherine of Siena that I found powerful. Catherine was a great teacher, mystic, and even stateswoman, of the medieval period and she had a profound insight into the effect of GodÅfs life breaking into our lives, listen to what she said: ÅgOnce we are in its embrace, the fire of divine charity does to our soul what physical fire does: it warms us, enlightens us, changes us into itself. Oh gentle and fascinating fire! You warm and you drive out all the cold of vice and sin and self-centeredness! . . . the fire floods us with light, leaving no room for darkness. So enlightened by that venerable fire, our understanding expands and opens wide. And once we have experienced and accepted the light, we so clearly discern what is GodÅfs will that we want to follow no other footsteps than those of Christ crucified.Åh [Quoted in Mark Mcintosh Discernment and Truth, p. 56]

Listening? Good seed plus good soil equals good fruit Å| the fruit of lives lived in service of God and neighbor, the fruit of a difference made and the kingdom of God brought just a little nearer through us. The good fruit is made possible when we open ourselves to the good seed of GodÅfs Word and have prepared the soil of our lives to receive it. When the seed takes root and grows we see the world and ourselves in GodÅfs light. Jonathan Edwards had this sort of experience. Most of us remember him only for the sermon, ÅgSinners in the hands of an angry God,Åh but that is not typical of Edwards who was a naturalist, a student of human nature and religious affection and AmericaÅfs greatest theologian. You who have ears listen to this and realize that it can be your experience too.

I walked abroad alone, in a solitary place in my fatherÅfs pasture, for contemplation. And as I was walking there, and looked up on the sky and clouds; there came into my mind, a sweet sense of the glori ous majesty and grace of God, that I know not how to express. I seemed to see them both in a sweet con junction: majesty and meekness joined together: it was a sweet and gentle, and holy majesty; and also a majestic meekness; and awful sweetness; a high and great, and holy gentleness. After this my sense of divine things gradually increased, and became more and more lively, and had more of that inward sweet ness. The appearance of everything was altered: there seemed to be, as it were, a calm, sweet case, or appearance of divine glory, in almost everything, GodÅfs excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in everything; in the sun, moon and stars; in the clouds, and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water, and all nature. [Quoted in Mcintosh, p. 124]

Parables are work, so is gardening, so is anything in life worth having. Let him who has ears listen to the parable of the sower and let the good seed bear good fruit in the soil of our life together. It is as basic as this: good seed plus good soil equals good fruit. Listen.