Where Seed Meets Soil

Jesu Juva

St. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23                                                     

July 12, 2020

Proper 10A                                                     

Dear saints of Our Savior~

          Gardening is hard work.  Lots of people, including me, enjoy gardening; but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s hard work.  Squatting, bending, and kneeling take a toll on old muscles.  There’s the unpredictability of the weather—too much rain or too little, too cool or too hot, wind and hail—all those variables play havoc with the garden.  And then there are the pests—bunnies and birds and bugs—just to name a few.  A gardener’s work is never done, and that work is always hard work.  And maybe that’s why, for His first parable in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus takes us to the garden—to where seed meets soil.

          In the parable a gardener goes out to sow his seed; and, as we come to find out, that “seed” is the “word of the kingdom.”  That seed is the “good news” about what God is doing for sinners through Jesus of Nazareth.  Unfortunately, the thing that jumps right off the page of this parable is how “unsuccessful” the whole endeavor is.  In the meeting of seeds and soil, the rate of “failure” is astonishingly high.  Some of this good seed of the kingdom gets snatched away by the Evil One.  Some other seeds sprout up joyfully for a while, only to quickly wither because of tribulation and persecution.  Other seed sprouts up and grows for a time, only to be strangled and choked to death later on by worry and greed.  Only a tiny fraction of God’s great seeds—only the very slender portion that falls on good soil—actually grows and thrives and produces an abundant harvest. 

          What does this mean?  Well, there’s good news and bad news.  First of all the good news:  Congratulations!  The Word of the Kingdom is growing in you!  In you, God the gardener has brought together good seed and good soil.  And the result is faith in Jesus, and good works for your neighbor.  But here’s the bad news from this parable:  The ministry of Jesus—whether in the First Century or the Twenty-First Century—is not always “successful” in the ways that we measure success.  The Word of God that today is being scattered and flung and hurled to the far corners of the earth via satellite and e-mail and internet and even old-fashioned missionaries—that Word of God doesn’t always “work” in the sense that droves of unbelievers are going to repent and believe.  No, the Word of God is always “rejectable.”  God suffers Himself to be scorned and stepped-on in this world.  He reveals Himself to ridicule. 

          This is also “bad news” for our outreach efforts.  It means that we might do everything properly and prayerfully.  We might faithfully and dutifully scatter the seed of God’s Word right here in our communities and neighborhoods.  We might welcome visitors with love and acceptance.  We might speak God’s truth with love and tact and sensitivity—and do it winsomely—but, in the end, we may have little to show for it.  In fact, what we do end up with might be increasing persecution and unbelief.  But then again, Jesus didn’t invite us to follow Him and share in His success.  He invited us to take up our crosses and follow Him—to share in His rejection in this life, even as we will share in His resurrection in the life of the world to come.

          Gardeners know about failure.  Sometimes seeds don’t sprout.  Sometimes weeds take over.  I planted beans in my garden this year, as I always do.  But I accidentally bought seeds for “pole beans” instead of “bush beans.”  And I don’t own any poles.  Will I have beans to harvest this year?  God only knows.  So it is with the seed of God’s Word.  God always achieves the results He wants; His Word does not return to Him empty.  But sometimes God’s results are hidden—completely hidden—from our eyes. 

          I have to say, though, that I sow my seeds in an entirely different fashion than the sower in Jesus’ parable.  I take great pains to prepare my soil before I plant.  I measure its length and width.  I map it each spring, sketching and diagramming what seeds will go where, and how many rows and mounds of each.  I personally plow my soil one shovelful at a time.  I fertilize it with only the finest manure.  I scrupulously avoid all pesticides and herbicides.  I suffer for my soil so that my seeds have the very best chance to grow.

          But when our God scatters the seed of His Word, His approach is entirely different, as demonstrated by the sower in the parable.  He went out to sow his seed.  But that guy must have been wearing a blindfold because he sows his seed like someone who’s blind as a bat.  Look at the guy!  Recklessly, randomly, haphazardly, unpredictably slinging seed from here to kingdom come.  On cement and sidewalk, among weeds and thorns, where soil is thick or thin, rich or poor—it doesn’t matter a hill of green beans to him.  He’s prodigal in His planting—liberally letting fly fistfuls of His holy seed.

          This is our generous God, who wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.  This is our God who has reconciled the whole world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them.  This is our God who forgives wickedness and who remembers sins no more.  He sows His seed everywhere—on the homosexuals of Sodom, where only a few seeds take root while the rest fall on rocky hearts destined for fire and brimstone.  He sows His seeds on the murderous people of Nineveh, delivered through the mouth of a reluctant prophet named Jonah, and the whole city of 120,000 repent in sackcloth and ashes.  Sometimes the seed sprouts and sometimes it doesn’t.  Our God sows here, there, and everywhere, sending preachers to preach the Word in season and out of season, whether embraced or rejected, scorned or loved.

          But my dear hearers of the Word, heed this warning:  It would be a big mistake to hear today’s parable and conclude that the seed of God’s Word has sprung to life in you because you’re the right kind of person—a good person—a noble and generous person—the kind of person that God can’t help but bring into His kingdom.  That’s a lie we love to believe.  So, repent and believe the truth:  When God first sowed His seed in your heart it fell on rock-hard soil—soil already choked by weeds and thorns and thistles.  But here’s the deal we call “grace.”  God’s Word doesn’t go looking for good soil to fall into; it creates good soil for itself no matter how inhospitable your heart may be.

          Jesus doesn’t go looking for the right kind of people to believe.  He doesn’t scout out for Himself the best soil for planting.  He simply sows, and His Word has its way with you.  He waters it with water from the font.  He gives the growth in you.  And by His Word of grace and forgiveness, He makes your life fertile and fruitful, filled with good works.  It’s as if I stepped onto the fresh asphalt of Santa Monica Boulevard and there scattered my seeds on the street. . . and by sunrise the next morning, that black, oily pavement was transformed into pure, rich soil.  A hard and lifeless street becomes brimming and blooming with all things green and growing, leading to a rich harvest.  That’s what the Lord Jesus does to you and for you.  He transforms the cold pavement of your heart into a parking place for His holy Word, His Holy Spirit, His holy body and blood, His life that lasts forever.

          All this is because God’s holy Word—His seed—is packed with power.  It is packed with the life of Jesus who died for your sins and who suffered hell in your place.  In the stripes and the deep furrows of His flesh your sin was planted.  He suffered, died and was buried in the earth, like a seed, so that He might have you and keep you as His own.  The nail-scarred hands of Jesus tell the whole story as to why God’s Word is producing so much fruit and so many good works in you:  God sowed; you received.  God transformed your rocky heart into good soil; you received.  God gave growth to His seed; you received.  God keeps you in the one truth faith, grants you daily forgiveness, and opens the kingdom of heaven to you and all believers; and you—you receive that salvation as a gift from God.

          The sower went out to sow His seed.  He has sowed it in you.  And when the final harvest comes, He will find in you an abundant crop—faith, hope, and love.  He who has ears, let him hear. 

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.