A Sermon for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Patricia Gillespie

Isaiah 55:1-5,10-13
Psalm 65
Romans 12:9-28:9-171
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

The "parable of the sower" is a familiar one. If not familiar from church or scripture, it is familiar to most of us from gardening.

Experience tells us that if someone "broadcasts" seeds everywhere some of them just aren't going to make it.

We've probably all seen seeds scooped up as snacks by the birds and sprouts scorched by the heat. We know that seeds can't grow everywhere. What I'm not so certain of is just what Jesus wants us to know from this story.

In the verses today's reading skips, his disciples ask that kind of question. They ask why he teaches in sometimes confusing parables. Jesus' rather mysterious answer is that parables are for the disciples to understand and to confuse everyone else. (I guess it's no surprise then that this difficult stuff is left out of our reading.)

Jesus says: "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given." About the others, Jesus quotes Isaiah, they "will indeed listen, but never understand, and [they] will indeed look, but never perceive."

Now it begins to sound more like the kind of broadcasting that is done by cell phones or computers than the broadcasting of seeds. The information is broadcast all over the place but it is only intended for a select few. Some people, it seems, have been given the right receivers. This message is for them And the others don't get it.

I don't like that. I don't like secrets and exclusion. Why would Jesus' message be received on one person's cell phone and not another? What if when God's word is broadcast, I have the wrong receiver? What if I am a rocky road instead of good soil? That's always worried me about this parable.

Perhaps we might reconsider where we put ourselves in this story. Mostly I have identified with the soil I wonder if God's word will be able to grow in my life or whether I am just too rocky or too dried up or too stubborn or too impatient. Most days I don't feel like I'm particularly good soil and that's scary. If what God sends me doesn't take root how then can I possibly change what kind of soil I am without God's help?

But then I remember that, in the explanation part of the parable at least, Jesus is talking not to everyone, but just to his disciples. They have at least been good enough hearers, or fertile enough soil, to follow Jesus. (Though often enough we do see them missing the point and Jesus patiently explaining things to them.)

So maybe for those who are trying to follow Jesus - and that's us - the issue isn't what sort of soil we are. Perhaps we are meant to identify with something else in the story. Jesus has made it pretty clear that the seed is the word of God. So that leaves the sower. Maybe Jesus means for his followers to take the part of the sower in the story.

So here we are. Our hands are full of the good seed. We're headed out into the world to broadcast it everywhere. Now we're back to that uncomfortable "E" word - evangelism, going out spreading the good news. I prefer the more comfortable "E" word - episcopalian, staying right here with our beautiful worship.

I suspect that when God broadcasts the talents for evangelism tthe episcopal church makes for pretty rocky ground. I think the folks who have the right cell phones to receive that evangelism message must all be good Baptists or Pentecostals or ....

Sometimes it looks to us as if there isn't much good soil out there anyway. Just look around you at "the soil" – our surroundings, our community. Do you see a lot of places you could go and plant God's word and be heard? That seems to be just what Jesus is saying to his followers. Don't expect what you plant to grow everywhere. If you go out there with God's message Not everyone is going to hear it even when the shy Episcopalians join those others in proclaiming it.

Yet I do think there might be other work to be done here besides scattering seed. As I was reading this passage, I found myself humming: "We plow the fields and scatter." And suddenly I wonder just what makes for the good soil. Who does the plowing and cultivating? Who picks stones and fertilizes? You - you here who simply by being here show signs of being good soil - think about who or what prepared you to hear God's word. Who or what helped you to become open to receiving God's love? Maybe Mom or Grandpa? Maybe a child full of wonder or a friend who reached out when you were hurting? For most of us it probably wasn't a streetcorner evangelist who opened our heart to God. For most of us it was someone who loved us or taught us something about love. Someone helped us "tune our receivers" so we could hear God's word. Love can break through tough calloused hearts to make fertile ground for faith. Love can refresh a parched soul so God's word might take root there.

Certainly Christians are called to spread God's word - to broadcast it everywhere like seed. But Christians may also be asked to cultivate the soil. To remember those who prepared us to hear God's word and try to pass on that gift to others.

When we reach out to others with love, we help prepare the soil to receive God's love.

We understand about cultivating the fields and broadcasting seed. Yet still the parable rings true: in some places no matter how great our effort at cultivating and sowing, the seed may not thrive. That's no news to most folks.

But sometimes I forget that the parable doesn't end there. There is a huge surprise at the end. An entirely unexpected and extravagant abundance. The good soil overproduces incredibly. Seven-fold would be a great harvest, but for God's word, Jesus predicts a 30-, 60- and even 100-fold abundance.

This is the abundance that Isaiah writes about. Come, eat and drink without paying. In the end there is more than enough for everyone.

The grace of God's word overflows and surrounds us. Maybe it takes root in only in the good soil but the vine and branches may grow so incredibly that the blossoms cover everything. The message – God's word of love – will grow in abundance until everyone is tuned in to receive it. So don't let a few birds and rocks worry you. Let's get to work in God's garden.