Seeds Will Wait

By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, Rector

The parable of the sower is a beautiful illustration of how people receive the Word. It's also an illustration of the Word is constantly present in the many different places in the world, and in our lives.

When I first read this parable for this morning and read again how Jesus explains it, I thought that about sums it up. He just explained it. Who am I to add anything else? Do I dare ? Well, yes. That's part of the gift of parables, it's a gift that keeps on giving. We constantly see new things in them and open them in different ways.

"Word" is a pun right off the bat. Just as Jesus explains that the seed that is scattered is the word of God thrown onto different kinds of soil, we need to remember that he is the word made flesh and that he wandered all over Israel and the surrounding countries. He went to different types of land and the word took root in different ways as he went.

Some scoffed and turned away, some listened for a while and followed for time, but left when following him was getting politically dangerous. Some deserted him right at the end. And some stayed true the whole time. Jesus is the word made flesh and the seed that takes root in so many ways.

The types of soil can be different kinds of people and the varied circumstances of their lives that challenge them. This is the place where Jesus' explanation is the clearest. This is also where I'd like to add something. We are not just rocky people, or the types who only get eaten by birds or are shallow or even just good soil. People are complicated and we go through phases in our lives in which we reflect each of these conditions.

There's not just one shot at hearing the word of God and having it take root. One of the illustrations of the parable is the sower continually throws the seed even when he must realize it's going off the path and out of the cultivated field. And the sower doesn't just sow for one season, it's every season and every year, always in the hope of harvest.

I think that's how God works with us; constantly trying to get our attention and lovingly and extravagantly throwing seed even where a more prudent farmer would not.

The word of God is about love, reconciliation, hope, generosity, and most importantly about resurrection. Jesus preached about these things wherever he went - some heard it and some didn't. But what's even most amazing is that the ones who didn't hear it at first, came to hear it later on. One of the most notable examples of this is the Centurion at the crucifixion who exclaimed, "Truly, this was the son of God."

We hear messages of love our whole lives long. Sometimes we soak it in and sometimes we don't want to hear it. We hear wise people talk of forgiveness and how important it is, and we agree until someone has hurt us so badly that we cannot find forgiveness in our hearts. And then one day we do. We go from rocky soil to good soil.

Seeds last a long time. That's one of the incredible characteristics about seeds. They appear dead, but hold the potential for life deep within, just waiting until the environment is right. Again, God is like that. Patiently waiting until the conditions are right to take root.

Finally each pod or flower that grows from the seed produces seeds of its own. And that's where we come in. The word of God that was planted in us and grows through the varied stages and conditions of our lives, produces seeds of witness that we in turn scatter where we go. Some people listen and some don't, or rather they don't seem to, but might just have the seed dormant until they need it.

In the first lesson from Isaiah, we heard the beautiful canticle from the 55th Chapter:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Behind the poetry and the parables is the sincere conviction that God loves us and will keep at us until the ground is fertile for us to hear that message. It's all around us and will take root.

Amen.

© 2011 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ