Watch What You Sow

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen! Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

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There's a genre, in my opinion, that seems to have stood the test of time. And that is the story of the avenger or the vengeance seeker. It's a narrative that you can find in movies (i.e., The Godfather), video games (i.e., The Last of Us), books, and other forms of media like tabletop games or role playing adventures like D&D. What makes this type of story so alluring? Is it the violence that takes place? Is it the bringing about or lack of justice? Perhaps you've formulated a theory in your mind, but I would throw out that maybe these stories are interesting because they speak to the human condition. We reap what we sow. And if we aren't thoughtful or caring about how we "sow" our words or actions, we could find ourselves in an avenger/vengeance story of our own.

The Parable of the Sower speaks to us in two different ways. Of course, it speaks to our soul and what we have allowed to grow or not grow. However, this Parable of the Sower also asks to consider, "What is it that we have sown? And are we ready to reap what we have sown?" What kind of seeds have you sowed lately? Have you sown seeds that contain love and compassion, or have you gone around spreading seeds that possess malice and contempt? And where are you scattering the seeds? Have you tended to the soil to make it a place that can nurture others, or is it a place that constricts and brings down others? It's a lot to think about, I know, but if today is not the day, then when will we consider these questions? Parables teach us, but they also challenge us, and in today's social climate, we all need to sit down and take these teachings to heart.

Let's first talk about the internal teachings that this parable provides us. Our hearts, metaphorically speaking, are likened to the different soils where the sowers seed lands. There's a chance that our hearts are hardened, from being repeatedly walked on or trampled. There's a chance that our hearts are like the rocky soil or soil overcome by thorns. And there are times that our hearts are like the good earth that has been prepared and tended to. If we were to take a moment, what would we find? Would our hearts be like the earth that someone has tilled or overcome with thorns? And that's just the initial step because then we have to look at what kind of seeds have taken root in our hearts as well. If we discover that we have less than ideal soil or that we have filled our fields with bad seed, then what we sow in the world around us will be less than pleasing to God and one another.

I want us to hammer home this point of looking inside ourselves and doing the convicting work of looking at what fills our hearts. I think that many of us were hopeful that at the outset of this pandemic when we all stayed home, we would find the time to appreciate one another and care more deeply about those around us. But it seems that varnish has vanished and we find that we are in an even more toxic environment than we were in before everything went awry. I say this as someone who has wrestled with waning patience, and as someone who has grown disheartened by the rhetoric of people on social media and in-person. What has happened to us? Technology, which was supposed to help us connect, has made it easier to pull punches with one another. And our time in isolation appears to have turned us into people who have forgotten what it means to show basic human decency to our neighbors!

That is why we need to look at how this parable addresses both our internal and external status. Because in this second part, we find that as we continue to do the work of self-reflection, we still need to carry out the community-building work in God's kingdom. We need to till the soil around us and sow seeds that are good and filled with an essence of God's love. And that work of tending the field and scattering seed is not only kingdom building, but kin(g)dom building as well. That means that it's not just about tending to the broader systems that support us but also caring for our neighbors and strangers. Christ asks that we till the soil in our hearts, make it healthy and fertile so that when we cultivate good things within ourselves, we can go out and do the same with the people God has called us to love. Let us clear out the brush and stones that keep us from caring for one another.

The beautiful part of the Parable of the Sower is that grace still abounds even in the soil that is that ideal for planting. Even in places like the rocky soil and the patches of weeds, the seeds can take root and grow. It isn't easy, but it is possible. We see this in trees that split rocks apart wildflowers that are hardy enough to survive in whatever environment they find themselves. There are countless opportunities to cultivate our hearts, which will directly impact the people around us. Doing so is crucial, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because God mandates that we do this hard and messy work. And in the moments when it feels like everything has gone wrong, God's grace shows us that there is another chance for us to go at it again. While it's true that seeds that land on rocky or hard soil have less of a chance of growing roots, sometimes it happens.

So how are we going to apply the teachings of the Parable of Sower to our lives? Make a list if you have to, but seriously name the ways that you plan to grow as a person of faith to allow the seeds God scatters to grow in fertile soil. Otherwise, we risk falling into the same old tropes that captivate our imagination in stories about avengers and vengeance. Let us purge our hearts of the hate and malice we harbor, both explicit and implicit. It doesn't mean that we can't express frustration or discontent, but when we create fields that produce nothing but unbridled anger, it's time we take a step back. Let us see where God is at work, bringing grace to the places that need healing and reconciliation. We might notice seeds beginning to take root in unexpected places, so let our hearts be tended to so that we may tend to others as we continue to live in the kin(g)dom where God has called us. Amen.