Finding Ourselves in the Picture
Text: Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Very often when we hear the parables of Jesus, we try to find where we are in the parables. And predictably, we’re usually the main character, or the good guy, or the one who eventually becomes good. So of course we’re the prodigal son who comes to his senses and returns home to our joyful Father. Of course we’re the fig tree that just needs a little more time and work from Jesus to thrive. Of course we’re the wise virgin bridesmaids who have enough oil to joyfully welcome Jesus the Bridegroom when He arrives.
But today we might stumble a bit as we hear the parable presented to us. “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprung up, 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 produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who ears, let him hear.” With so many options of places to find ourselves in this parable, we might be a little confounded. We’d like to think that we’re always and only good soil that the seed lands on, producing great and wholesome grain. But then, when we hear Jesus’ explanation of the parable, we get to thinking: Aren’t I sometimes the hardpacked earth of the path, where the seed just bounces off? There are so many things about God’s Word that I don’t understand, so I end up putting it out mind, not learning it by heart or even trying to comprehend it because it’s too difficult. That’s exactly what Jesus says that soil is: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.”
But then again, we think, sometimes I’m all too happy and gung-ho about something in that Word that I’ve heard, some resolution I’ve made about being a Christian. But then as soon as someone challenges that thing I’ve heard and was excited about, as soon as the first hiccup comes along with that resolution I made, doesn’t that enthusiasm wither, especially when things don’t get easier but become something more akin to a scorching heat, like the rocky soil in the parable? Or haven’t I sometimes been like the soil with thorns, worried about the concerns of the world, or the cares that come from pondering and seeking earthly wealth so that I think about money much more than I think about my Lord and His Word? And yes, sometimes I have heard God’s Word and understood it and taken it to heart, producing fruit in keeping with it.
The problem with basing this parable on where we see ourselves in it is that we change so much from day to day, even hour to hour, particularly when it comes to what we’re doing with the Word of God’s kingdom. And so, if we’re going to hear this word and understand it, if we’re going to really grasp what our Lord is setting before us, we must have something more stable to found our understanding of the parable on. And when we look for that in this parable today, we find one thing that does not change, that remains solid and steady: the seed cast by the sower. That is, we see the steadiness and unchanging nature of that Word of the kingdom.
It is this Word that becomes the center of everything. It does not fail. It may at times be snatched, or sometimes scorched; sometimes it’s choked or matted flat. And the sower, Jesus, continues to send it out in reckless love, not pausing to evaluate how ready we are to hear it, or to determine if we’re the best target demographic, or to see if we’re worthy and have somehow proven ourselves with abundant fruit before the seed is even planted. But He send it out, spreads it abroad, and it takes root, shallow or deep, accomplishing what it has been sent to do. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,” says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, “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 shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
This is comfort for you. For no matter what soil you are today, or during this hour, and no matter what you will be this afternoon, or tomorrow, or next week, or next year, your Lord sends His Word to you. He’s not gauging you to see if you’re ready or worthy or productive enough. He’s just sending you His Word. He’s done it today with three separate readings. He’s done it throughout this entire service, where our liturgy has been drawn from the Scriptures, nearly every word having its root in the Word given through the Prophets and Apostles. And here’s the other secret to understanding the beauty of this parable: He who created the heavens and the earth—and all the various soils and terrains and types of people—can and will transform you into good soil. In fact, He’s been doing that this entire time with the very Word that He’s been casting out to you. He absolved your sins with the Absolution at the beginning of the service, pulling out all the rocks and weeds and thorns and thistles, all the sins that might weigh you down and pollute your mind, heart, soul, and body. He’s taken those out and He’s reminding you of your Baptism, making sure that you’re watered thoroughly from that holy font. He’s nourishing you with His body and blood in the Sacrament, uniting Himself as the source of all life to you, so that life would grow and thrive in you, even to eternity. The God who created the earth and everything in it with nothing more than His Word is now doing the same in you, making you into good soil that will receive His Word, that will produce, sometimes a hundredfold, sometimes sixty, and sometimes thirty. And He is joyful over you at any of those, for His Word is accomplishing in you precisely what it was sent to do. In the name of Jesus, who sends out His Word. Amen.
