July 13, 2008 Sermon, Pentecost 9 (Proper 10) The Reverend Eric Liles Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 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." Last week we began our sermon series on Jesus' parables in Matthew. We talked about a good and faithful approach to try and understand Jesus' teaching was to become childlike in our faith. We need to put aside our heavy burdens of self-righteousness, of certainty, and judgment of others and take up Jesus' easy burden of an inquisitive mind, hands for playing, feet for dancing and a heart for loving. Today we continue in that theme as we explore the parable of the good soil. It is no accident that we go from becoming childlike to talking about dirt. And in the weeks to come we will explore some parables about seeds and harvest. But as every farmer and gardener knows in order to grow good crops, in order to bear fruit, you have to have good soil first. Our Gospel reading today begins with Jesus in the midst of a large crowd. A crowd so large that he has to get onto a boat and go out into the water a small distance out so that the greatest amount of people can hear him. Jesus has attracted these large crowds through his teaching and healing, but there are still a lot of skeptics among them. Many of the people in the crowd are unwilling to cast aside their heavy burdens and cannot hear the truth of Jesus' message. There is a break in our reading between verses 9 and 18. The second part of our reading, when Jesus explains the meaning of the parable is just for the disciples, just for those who can approach him with a childlike trust and curiosity. There are two main points that I think we should look at today. First is that we need to prepare out hearts to be the good soil that will sustain the seed of the word of God, and secondly, that we are called to be just like the sower in this parable. How do we prepare our hearts to be the good soil? Well, what do we know about the good soil in this parable? The good soil has been cleared of rocks, of thorns, and there is a depth to the dirt. When the seed falls on the good soil it bears fruit and yields. Many of you have a garden at home. You know the work it takes to prepare soil for planting. It is hard work to clear away the stones in an area you want to plant in. In my backyard where we set up our garden, we constantly battle against the thorny weeds that threaten to choke out our plants. Jesus teaches in this parable about the dangers of being lazy in the Christian life. There are many distractions in the world that threaten to choke out our faith if we let them overtake us, indeed even enemies who work against the soil. How are you working to ensure that your heart is good soil for the seed of the word of God? In my garden I am starting to learn how important it is to be involved every day. Allison and I were out of town this past week and have come home to a garden in need to weeding and watering. Our plants have suffered from our lack of attentiveness. Many of us in this room today, for one reason or another, have allowed the worries and distractions of the world to take root in our hearts. If we are not regularly weeding our the sin in our hearts, those things which are not of God and cause us separation form God, then we run the risk of having the good news overrun. When we are actively engaging to improve the soil of our hearts, to be the good soil that Jesus talks about, then we bear fruit. And you all know that good fruit is usually full of seeds. The other theme we should look at today is how when we are bearing good fruit, we then in turn become the sowers of seeds of God's good news. What we are looking at today is a person who goes out to sow some seed. The sower in the parable seems downright wasteful. Seeds are falling on the path, in rocks, amongst thorns and on good soil. There dos not seem to be a special technique, there does not seem to be a need to be stingy with the sowing. While this might make some of us who know the value of seeds, when we think about sowing the seeds of the word of God it makes perfect sense. There is no need to withhold any seed for next year because there will always be enough seed to go around. And more good news is that all of us have the tools and capacity to sow these seeds. St. Paul some years after Jesus spoke these words that (1 Corn 3:6), "I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow." Out ultimate concerns as those who are called to be like children in our generous sowing of the seed of the Word of God is not to guard it like a closely kept secret, nor to plant one seed and stand guard over it, but to lavishly share with all sorts of people in all types of places and situations the seed of the word of God. Then we can trust that others may water that seed and God will make it to grow. Next week we begin to tackle some difficult parables about the kingdom of heaven. We will continue in our childlike approach to understanding Jesus and need to be good soil. As we go from this place today, let us prepare our hearts to be the good soil in which the word of God can richly dwell and bear much fruit, that we in turn may go out and sow the seeds that will help others develop and deepen a sustaining faith in Christ. Amen. the Reverend Eric Liles