by The Rev. Darrell Huddleston
Gen. 25:19-24; Ps. 65:9-14; Rm. 8:1-11; Mt. 13:1-9, 18-23
This is one of those parables of Jesus that preaches itself. The Parable of the Sower: The Soil, the Seed, and the Sower. Three parts to it and all related. The Greek word parable (παÏαβολn, ‘parabole’) means “something cast beside†something else in order to explain or clarify it. The great NT scholar C. H. Dodd said, “…the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.†(Parables of the Kingdom, p. 5)
The dictionary defines parable as “A simple tale told to illustrate a moral truth.†But Jesus’ parables are not simple, moralistic tales, but complex, profound stories. There is mystery to them; there is a depth, an open-endedness, which makes us see something new when we read them over and over.
Parables are not problems or puzzles to be solved, but are to be lived with, reflected upon, ruminated, savored, knowing that at different times they may say more to us than other times or even something completely different. Parables open windows enabling us to see in ways we’d never thought of or experienced before. Parables often reverse our assumptions about how things are or should be in the world.
Most parables of Jesus do not have an allegorical component as this one does giving an explanation for each type of soil. The result is that the most common approach preachers take with this parable is to focus on the soil and how each type illustrates our lives. I am going to do that, but I also want to focus on the Seed and the Sower.
Some seed fell on a hard Pathway and the birds came and ate it. Ground so hard that not even a crack was available for the seed to fall in and take root. Hard, encrusted lives occur when bitterness, grief, hatreds, jealousies take over and feed on our spirit just as the birds fed on the seed.
Some seed fell on Rocky Ground where the soil was shallow. The seed took root but lack of nutrients caused it to wither and die. I’ve seen many people enter a life in Christ with great enthusiasm, and then lose interest for a variety of reasons. They may not like the priest, or so-and-so snubbed them at church, or God didn’t save them from tragedy and loss, or, sometimes they gave up out of plain laziness. I recall Longfellow’s words from his poem, “The Village Blacksmith,†with which I at times can identify:
Toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing,
So I my life conduct,
Each morning sees some task begun;
Each evening sees it chucked.
Keeping the faith when the going gets tough is the real test as to whether we are, as St. Paul said, “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.†(Col. 2:7)
Some seed fell among Thorns and the crop was choked and strangled by them. Every gardener is well aware of what happens when weeds take over. Here Jesus particularly identifies the cares of this world and the lure of wealth.
Some seed fell on Good Soil and the yield was staggeringly abundant, 30, 60 even 100 fold. At least two things are being said here: One, we are not all the same and this is recognition by Jesus of that fact, but all of us are called to be fruitful in the faith. And, two, the Harvest from the good soil was immense and, in the gospel context, is evidence of the Messianic Age which Jesus inaugurated. Jesus’ disciples are to be about the work of being fruitful in his name if we are to call ourselves by his name.
What type or types of soil are you? It’s important to ask ourselves what am I, or am I not, doing to build and strengthen my spiritual roots? What is helping control the weeds, the thorns, in my life? What can I feed myself spiritually that will insure I produce a bumper crop?
We are all in need of what I call “spiritual compost†that can rejuvenate the soil of our lives so we may be made more receptive and fruitful.
Daily prayer and devotional life.
Faithful worship life.
Seeking first the Kingdom of God and not our own desires.
Practicing the faith until we have it (John Wesley).
Focusing on what we can do for others and what we do for ourselves.
Compost for the soul….the stuff that can turn us into the fields of God.
That the seed eventually bore fruit in the disciples is a testimony to the seed, the Word of God…God’s gracious love. Dormant Seeds are amazing. It’s hard to detect any metabolic process in seeds….they seem dead. Sometimes they lie dormant for centuries and are planted and they come to life. That is so like us, where God’s word can be planted and it isn’t until years later that the seed of Christ’s love in our lives, which has been lying dormant in us grows and we blossom as faithful followers of Christ….we bear fruit…all those fruits of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.†(Gal. 5:22-23)
It’s also good to remember as the seed of God’s love is planted within us, that, just like the first disciples, we are not just one type soil. Remember how at first what Jesus was telling them was not sinking in…it was bouncing off like seed cast on pavement….to the point that they all deserted him in his greatest hour of need. It wasn’t until after the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, that their lives became like good soil that was receptive to God’s word.
Now all this agricultural imagery may not click with you. It’s understandable in that only 2% of the population of America is engaged in direct agriculture. If you are a gardener, you can relate to this imagery. But, even if you are not a farmer or a gardener, we can all relate to what failure and success are about and how it is part and parcel of our lives.
How many of you are faithful Christians yet your children never darken a church door, even though they were raised in the church? How many times has something gone wrong in our lives and we despair of God? I have a friend who when his wife got cancer, blamed God and quit going to church. If that’s how God was going to treat him after all his years of faithful church involvement, then he’d had it with God. I understood his feelings borne from grief…but somewhere along the way the seed had not taken root. He didn’t get that part about God doesn’t promise us a rose garden through life, just to be with us through it all.
Some have pointed out that perhaps the focus of this parable is not on the soil but on the sower. It is called, after all, “The Parable of the Sower†not “The Parable of the Soil.â€Â The seed of God’s redeeming love is broadcast far and wide and is indicative of God’s grace and care for us.
In actuality, broadcasting seed in such an indiscriminate manner was not how it was done by farmers of that time. To have done it as Jesus portrays in his parable would be as if I took lawn seed and threw it all over the gravel driveway, under the rhododendron bushes, and on the street, with some landing on the prepared soil for a new lawn. Jesus was stretching an agricultural image making the point that God’s love is showered on everyone. And even though our lives at times consist of every type of soil, God’s desire is that Christ-like love takes root in us and grows, to even 30, 60, or a 100-fold. And God the Sower can make that miracle happen if we are open to it.