My sermon for Pentecost 9
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+In Nomine Iesu+
Pentecost 9—Confirmation
St Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
13 July 2008
Matthew 13 is a chapter replete with parables. Indeed, within 58 verses
we find seven of these teaching devices. In addition to today, our next
two Sundays will draw their Gospel readings from this chapter.
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Among the several characteristics of a parable is this – in some way we
will find our self described here. The description may be flattering.
Maybe not. Indeed, maybe both at the same time.
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Today’s reading is commonly called “The Parable of the Sower.” But
perhaps a better name would be, “The Parable of the Soils.” The sower is
consistent. It is the soils that vary. Indeed, it is to the soils that
our attention is drawn.
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The subject matter is quite straight forward. A sower goes out to sow.
He encounters four distinct kinds of soil. The descriptions are given to
us. The first is a roadside shoulder. The soil is so hard there is no
chance for the seed. Birds come along and quickly eat it up. Secondly,
there is the rocky ground with very meager topsoil. The seed sprouts,
but because of the poor depth of soil the plant is immediately dried up.
Third is the soil infested with weeds. The sprouted plant has no chance
to compete and is crowded out. Finally, there is the good soil. Here the
seed sprouts, grows vigorously, and yields a fine crop.
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The sower is, obviously, Jesus. The seed is His Word which He preaches –
sows. And the fields are human hearts. At this point we are typically
asked to examine our hearts. Examine ourselves to determine what kind of
soil we are. And, if we find ourselves to be anything but “good” soil we
are encouraged to change things. However, soil does not change. Indeed,
it cannot. Soil simply is.
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I wonder if there might not be something else going on here. The point
Jesus aims at in His teaching is not always evident at first glance.
Sometimes the real message is hidden under what seems to be a simpler,
rather more obvious message.
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Could it not be that instead of describing four different individuals,
Jesus is actually describing one individual at four different moments of
time? Could it not be that each of us will be each of these soils –
depending upon the situation?
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Consider. We are in church Sunday morning, listening to the sermon.
Suddenly we become rather uncomfortable. Not because the minister is
preaching falsehood – he is not. Rather, our discomfort comes because he
is preaching the truth. Indeed, what he is saying is altogether too
true. His words apply to us. We hear him and it seems as if he is
speaking only about us. A chill comes over us. Our jaw clinches. We get
our back up, as it were. And we refuse to listen any longer. We stop our
ears. We won’t take it. At that moment what have we become if not the
hard soil? The Word is “scattered,” sowed into our ears, and is just as
quickly snatched away.
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On another occasion we hear the preaching of God’s Word happily. The
message gladdens our hearts. We welcome Christ’s preaching. But, as time
goes on, other matters crowd into our minds. What we have heard from God
is still there, but it is being crowded out by other stuff. We’re not
back in church for several weeks. Other things fill our lives. Things at
work, in the family, at home. What is this if not a description of soil
where there is no chance for the seed to grow? A situation where the
seed dries up?
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Or this situation. We sit in church on Sunday morning fully intent upon
concentrating on what we are doing in the liturgy and what we are
hearing in the sermon. But one thought after another distracts us.
Things pop into our minds and refuse to go away. Or there is a
distraction that breaks our concentration. Or we notice something out of
the ordinary that causes our mind to wander. Here we have any number of
thorns intent on crowing out what we are hearing.
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But then there are also those Sundays when, for some reason, we hear the
Word of God in a new way. It’s the same message as before, but on this
particular day something clicks in a unique way. A light bulb goes off
in our heads, as it were. Our heart feels newly at ease. We have
realized in a new way what we always knew, and there is great joy within
us. A new phrase, perhaps. A particular combination of words, and the
mercy of God for us – for _us_ – hits us like the proverbial ton of
bricks. And as a result, this is all we can talk about on the way home.
This is what we dwell upon in our devotions that evening. This is what
we tell our friends about over the course of the next week. You see?
Good soil. For some reason – on that particular day – the soil of our
hearts received God’s mercy in a way that yielded much fruit.
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You see the point, dear friends? This text is not about different kinds
of people. Here we are reading about ourselves. We are each of these
soils. And on this soil that is us, the sower continues to work week
after week.
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But there is one more thing that needs to be said. What this parable
does not deal with is the soil over which the sower did not pass. One
hundred feet to either side was more soil. There the seed never came.
Why? Because that soil was not where the sower was. His seed could not
reach that soil. And the point is? The four soils that are described for
us are the soils found within the Church. That is where the sower is
active. Outside the Church the seed is not being scattered. Outside the
Church there is no real hearing of God’s Word. The soils described in
our parable reacted the way they did only because they happened to be
where the sower was. The point is this. Absent yourself from the Church
and you absent yourself from the sower and His seed. What is it that St
Paul declares? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
No hearing – no faith. No faith – no salvation. Faith needs an object.
It cannot simply believe in itself. It is in the Church that Jesus
stands before you as the object that faith must latch onto. It is in the
Church you learn that Jesus has – and does – forgive you.
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In our two congregations three young ladies are being confirmed this
morning. Three delightful young ladies who have been an absolute joy to
teach. They stand this morning before God. They will make their
confession. Over the past years the seed of God’s Word has been cast
upon their hearts with great vigor. Pray for them, dear friends. Pray
that the soil of their hearts may always, with gladness, hear the Word
of God and keep it.
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And pray, also, for yourselves. On you, too, the Savior casts His seed.
Beg of Him hearts that will soak up all that He has to give. And at the
same time, repent of your hardness, your shallowness, the thorns that
you have allowed to choke off what God has sent.
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And then believe with confidence that your prayers have been heard. Your
Savior has come. He has come for you. He has come to you. He has done
everything necessary for your salvation. And now He whispers into your
ear: “Be of good cheer, your sins have been forgiven.” YOURS! For so it is.
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/In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit./
Amen
++Consummatum est,, in omne tempus++
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