The Parable of the Sower, our Gospel lesson for today, is found in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) as well as in the Gospel of Thomas. When that occurs it usually means that the story is both authentic to Jesus and reflects fairly accurately what Jesus actually said. We know that the stories about Jesus and his teachings were first circulated in the oral tradition. Hence they were designed to be remembered by frequently moving forward in threes. This parable has a tripartite structure also: the parable itself, the questioning of the disciples as to why Jesus spoke in parables (not included in the lectionary for today), and an allegorical interpretation that may or may not have been an add-on by the Early Church. In any case, in Matthew it signals a new direction in Jesus' teaching. He is now beginning to acknowledge, in subtle ways, that he is the Messiah, the hoped for one. The Sower introduces a whole series of parables about the Kingdom in Matthew.

Traditionally this was interpreted as a missionary parable…one in which the church takes the seeds of the Gospel and sows them among the heathen. It is now agreed by scholars that God is the sower, Jesus, as the Word of God (pre-existent with God before creation), is the seed, and the four different places the seed falls the entire world. Hence it is not a parable in which we are called to bring others to Jesus, but rather we are to acknowledge that the Kingdom is present everywhere among all people. Our role is to get out of the way and allow the fruits of the spirit to grow within us.

Walt Zelley, the Rector of St. Luke's, Metuchen, NJ, where I first served told this story:

"There was a harried Wall Street broker who decided at the age of 40 to abandon the Lower Manhattan 'rat race," and to become a gentleman farmer in upstate New York. He bought a hundred acre farm that had lain fallow for a number of years and utilized his not inconsiderable management, administrative, and financial skills in whipping it into shape. He totally renovated and restored the crumbling farm house, barn and other buildings. He got all the best and most efficient farming machinery. He purchased a good stock of dairy cows, and he cultivated the farm land which soon had acres and acres of crops. Being a devout Episcopalian he decided, when all was done, that it might be nice to have his priest come out and bless the farm. When the priest arrived, the broker-turned-farmer gave him a 'cook's tour' of the facilities, pointing out all the hard work and imagination he had invested in turning this failed agricultural enterprise around. Finally, the priest couldn't stand it any longer. 'You should stop bragging about all the things you've done, Joe, and give thanks to God.' Joe pondered this idea for a moment and then replied, "Heck, Father, you should have seen this place when it was God's alone!'"

(Sermon, St. Luke's Church, Metuchen, NJ, The Rev. E. Walton Zelley, Jr., Rector. 7/12/1987)

Robert Capon, in Parables of the Kingdom, pp. 68-69, notes that "…the characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven in this parable are: catholicity, mystery, and present actuality. The Kingdom/seed is sown universally, and is at work everywhere and always and for all." Hence, it is not just for Israel but for the entire world. Further, Israel had no guarantee that because one was a Jew one would inherit all of its benefits. Can you imagine the consternation of the Jewish leaders when they heard that?

Further, it is cloaked in mystery, just as a seed, a tiny thing, disappears mysteriously into the soil only to emerge in a different and much larger form. Nothing can make the seed grow; it does so, mysteriously, all on its own. Finally, the seeds actually work. As Christians our charge is to simply acknowledge that fact, and stay out of the way. The harvest will be each of us as individuals and as a community as we bear the fruit of the spirit.

The Church over the centuries has acted as though we and all people needed to earn the spirit. We had to follow certain disciplines, do good deeds, attend church etc. It is not that these aren't good things and helpful to the spiritual life, but the reality is, we cannot earn the Kingdom. We need to simply step back and enjoy the reality that it brings. We cannot make it happen nor can we explain it…it simply "is" and must be believed and trusted, not proved. Our job is to tell people what has already been done for them…that all of us are loved beyond measure and none of us are beyond the reach of the love of the triune God.

The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith and meekness. They are the free gifts that come from being who we were made to be, not in doing anything. The whole point of the Kingdom and the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection were to bring us home to God. Jesus Christ like the seed, died, was hidden in darkness and rose again in light to a new reality. The Word, Jesus Christ, came into a hostile world, one that not only did not welcome him but needed to kill him. God, however, had the last say. Inadvertently, the world did exactly what needed to be done in order to show the incredible love of our Creator. Anthony de Mello says:

"The sower goes out to sow his seed

Some of it falls on rocky soil,

some among thorns and thistles,

some on the road where it is trampled on

or eaten by the birds, and some of it bears a hundredfold or maybe less, just thirty fold or sixty.

And I love the whole of that field.

I love the rock and the fertile soil,

the pathway and the thorns and thistles,

for all of it is part of life.

I love the seed that is sensationally fruitful

and the seed that has just average success.

Today I especially love the seed that is sown only to perish

so that before it goes into oblivion

it will be blessed and redeemed by my love.

Finally I look at the Savior on the cross,

symbolizing in his broken body and his unsuccessful mission

the drama of life in general and my life in particular.

I love him too, and as I press him to my heart

I understand that somewhere, somehow,

all of it has meaning,

all of it is redeemed and made beautiful

and resurrected."

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AMEN

Note: Many of the ideas and thoughts in this sermon have come from Robert Farrar Capon's book, Parables of the Kingdom. (Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI. pp 71-86)