Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – 3 August 2014
Rev. John Derme
If you have ever tried growing your own fruits or vegetables, then you know that there are many obstacles to growing food. Your soil has to be healthy enough to support your plants. You have to plant them correctly. You have to keep them watered so that they don't dry up. You have to keep the weeds under control. There are many different factors that can ruin your crop. If all the details aren't just right, it may fail.
Just as there are many obstacles for food to grow, so also there are many obstacles for faith to grow. There are many factors that can get in the way of hearing and believing the Word of God. In the Gospel of the Day Jesus tells us a story of a person who plants or sows seeds to grow food. With the obstacles and successes that the sower experiences, Jesus teaches us a far more important spiritual lesson about how you and I grow and sow.
Jesus tells us that a sower walked through his fields, throwing his seed in every direction. It was a big farm. He didn't have time to carefully drop seeds into neat little rows. He had to get the seed planted quickly, even though he knew that some of the seed would be wasted. There was nothing wrong with any of the seed. It was all viable seed. Whether it grew into a fruitful plant or not depended on where it landed.
The seed that fell along the path didn't grow, because it was just sitting there on top of the hard-packed dirt for the birds to eat. The seed that fell on the rocky places did grow quickly, but didn't last long. There wasn't enough soil into which they could send down roots, so the sun scorched and withered those plants. The seed that fell in with the thorn plants didn't last long, either. It grew at first, until the weeds choked out those plants. Only the seed that fell on good soil produced the crop that the sower wanted. And it produced so much that it more than made up for the seed that was wasted in the poor soil.
Jesus doesn't tell us this story just to teach us about gardening, of course. He is teaching us about how the gospel message is planted in people's hearts. The good news of eternal life and salvation through Jesus is the seed. Our hearts are the soil.
Sometimes the seed is snatched away from the soil. Like a bird gobbling up a seed, the devil snatches the gospel away from a person's heart, so that he does not understand it when he hears it. Sometimes the seed falls on rocky places. A person receives the Word of God joyfully when he first hears it, but he falls away from faith quickly when trouble or persecution come, because his faith is not deeply rooted. Sometimes the seed falls among the thorns. The worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it out, so that faith dies. But sometimes – many times – the seed falls on good soil. Many times a person hears the Word of God, believes it, and shows his faith in his life of good works. It may seem that the Word of God was wasted on those who didn't come to or remain in faith. But the one who does come to faith is so fruitful that it was worth it for the Lord to cause his Word to be spread far and wide.
Then the obvious question is: Which kind of soil is your heart? Are you a growing and fruitful plant or not? I wouldn't be surprised if some of you are thinking, "Of course my heart is good soil! Of course I have heard and believed! Don't you see that I'm sitting here in church? Can't you tell that I am producing fruit?"
But think about Jesus' parable before you say that. Realize that the devil is trying to snatch the Word of God away from you before you understand what it says. And realize that you will face trouble and persecution for believing the Word of God. That will offend your sinful nature and you will be tempted to leave the faith. And realize that the world with its worries and its wealth will try to choke out your faith. With all of these obstacles, is it safe to just assume that you are the good soil, that you will always believe God's Word and live a fruitful life? These obstacles have ruined the faith of other people who heard the Word. Other Christians have had their faith die. Don't think that you are so good that it couldn't happen to you. If that's what you think, it probably will happen to you. And if any of these obstacles claim you, you will be unfruitful and dead.
When you really think about all the obstacles there are to the gospel of Jesus growing in your heart, you might begin to think that believing and growing in faith is hopeless. The truth is that it would be hopeless if it were only up to us. We wouldn't stand a chance against the devil, who wants to snatch the Word away from us, the world, which wants to bombard us with worries and pleasures, or the sinful nature, which is scandalized by the tribulation that we Christians face. Yet we are not alone. Jesus lived and died to defeat the devil, the world, and our sinful nature for us. And though we were unfruitful, because we haven't always received and believed the gospel with all our hearts, Jesus died to pay the penalty for all of those sins.
Jesus has rescued us from the enemies who try to make our faith fail. Jesus has rescued us from the sins of when our faith has failed. And now Jesus promises that even though there are so many obstacles to receiving his good news, some people, many people will hear and believe. Jesus promises that there is good soil in this world just waiting to receive the seed. People will hear the Word of God, believe that Jesus is their Savior, and bear fruit in lives of thanksgiving to him. Jesus wants you and me to be that good soil. Jesus has done everything necessary to make us that good soil. Jesus has scattered his Word on us so that you and I may know what he has done and that he has done it for us.
One of the great things about being a Christian who hears and believes God's Word is that we keep growing. If we would stop receiving God's Word, if we would stop receiving his Sacrament, we would stop growing and we would die. But you and I have absolutely no desire for that to happen. We always want to hear more of what the Word of God says, because it tells us what Jesus has done to forgive our sins and give us eternal life.
Another one of the great things about being a Christian is that we do not only get to grow. We also get to sow. Since Jesus lived and died for all people of the world, we show our faith in him and our thanks to him by joining in the work of spreading the seed, proclaiming the good news of what he has done. God honors us by giving us the opportunity to sow the seed of the kingdom of God.
Those are the reasons this congregation exists, aren't they? We gather together for the Divine Service and in our Bible studies so that you and I may continue growing in faith and good works. We also work together to sow the Word into this community through our outreach efforts and into this world through our offerings.
Whether we are trying to grow in faith ourselves or to sow the Word for the sake of others, though, we only use the seed that Jesus has commanded us to use. We always use the seed through which Jesus has promised that he will bring growth. We use his gospel in his Word and Baptism and Communion. That is the seed that will bring us and others to believe. We want to work together, use our facilities, use our talents to accomplish the work that God has for us to do. But let's never lose sight of the only way we can do what God wants us to do, by growing in his Word and by sowing his Word.
Jesus has lived and died for you. Jesus has washed your sins away. Jesus gives you eternal life and salvation. Never stop receiving this wonderful message. Keep on growing. All of these things that Jesus has done for you, he has also done for all people. As you grow, use your opportunities to also sow this seed, so that they too may believe this message. Jesus overcomes the obstacles. Jesus promises there is good soil. Jesus blesses us so that we can grow and sow.