This has to be one of the most important parables in the whole of the New Testament. Interestingly I find that it applies to each one of us in different ways at different times!
Our Lord is the Sower and the Seed - His message. How do we receive it? How do we receive it? Do we ignore it or welcome it and allow it to grow and multiply in our lives?
We start off thinking that we are surely receiving seed – the word of God.
However perhaps sometimes we are more like the priest in parable of the priest and the sinner. You will remember that the priest was at the front of the temple because he thought he was a pious man and gave half his income to the poor. We think we are doing OK. However perhaps we should be more like the sinner at the back and acknowledge our failings – our inability to receive the Lord's seed
Some seed fell on the path and the birds ate it. The seed on the path represents people who hear the message, but it is immediately lost.
How often have you heard a familiar passage in the Bible and just skimmed over it? Sometimes the passage is too difficult and we reject it. Where are you on our Lord’s pacifist message? Surely it is too hard. Surely, he didn’t really mean turn the other cheek? Surely, He didn’t mean to love my enemy. What about the Russians, the Nazis, corupt autocrats?
I have been a seed that fell on the path.
Then Some seed fell on rocky ground where there was little soil. The seed soon sprouted, but when the sun came up it burnt the young plants.
I have been the seed which represents people who respond with initial enthusiasm, but the word of God does not sink in deeply. They cannot commit to the Christian lifestyle. They are initially attracted but give up when the going gets tough.
Surely we must try to join all those who manage to retain their faith in spite of social isolation, in spite of ridicule – in spite of Richard Dawkins – in spite of political correctness meted out by well-meaning atheists
I have been the seed that fell on rocky ground.
How about the seed which fell among thorns?
‘The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Most people are totally absorbed by the world. How often have we allowed our religious lives to be swamped by busyness - with all the clutter of 21st Century living. Where do our priorities lie?
21st Century living is extraordinarily pervasive and persuasive. Surely, we need to go shopping, mow the lawn, watch Wimbledon – or the Test Match – or the football – or do the weeding – clean the car – go to the beach. Most of us have a job to fit in 45 minutes to go the church every other week
What level of priority do we put on our religious lives? With religion 'More really is More' and 'Less really is less'.
I have also been the seed that fell among thorns – daily!!
Many of you know that I was blessed in my youth to spend 6 years in a monastery – amid people who lived lives optimised for seed. Their lives exuded both the example and message. They were both the examples and the fruit.
As a result, they lived in peace, in joy - in stability of the Sermon on the Mount. They were Blessed (or fortunate) to live as peacemakers, they were pure, they were merciful, they were compassionate, they did 'hunger and thirst after righteousness' and they were 'the salt of the earth'.
St Francis brought millions of people to God simply by living the life he lived. His famous quote was ‘Preach the Gospel always – and sometimes use words’ Crucially St Francis did bring people to God – 1,000,00 fold!
Perhaps we all ought to read the parable of the Sower of the Seed to check where we are at any given point each day! Are we being the pious priest or the sinner?
Are we being the seed on the path?
Are we being the seed on thin soil - the seed choked by thorns?
Are we really being the seed on good soil yielding 10-fold?
In Jesus’s name
Amen
Matthew 13:1-9 NIV
The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
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