Pentecost 10a | July 12th, 2020 | The Rev. Deacon Heidi Thorsen

Proper 10a

Isaiah 44:10-13 / Psalm 65:1-14 / Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

July 12, 2020

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you, O God, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Our readings for today have a common bond. They are all about the earth, about planting and growing. All of them have something to do with seeds. Our Psalm for today praises our God who “visits the earth and waters it abundantly.” Our God who “prepares the grain, and so provides for the earth.” The prophet Isaiah reflects on agriculture as a metaphor for the word of God, in one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Isaiah writes, “as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth.” And lastly our Gospel reading for today is the Parable of the Sower. In this parable Jesus tells the story of a gardener who goes out to plant seeds. Some fall on the path, some fall on rocky ground, and some fall among thorns. But it’s the seeds that fall on good soil that bring forth grain - some thirty, some sixty, some a hundredfold.

As you might imagine, I have been thinking about seeds this week. And as I was thinking about this image of a seed, the first thing that came to mind was all the seeds I had planted, all the plans that never came to fruition, because of COVID-19. It’s been four months now since our lives began to shift towards social distance, to protect our health and the health of people around us. I was surprised to realize this week the ways that I am still grieving the seeds that never grew into plants. Vacations or trips that were cancelled. Growing friendships that have felt a bit on hold. Events, such as our Lenten focus on racial reconciliation, that fell by the wayside and had to be re-envisioned in this very different reality that we are now living in. Sometimes good soil is not enough to bring our hopes and dreams to fruition. Sometimes there are forces that are bigger than us - a drought, or a pandemic - and we have to be gentle with ourselves as we learn to plant, and tend, and grow again.

The Parable of the Sower is Jesus’ invitation for us to look at our own hearts and test the soil that we find there. Of course we want to be good soil. We want to be the garden that yields thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold! But sometimes, we aren’t quite there yet. Sometimes, without even realizing it, we are stripped of our spiritual nutrients and we need to re-fresh, re-charge, re-cultivate the soil in our hearts. Jesus’ Parable of the Sower is a kind of diagnostic check for our souls. And because we are reading the version of this parable that is told in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus not only gives us the metaphor of seeds and soil. He goes on to describe precisely what each of these scenarios represents. So let’s take a moment to listen to these different scenarios again and ask - which soil best describes the state of your heart today? Scenario 1: Is your heart like the soil on the path, which the birds came and ate up? Jesus explains that the path represents those who hear the word of the kingdom of God, and do not understand it, and the evil one comes and snatches it away. The path is not made for planting. The path is made for being trampled on. And if your goal is to be a road, perhaps that’s a good thing! But our invitation in this parable is not to be a road, but to be a garden. Being a garden for the gospel involves reading, marking, and inwardly digesting the word of God, coming to understand it on your own terms. Sometimes we let our beliefs be trampled on, because it is easier for someone else to tell us what to think than to figure out what we truly believe in our hearts. And yet the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a gospel of indoctrination. It is a gospel of gardens, and planting, and growing, and finding a space for the seed of faith to grow in the native soil of our own souls.

Scenario 2: Is your heart like the rocky ground, where the seeds grow up quickly in shallow soil and then wither away? Jesus explains that the rocky ground represents one who hears the word and receives it with joy, but has no roots to sustain faith in the long run, in times of trouble or persecution. If only Jesus had gone further, to explain what it means exactly to “have roots” when it comes to faith! Since Jesus doesn’t put a single meaning to the roots in this parable, I suggest that the roots could be any number of things. The roots could be a supportive church community, a group of people who challenge and support us in our faith even in times of drought or doubt. The roots could be our Christian tradition, a reminder that our faith stands on the shoulders of a communion of saints going back through centuries. The roots could be our liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer that we can open up even when we are at home, and can’t be inside our physical church building. These words of common prayer are like the roots in an Aspen forest, connecting us as one living body in Christ across miles and miles of distance. Whatever it is that anchors you in faith, find those roots. Plant the seed of your faith in soil that is ready to go deeper, and deeper.

Scenario 3: Is your heart like soil that is covered in weeds and thorns, rich in nutrients but overrun by other plants that stifle the growth of your faith? Jesus explains that the soil choked by thorns represents those who hear the gospel, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. At a first glance, the “cares of the world,” and the “lure of wealth” sound like easy pitfalls to identify, and avoid. And yet, I don’t think Jesus would be warning us about these things if they were clear, and easy. I suspect that the thorns we face are far more subtle. They are plants that seem perfectly good in the garden - they don’t look like weeds - but they grow, and grow, and overshadow the growth of plants that need more careful tending; the fruits of our faith. Perhaps some of you gardeners out there might be able to tell me what kind of plant fits this metaphor - perhaps mint, or a jerusalem artichoke. In any case, these “cares of the world” are things like our desire to be successful; our desire for financial stability. These concerns, which are very good in and of themselves, can overrun the garden if we are not careful. This week, I’ve also wondered whether general anxiety about the state of racism in our country, or the spread of the coronavirus, also falls under this category of “cares of the world.” It is important to care about these things. It is our duty as Christians to care about these things that impact ourselves and our neighbors. And yet sometimes our anxiety overwhelms our ability to stay rooted, and anchored in our faith. Sometimes we need help to heal our minds and bodies and create space for faith to grow. We need to tend to the soil of our hearts and minds, to make room for the seeds that God is waiting to plant there.

Scenario 4: Is your heart like the good soil, ready to bring forth grain? Jesus explains that the good soil represents the one who hears the word and understands it, and indeed bears fruit. There is a message for us - even in this fourth, ideal scenario - because Jesus acknowledges that even the good soil has different levels of productivity, from time to time. Sometimes the soil yields thirtyfold. Sometimes sixtyfold. Sometimes a hundred fold. These are observations. Jesus doesn’t render judgement around these different tiers of productivity. And perhaps that’s because faith isn’t about how much we produce. Faith is simply about how we tend the garden of our souls, appreciating and attending to the plot of land that God has given us. There are times in our lives when faith will ebb and flow, just as some seasons are more productive than others. God stands with us throughout these seasons of few and plenty. God stands with us and invites us to sink our feet into the soil and to connect with the wonder that it is simply to be alive, and connected to the world around us.

The ecosystem of our souls is remarkably complex, a mixture of past experiences and present challenges, and the Holy Spirit saturating it all. Perhaps there is no single description, of the ones mentioned today, that fits the state of your heart right now. Perhaps it’s a combination of several things that only you and God can know. In any case, we are invited to take stock of our hearts today. Test soil there. Is it brittle, is it shallow, is it choked with thorns? What are the small things that you can do this week to tend to the soil of your heart? Perhaps God is calling you to find rest. Perhaps God is calling you to read the scripture. Perhaps God is calling you to enrich the soil of your soul with something new, beyond the rituals or texts or voices that you usually turn to. Tend the soil of your heart today, and let faith grow. In the name of God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us. Amen.