Jesus loved to teach using parables. Parables are “earthly stories with heavenly meanings.” In terms of word origins, parable literally means to “throw together,” or to compare. So it is that Jesus often began his parables with something like this: “the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…”
What I love about parables is that they can have many meanings simultaneously. There’s no one, correct way to interpret parables. To understand them, we’re invited to use our spiritual imaginations.
So, let’s jump in to today’s story which Jesus called the parable of the sower. Notice that Jesus didn’t call this the parable of seeds scattered. Nor was it the parable of different kinds of soil. No, it’s the parable of the sower.
In the sower, with my eyes of faith, I see Jesus, the one who, as teacher and preacher, scattered the seeds of the word of God’s kingdom. And Jesus cast this seed all over the place in abundance. Jesus scattered seed on the roadways. Jesus scattered seed on rocky ground. He threw seed among thorns. And still more seed ended up on good soil.
Jesus, as sower, was not a careful farmer who tilled a well-prepared, plowed, fertilized field. No, there’s a wanton-ness, a reckless abandon, about his approach, casting seed everywhere. And not just a little seed, but lots of seeds, an extravagant abundance of seed. It seems wasteful, not rational.
To be sure, a lot of the seed ended up not germinating or bearing fruit – birds ate the seeds on the path; the sun scorched the seed on rocky ground; the thorns choked out the seedlings in the thicket.
And yet, when it’s all said and done, there was an abundant harvest. Reportedly, in Jesus’ day, a good and normal harvest produced maybe four to ten-fold. An exceptionally good year was fifteen-fold. The grain in the parable brought forth wildly exceptional and extravagant numbers – thirty-fold (double a really good harvest), but also sixty-fold and even one-hundred-fold. This is off the charts.
Here’s the essence of what I apprehend is an essential meaning of the parable of the sower: one way or another, the word of God’s kingdom in Christ will bear remarkable fruit, despite the obstacles and odds against it, and conditions hostile to it.
The parable of the sower thus becomes a fulfillment of the prophecy we heard in today’s first reading from Isaiah: “For 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 from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-12)
In other words, the hostile environments – the highways and byways, the rocky ground, the thorns – all conditions caused by our sin and brokenness, are no match for the power of God’s word to get things done. God word will ultimately bring in the extravagantly abundant harvest of God’s kingdom, bearing fruit that feeds us and gives us life. Thanks be to God.
Or as the apostle Paul put in today’s reading from Romans: “If Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” (Romans 8:10-11)
Let’s make all of this more personal in terms of our own lives. Truly, there are those times when we don’t understand the ways of God and we succumb to the temptations of the evil one, right? There are those times when we’re like rocky ground and receive God’s word with joy, but then abandon it when troubles come. Isn’t that so? There are those times for each of us when the cares of the world inhibit our bearing fruit for God. But there are those other times when we end up being good soil and we bear the fruit of loving service to our neighbors in need (cf. Matthew 13:18-23).
We’re a mixed bag, but it’s not ultimately about us. Remember, it’s about the sower, Christ, who extravagantly scatters the seed of the word and who is the abundant harvest that feeds the world. The seed of God’s word is abundantly planted in us in preaching and teaching and bible study and devotional reading. Baptism waters us for that seed to germinate and grow. The seed of the Word who is Christ is harvested and made into the bread of life in the Eucharist to feed us and cause us to bear fruit in our words and deeds and loving service.
And all of this is organic and takes place over the course of our lifetimes. Bearing the fruit of God’s kingdom is not so much about our long to do lists, but more about the quality of our being, our presence as we face the world.
Think about it: plants don’t actively do anything in the manner as we do as human beings. They stay put, firmly planted and rooted in God’s good earth. And God gives the growth. And the plants bear fruit, we know not how. So it is with us and the kingdom of God. We trust these mysteries in faith.
By God’s grace and the extravagantly reckless abandon of the prodigal sower Christ, God’s word accomplishes that for which it is sent – offering love, life, forgiveness, mercy, well-being, justice, compassion, and more, for the healing of souls and of nations.
And we leave this place to continue to do the work of God in Christ, generously scattering the seed of God’s loving word in what we say and what we do. Some of our efforts will inevitably be met with the hostility of rocky ground and thickets of thorns, but some will fall on good soil. And when it’s all said and done, God in Christ will bring home the harvest of his heavenly kingdom of life and love for all creation.
Thus, we give praise to the Holy Trinity, one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
