Lord make our hearts be good soil

Summary

Jesus spoke often in parables.  They were a good way in which to try and teach difficult concepts.  Some parables though, were better understood then others, and some are routinely misunderstood as well.  In other words, even though Jesus used parables to try and make larger concepts easier to understand, they aren’t always, easier that is, and primarily because they are like onions, wrapped in layers that reveal more and more the deeper you pry.

Let’s take todays parable as an example.

At first it seems so straight-forward; God is the sower, we are the soil, the seed is the word of God’s kingdom, so, make sure you are good soil, so that you are open to receive the word that God sows.  Simple.  Simple?

At first glance, sure.  Just be right.  Live good lives.  Get rid of all that encumbers you, and be good soil.  Then listen well to the word that God sows and let it grow.

And yet, it’s not that simple, for it can’t be.  As we were reminded in last week’s scripture, we are all sinners.  We aren’t good soil.  We cannot achieve becoming ‘good soil’ all on our own, can we?

If we could achieve that on our own, righteousness Paul calls it, ultimately it would mean that we would not need Jesus. It would mean that Jesus’ death and resurrection were not necessary, for we could save ourselves.  We could make ourselves good soil.  But, we know that is not the case don’t we?  We need Jesus, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

So, now we understand that Jesus is not simply telling us to be good soil in this parable.  There is a bit more to it than that.  Is it then about Jesus being the sower?

Perhaps, in part.  For God is the original sower, is God not?  For the word of God’s kingdom comes from God, and so God is the sower, or, at least the original sower.  Yet, I think Jesus definitely leaves room in the parable for the understanding that we disciples of Christ are also called to be sowers, as Jesus was the sower.

Okay, so let’s learn something about God’s character here, by comparing the farming practices highlighted in Jesus’ parable with the good practices of the day.

One of the most precious commodities a farmer had back in that day, in any day really, was the seed stored for the next year’s planting.  If it was ruined, or wasted there would be no future harvest, or at least the next year’s harvest would be diminished.  What did this mean?

It would mean at least hard times, hungry times if not true famine.  So, this seed was precious, and not to be wasted.  It was planted at the right time, in the right conditions, and exactly where the farmer wanted it planted, in good soil.  It was not scattered about, or thrown to the wind, in was put into the good soil so that it would grow.  It was precious and planted accordingly.

Yet, as we listen to Jesus’ parable, we understand that his sower did not simply sow seed, where a smart farmer sows seed, meaning in good soil.  No, the sower threw seed into all types of soil, indiscriminately and generously.  The seed was thrown everywhere and with abandon!

It was as if the sower was hoping that there might be ‘good soil’ even in places that we couldn’t imagine there would be, in the hot sun, amongst the weeds, places where it should not grow.  So, why is Jesus’ sower casting seed everywhere?

The seed is God’s word.  God’s word needs to be heard everywhere.  The sower should not discriminate, trying to judge what is good soil and what is bad.  God’s word is for everyone, everywhere!  What a wonderful lesson to learn from the master sower, we cannot be stingy, or conservative with the word of God’s kingdom.  God’s word needs to be shared everywhere and in all situations!

But what about the good soil then, if it is the good soil that produces, why shouldn’t God’s word just be planted there?

Well, even there, in the parable we see something different, something not so easily understood by city dwellers, someone like me.  Yields of thirty, sixty and a hundredfold are unheard of, they are miracles in themselves.  Even seed falling into ‘good soil’ cannot produce yields like that, unless the farmer of the field has an extra-ordinary green thumb, as we say in America.  Another way of putting it is, the seed needs some miraculous fertilizer to increase a crop a hundred-fold.

So, back to our original question, what is Jesus teaching us with this parable?

A lot of things, but first of all, that the sower, sows with grace and hope because she sows the seed anywhere and everywhere, with the intention that it can grow even where a human would think it cannot grow.  Meaning, everyone needs to hear the word of God, whether we understand them to be ‘good soil’ or not.

Remember the parable of the wheat and the tares, in which the wheat has grown up amidst the weeds?  Well, that speaks to this situation too, doesn’t it?  It also reminds us that one parable on its own does not explain God’s way in entirety.

Secondly, we need to emulate God, copy Jesus, in the ways and manners that we sow the see that is God’s word.  We cannot predetermine whom it is that will be open to hearing God’s word, to receiving his grace and forgiveness, to believing in him.  We need to be generous and wild with our preaching, teaching, acting, forgiving, and loving, in Jesus’ name.  We don’t know where the ‘good soil’ is, do we?  No!  So, judging does not help, you have to trust that God’s word will not return empty.

Thirdly, from this parable we can understand that it is not as straightforward as we would think.  For, though all of us are filled with all kinds of soil and growing conditions in our lives, the seed of God’s word grows.  So, we realize that God’s power, the Holy Spirit does not sit idle, but works to make within us, good soil, ready to receive the seed, and grow into a bountiful harvest.

This might be the most important part of all this, the Holy Spirit’s workings within our lives.  As Paul wrote in today’s reading from Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”

So, in other words, it is God’s power that makes our hearts be good soil, by giving life to our mortal bodies because of Jesus’ resurrection from death.

Paul writes, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

So, yes, we have our part to play in all of this too, of course.  For though we cannot make ourselves ‘good soil’, we can tend the good soil that God creates within us by his grace.

So, as disciples who believe, we must try and set our minds upon the things of the Spirit.  For again, as Jesus so often does, he names what comes as our biggest stumbling stone, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.”

Tending the ‘good soil’ is our walk of faith with Jesus Christ as we live each day in our faith. Listening to Jesus’ voice in our lives, through scripture, prayer, and conversation is the receiving the seed of God’s Word, and so we grow!

Yet, as we understand, this parable is not simply about us being soil, and receiving seed, but also about learning to be sowers, gracious, sowers, who scatter God’s Word with abandon and hope. Sowers who trust in the working of the Holy Spirit to make the seed grow in the soil that God makes ‘good’.

In conclusion, let us remember each day who prepares our hearts, how we tend them in faith, and then, how we share God’s Word of grace, forgiveness and love, by our words, and even more, our actions.

Amen.

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