One Seed. Four Kinds
of Soil.
Ah, the Parable of the Sower. One of my own personal favorites, and maybe
yours, too. Jesus tells this parable
first to the crowd, and then in the next part of our reading, explains its
meaning to the disciples. This alone is
a bit unusual for Jesus – but it serves as a sort of Rosetta Stone for us to
interpret not only this parable, but to teach us about the parables of Jesus in
general.
The word we use for these stories, “parable”, or “Para-Bola”
in the Greek, means something like “thrown along side” – as Jesus throws
earthly elements alongside his heavenly or spiritual meaning. The things in the stories are common enough –
everyday things and people like brothers, sheep and coins, kings and servants,
or in this parable as in so many – we have a picture of agriculture.
It seems like every child learns about the power of a seed
from that Kindergarten project when you put a bean in a wet paper towel, and
then watch it sprout on the window sill over the course of the next few
weeks. What a fitting parabolic image
then, for the word of God. In other
parables he uses the same image of a seed for the word – for the word starts
small, and has great effects. It appears
to go into the ground as dead, but from it sprouts life, and often abundantly
so. Good seed produces good fruit, and
so forth, and so forth.
Here we also see the image of a sower. And though Jesus doesn’t explain exactly who
it is, we understand the sower to be first of all God himself, or even Jesus –
who sends forth his word. Likewise also the
preacher of the Gospel follows suit and liberally casts the seed here and
there, to and fro. Now, some would say
that the sower is acting here, as one of our hymns puts it, “recklessly”. He casts the seed and doesn’t seem to care
where it falls – “oh what of that?”. Not
a very sensible way of farming or gardening.
I remember planting certain seeds, carefully, so many inches apart in
perfect little rows so that the plants wouldn’t get in each other’s way and
would be well spaced and well watered.
This sower cares nothing for that, so it seems, he just casts the seed –
he preaches the word – and whoever hears it does, and whoever doesn’t –
doesn’t.
But it’s not careless.
It’s love. It is the gift of
grace, freely given.
This is the character of the sower. That he gives to all, gives freely, gives
generously. This is the Father who
spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us all. This is the Christ, who laid down his life
for his friends, even for his enemies, who died for the sins of the world.
Whose blood covers the iniquity of us all.
What a comfort that his grace is so recklessly sown! For if he targeted it only to the worthy, the
best, the most deserving… then we would all have cause to wonder and fear. Is this for me? Are my sins forgiven? Can I be saved?
But no, there is no doubt, he intends and desires for all to
be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He seeks out every lost sheep. He forgives even the unforgivable. And so his word, his grace, his salvation is
for you. The cross procures it and
guarantees it.
And yet, not all believe.
This is the question the parable addresses. Why some, and not others? While this parable alone may not satisfy the
curiosity of the philosopher and theologian with an ultimate answer – it does
shed light. It doesn’t pierce the veil
of God’s hidden counsel, or subject him to our own imagined rules of fair
play. But Jesus does show it how it is-
that the word freely preached does not always produce fruitful and lasting
faith in the hearer. For there are
different kinds of soil. There are
different impediments to the word. And
each of these can frustrate and hinder the working of faith:
Take first the path – the seed that falls here is quickly
snatched by the birds. Jesus teaches that
these are the ones who hear the word but the Devil quickly snatches it
away. We know the devil’s aim is to do
this to all – to completely obstruct the word of the kingdom for any and all. That the word isn’t always snatched by the
enemy is the real miracle here.
Then there’s the rocks – the rocky soil – the thin and
shallow dirt with nowhere for the roots to grow deep. Jesus compares this to the person who
embraces the word with joy, but then quickly falls away at the first sign of
opposition from the world – persecution, tribulation. It’s a shallow faith that cannot stand when
put to the test. The scorching sun soon
withers it away.
Or also the thorns – the cares of this world which choke the
life out of faith, like the weeds and thistles that crowed out the good
harvest. We’ve seen plenty of “care of
this world” in 2020. Here also the
deceitfulness of riches – the lie that having money is all that matters, all
that you need. When you worship the
things of this world there’s no room left for the things above, where true
treasure is found.
Now, we could take these examples of Jesus and start the
task of inspecting other people’s gardens.
What kind of soil is Susie? What
kind of ground is Johnny? Let’s all
evaluate Betty and George’s harvest of fruit.
We could seek to diagnose and critique the faith of others and the
problems they have and the things that get in their way and keep them from
being the Christians they oughtta be.
But here’s the secret that our Old Adam doesn’t want to
hear. We are all, at different times,
and in various ways, all kinds of bad soil.
You and I are beset by the devil.
You and I are opposed by the world.
You and I are subject to cares and worries and troubles of all manner
and kind. Suffering and death are all
around us. Unbelievers and scoffers
never quit. And the devil, that prowling
lion, drools and slobbers with every temptation by which he imagines he might
snatch faith from our hearts. And
sometimes we even play along. Our
joyfulness in the faith waxes and wanes.
We listen, then we forget. We
understand, but we don’t. Sin and
unbelief are ever near. We are the soil
on the path, the rocky soil, the thorny soil.
But the Christian is not just that. The Christian is sinner and saint. The Christian is Old Adam and New. The Christian is bad soil, but also good
soil. Not that we bring anything to the
table, mind you, but the fact that we do believe by the power of the Spirit –
means yes the word has been planted in us.
And that we trust in Christ, crucified for sinners, means the seed has
sprouted. And that faith which is begun
as a good work within us will brought to completion at the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ – means that our full fruitfulness will be see at the final
harvest – whether 30, 60, or 100 fold.
Each time sinners hear the word, repent and believe, the
seed goes into good soil. Each time you
confess your sins and are forgiven, what is planted sprouts and bears
fruit. Everywhere the Gospel is preached
and he who has ears to hear, hears…. Hearts are changed, lives are renewed, and
God works salvation.
Jesus doesn’t answer the question of why some believe and
others do not. But he does assure us, by
this parable. He teaches us how it is –
and that he knows how it is – and that means we can trust him to know what he’s
doing.
The Sower is not reckless or stupid or powerless as some may
say. Nor is he uncaring or apathetic
about the success of his farming. Just
as Jesus wasn’t crucified because he was weak, or unlucky, or the victim of circumstance. But he laid down his life of his own accord,
in perfect obedience to the Father, to complete his mission of saving the world
from sin. As strange and reckless as it
may seem.
So also his gospel – he knows exactly what he’s doing,
strange as it may seem. He sows the
seed, plants the word, proclaims the Gospel freely and fully – intent that all
would hear and believe, sprout and bear fruit.
That some seed falls on bad soil of whatever kind – we recognize, but
leave it for the mystery that it is.
And rather, thanks be to God for the seed of his teaching,
receptive souls reaching, and pray that it blossom and flourish for one and for
all. Thanks be to God for the good news
of Jesus Christ, who died and rose for you and me, and makes us fruitful – to
the glory of his name. May his kingdom
come, may the seed take root in good soil wherever and whenever it is cast,
that many others may join us in the harvest of his kingdom. Such is our fervent prayer, in Jesus’
name. Amen.
