The Wasteful Farmer

            Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Okay, did you get all of that?  A farmer throws seed all over the place, in good soil, in weeds, in rocks, and in the road.  But only the ones in good soil grew and produced a harvest. 

Jesus then tells us that God is the sower, and the seed is the gospel message, the teachings of Jesus -- and we are the soil.  What happens to the gospel message is dependent on our lives, how we receive it, and whether we provide a place for it to grow within us.

The parable’s discussion of soil is relatively easy to understand.  Some of us hear the message of God, and do not comprehend it.  In fact, we don’t even try to figure out what God wants.  And so our faith never even begins to grow within us.  Others of us hear the good news, but are afraid of persecution -- and so that when hard times come, we are the first to leave the church, to jump to safer ground, even to deny our faith.  Others of us hear the message, and immediately react to it with joy, but the burdens of life wear us down.  And our excitement about God is choked and hindered by unemployment, by illness, by difficult relationships, and so our faith never gets to bear fruit. 

Kathy Hoffman writing in The Upper Room tells about walking in the woods in early spring in her native Georgia when she noticed an unfamiliar plant along the trail. Strikingly beautiful, it had tiers of large, variegated leaves and was crowned by a deep red blossom. Further down the path in the gravel was another plant with four small leaves misshapen from being stepped on. Their color was concealed completely by mud. Kathy was surprised to discover it was the same kind of plant whose beauty had caught her attention earlier. She felt sorry that this little plant had sprouted in such a hostile spot. Then she says this: "Nature does not give seeds a choice about where they are planted. A plant may suffer malnutrition if it grows in rocky soil or be bruised and broken by passersby, and a plant in inhospitable surroundings has no power to move to a more favorable spot. Unlike plants," she adds, "people can make choices that affect their growth."

Jesus is encouraging us to make a choice to be good soil, and let his teachings grow in us so that our faith will be strong and bear fruit.  Simple enough.  The parable makes perfect sense from the perspective of soils, and our lives. 

But what doesn’t make sense in this parable is the one who sows the seed.  What kind of farmer is so wasteful with precious seed?  How many farmers could stay in business if they not only planted their fields, but also scattered seed in their lawn, in the drainage ditches, through the forest, and even on the roads.  None -- farmers have more sense than that.  But apparently God does not.

God, like the natural world that God created, does not plant based upon where the seed is likely to grow, but throws the seed willy-nilly, hither and yon.  God sows in a reckless fashion, letting the seeds fall where they may.  To me this suggests that God is abundant in God’s grace.  God’s got plenty of good news, plenty of love, and so God offers grace to everyone, whether that person has the right kind of life or not; God reaches out to everyone even if their life has been filled with hardship.  God doesn’t just try to plant the seed in certain well tended, pretty garden lives -- but even in the weedy, ragged, worn down, dirty and unlovely soils of the world.

God’s grace is extravagant!  That is good news for all of us who might not have perfectly groomed lives, because once in a while a life of faith sprouts in unexpected places and thrives.   This is good news for you and I!  And as we consider our own church’s hospitality and outreach, this parable becomes good news for those around us, too!

You see, in the world today, we are the messengers of God.  We are the people who must speak about God’s forgiveness, love and grace.  And in a very real sense, we are expected to follow the example of Christ, and cast the good news to those around us.  Everyone around us.  Even if they don’t seem like the right kind of soil.  When we gather as a church, we join together as a covenantal community, to celebrate and share our common communion and the reassurance that we are indeed created by God, reconciled by Christ and empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  So God’s word of hope and peace is meant for everyone -- even if we don’t think that they will listen, or that they will care.  Every one created by God can be reconciled by Christ and empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  Heroin addicts, runaways, men who wear ties, women who are bold and bossy, people who believe the world is flat, even the people with pet pythons.  Everyone. 

We should be inviting them all, because Christ did.  Think of it.  What would happen if we actually did that?  What would happen if we actually meant it when we said, everyone is invited to our church?  Would some people be offended that we are too open minded and say we eat with sinners?  People said it about Jesus -- they probably should be saying it about the church.  Would we grow by 30 or 60 or 100 people?  We might.

I understand God’s grace to be extravagantly given.  Everyone is to be invited, and there will be no bouncers at the door doing background checks to see if you are qualified to be fed by God’s love.  We are called to love all our neighbors as ourselves, without being judgmental or disparaging of others.  We are to act as agents of reconciliation and wholeness within the world and within the church. 

Now, simply because we make the offer, does not mean that every act of ministry we do will succeed.  Nor that everyone we invite will develop a deep faith.  There may be growth.  There may be failure.  The seed we plant may never flower.  But the openness of the invitation is never in question.  All the people are invited to God’s table.  As Jesus says, go therefore into all the world, to all people of all nations, and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!  Christ came so that all might believe. 

Let me conclude by striving to pull this all together.  We are good soil if we can grow in our understanding of God’s grace, persevere in faith during difficult times of life, endure persecution, and bear fruit.  And the fruit we are asked to bear is reaching others -- telling them how the Son of God came that they might have life, abundant life, forgiven life.  And we hope that with God’s help they might become the good soil that fosters faith which understands God’s teachings, perseveres in difficult times, endures persecution, and bears more fruit. And continues the cycle until in Christ all shall be made alive!