Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Props: strips of paper which read, “My child,
I love you. Pass it on. God.” These are “sown” around the sanctuary where
people sit, where they don’t sit, and even on the floor.
Did you notice anything on your seats this morning? …
Did you notice anything anywhere else? … What do you think it means that these
papers are here?
Exactly. The strips of paper are intended to
represent seeds that are planted. Some seeds land in soil that is ready to grow
the seed, some seeds land in soil where the seeds will never mature to full
plants, and some seeds and where they don’t stand a chance of growing.
Does the chance that the seeds will not grow stop
the sower from sowing the seeds? Does the chance that the seeds will not mature
into full-sized plants stop the sower from sowing them?
Who is the sower of the seeds?
Usually, when pastors preach about this text, and
when Bible study groups discuss it, the focus is on the different kinds of soils.
We each try to figure out what kind of soil we are – of course, we are good
soil. And we all know others who are rocky soil, or hard-packed paths, or thin
soil, or thorny soil.
Who are the
healthy plants, and the choked plants, and the scorched plants? We are. At
different times in our lives we are not the healthiest of plants; we are not
the most faithful people.
It’s a good thing that the real focus of the parable
is on God, who sows and sows and sows. When the seed falls on good soil – in the
hearts of God’s faithful people – the seed grows and faith matures into healthy
plants which produce an abundance of fruit. In other words, lots more faithful
people result from the healthy plants.
The seeds that fall on less than perfect soil are
still there, hoping for healthier soil to grow in. When we are not feeling like
we are healthy soil, God’s seeds of faith are still there. Other people, those who
don’t seem to us to be healthy soil, they are not lacking in seeds of faith –
they simply don’t understand how to be better soil.
So, as I see it, God works through us to help the
soils improve, to help sow more seeds. I could talk about a lot of things here,
but I want to focus on just one kind of soil. The second week I was away I
attended a conference – a family camp Mike and have participated in together
since the day after our wedding. That first time is another story, for another
time – suffice it to say that it was NOT our honeymoon!
Anyway, this time, Rodger Nishioka was present with
us for two public presentations. He is an expert in demographic studies and
what they reveal about the church and about the Body of Christ. He has personal
experience as well as the data from the 2012 Pew Research Study on religions.
This study gave physical evidence to what we have
all sort of known and felt, but we didn’t know how to talk about it before. The
Pew Study shows that 20% of the people in America have no religious affiliation.
So, they have become known as the “Nones.”
The Nones are mostly young adults, under 30 or so. They
reject religion and religious practices, and religious people, as hypocritical,
disrespectful of women and gays, and judgmental. They do not like what Joyce
Meyers calls the “Holy Ghost Smile” – worn by people in church, and replaced by
angry faces and voices as soon as they are in the car with real children and real
spouses.
It would be easy to assume that the Nones have no
connection with God, but two-thirds of them claim a belief in God. They say
they are spiritual but not religious. In other words, they have faith in God,
but don’t think the rituals and rules of traditional religion are valuable.
They pray daily; they feel a deep connection with
the earth as God’s creation. They want to be part of something authentic, where
people are free to be themselves. Their soil may be fertile, tilled and ready,
but the seeds of faith have not been properly watered and fertilized. Or the
soil may be thorny, dry, and hard-packed.
There are also plenty of older people who have no
religious affiliation, yet believe strongly in God. They may not be labeled as
Nones, but they, too, seek something authentic, something that gives meaning to
their lives. They want to help the faith seed they know is inside them grow and
mature, but they don’t always know how. They have been disillusioned by church in
the past, hurt by judgmental church people, or disappointed that prayers were
not answered the way they wanted. The soil in their hearts is thorny, dry,
hard-packed.
Which takes us back to seeds and soils: Those of us
who garden know that some plants like sandy soil, while some like rich humus.
Some plants like a lot of water, while some plants prefer to be mostly dry.
Some prefer full sun, and some like the shade. It’s important to sow the seeds
for the right plant in the right soil if the plant will grow and stay healthy.
God has sown seeds in our hearts so that faith might
grow, and mature, and produce seeds to sow in other lives. We sow these seeds
by telling stories – that’s why I so often encourage you-all to tell your own
faith stories. When were you baptized? How did you get through a tragedy? When
have you felt God’s presence in a powerful way? How often and how do you pray?
These are all stories you know, seeds you can sow in the lives of your friends,
neighbors, acquaintances, and even strangers.
For example, when I talked recently with a young
person, I asked her if she went to church. She said she and her mother used to,
but had stopped going. So I told her a little bit about Hope, and gave her my
business card with the church website address. I knew she would one day use
technology to learn more about us. I sowed a seed that had a chance of landing
in the soil she was that day.
The seeds that have the best chance of landing in
fertile soil are those planted by a person, face to face. We can sow lots of
seeds by doing mailings and lots of those seed will fall on rocky, dry,
hard-packed soil – or soil that already has healthy plants growing in it. We
can welcome people in, when they come to Hope to check out the soil here – and we
usually do a great job of that! But those who walk in are so few, and we have
so many seeds. Outreach into the community – for example, with free meals is
another way to sow some seeds and meet some real needs.
But, just as God spoke one on one with Noah and
Abraham and Moses; just as Jesus spoke one on one and in a small group with the
disciples, and as he spoke to the dozens or hundreds or thousands face to face;
just so, the best way to plant seeds of faith is to tell someone else our
stories, and match those stories to the current soil conditions.
Many years ago, I attended a retreat on prayer. One
part of it was about praying out loud in a group. The leader said, “When your
heart is beating faster, that’s God telling you to speak up and pray out loud.”
I say to you today, when you are in a conversation with someone and your heart
is beating faster and you remember a story, it’s God saying to you, “Tell the
story. Plant the seed!”
Let’s return to the seeds you found on your seats.
What do they say? “My child, I love you. Pass it on. God.” This week, I hope
you will intentionally plant a seed, tell someone a story, share God’s love
with someone who needs it.
Please pray with me. God our Sower, we thank you for
those who have planted seeds of faith in our lives. Help us to sow some seeds so
that more people will come to have faith in you. Amen 
