The Scripture Reading this week is Matthew 13:1-23
The Sermon title is Spread the Seed
Source
Early Thoughts: Can we be intentionally wasteful? Can we scatter seed willy nilly or do we have to be careful and prudent, only sowing seeds we are assured will grow well?
The farmer in this parable always fascinates me. Seed is a valuable commodity. Often in human history it was grain saved from the food bin so that it can be planted the next year. An experimental farmer may have carefully cross-bred plants and saved the seeds to continue the experiment next year. In the modern era seed is something that has to be purchased, particularly the bio-engineered seeds for plants that are resistant to specific pests or herbicides.
With such a valuable commodity one might think it most prudent to plant pretty carefully, to make sure the seed goes evenly into ground that has been well-prepared. That way one has a better chance of a good harvest, food to eat, money to spend, come the end of the season. This is not the picture we get from Jesus' story.
This farmer, it appears, scatters the seed and lets it fall where it will. Not just in the carefully tilled ground but on the path, on rocky ground where the soil is thin, where there are already weeds growing. At first glance this seems wasteful, careless, possibly even profligate. But is there something that calls us to pay attention?
Normally when we talk about this parable we follow the Gospel writers and talk about the seeds and ask ourselves where we are growing. Or sometimes we might think of ourselves as the soil and ask what kind of growing conditions we provide. Both are very useful lines of inquiry. However parables are tools that allow a great variety of interpretive choices. There is never only one way to understand these stories. So this year I find myself asking how we are (or are not) or could be or maybe even should be like the farmer.
Maybe we are too careful. Maybe we try to hard to plan down to the last detail, to ensure success, to only try something when we are sure it will be like seed landing on the good rich soil. Are we prepared to try something, to invest energy and resources on something when it might be seed eaten by birds, or choked out by weeds, or grow quickly then die because it is not sustainable?
It does seem like a waste of resources to take that risk. When we think our resources and our time are limited we want to invest them wisely, to try our best to get a good return on investment. Surely anyone will tell you that is wise and prudent.
But Jesus never says a word about this farmer. Jesus never comments on the apparent wastefulness and carelessness. Maybe the farmer was in an area where good and bad soil were so interwoven there was no way to avoid the waste. Maybe the farmer wasn't paying close attention. Or maybe the farmer was sowing based on faith and trust. Jesus says nothing to condemn or commend the farmer. But the story would not exist without the farmer, the story is as much about the farmer as it is about the seeds.
In 1 Corinthians Paul says "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" (1 Cor 3:6-7). Now indeed in this passage Paul is talking more about the need for unity over tribalism but I think it holds here too. We are not called to make all the growth happen, God is in charge of that. We are called to sow seeds and let them fall where they may. Maybe we need to be less careful. Maybe we need to act more and plan less.
Many church congregations are at or approaching the point where a new way forward has to be found, just to remain sustainable. We can not know exactly which new way forward is the best, that is usually something we only see in hindsight. We may not even know where the good soil is. So perhaps we can toss seeds around profligately, carelessly and rely on faith and trust that growth will occur? Peter Pan taught me that if we add a bit of dust we may even be able to fly -- 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning.
--Gord
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