Seed Scattered and Sown – sermon on July 16, 2017
Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”
“Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 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. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Sermon: Seed Scattered and Sown by Rev. Doreen Oughton
She couldn’t believe she was here, at an AA meeting, of all places. How had this happened? She grew up in a chaotic household, lots of drinking, some violence, police at the door because of all the fighting, dad gone half the time. The people on the periphery of her life – teachers, neighbors – were not surprised to see her name in the newspaper arrest log, but she was surprised. She had sworn to herself that she would leave the chaos behind. She was a smart girl, she could get out. But here she was at a stupid AA meeting. Sure, she liked to party, like most other young people. Sure, she’d had some scrapes with authority when she had been drinking – like being kicked out of the dorm back in college, a few disorderly conducts, and now a DUI. In addition to those classes that cost a fortune, the judge said she had to go to meetings twice a week for 6 months! At least it didn’t cost anything, but what a drag. She found some meetings not too far away. People greeted her like a long-lost friend – what was up with that? Phonies – or brainwashed! This whole thing was a cult, right? As she sat in the meetings, her eyes landed on the poster of the 12 steps. There it was – all that stuff about a higher power – a cult for sure. And what was that step 4? Made a searching and fearless moral inventory, and then share it with someone!? I don’t think so! But her probation officer wasn’t letting up, so she kept going. Those speakers, wow, some of the things they talked about in a roomful of strangers – pretty crazy. But the people didn’t seem so crazy now. Sometimes she wondered if they exaggerated their past to make a good story. How could people who had been through so much be so okay now? In time, she began to smile back when people greeted her, and she liked how people clapped when chips were given out, even for just 24 hours of sobriety. She liked getting to know these people. Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all. And she was doing pretty good not drinking. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a lot better than before. She began to feel hopeful.
And then, so close to getting off probation, she had to go to that family party. She knew those parties got pretty crazy, but she figured she’d just pop in quick. Her mom had been nagging her, so she went. Her cousin was having a good laugh about her arrest, and said he’d gone through it too. They started dumping on “the program” together – what a joke. He told her he never thought she was so bad with her drinking. Most in the family were way worse. He told her it was not like the courts checked to see that the signatures on the slip were legit – she could forge them and no one would know the difference. And he poured her a big tumbler of Chivas and she was off and running.
A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and the birds came and ate them up. When anyone hears the word of the kindom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart. This is what was sown on the path.
She had a rough run of it that time – violated probation, ended up losing her job, alienated a few friends, even started having problems with her pancreas. But it time she made her way back – returned to the program and went willingly because she knew she needed to stop drinking for good. And it worked. She took phone numbers and called people when she was tempted to drink. She made new friends and kept busy. She still wasn’t interested in that step business – moral inventory, making amends, etc.. The thought of it made her cringe. She just kept going to meetings, and life got better. She met a guy there – a great guy who had been sober for awhile, had a good job, was good, and good for her. After a few years they got married. She went back to school, got her graduate degree and landed a high-paying job with a mortgage company. It was great! She could use her skills to help people achieve that American dream of home ownership. She knew what it meant to her – the stability, the sense of pride – something of your own that would carry value for generations. It wasn’t long before she noticed something wasn’t right. Some of these people being offered mortgages couldn’t possibly manage the payments they would be on the hook for. It had sounded so good – to open up home ownership to people who never thought it would be possible – get them out of the slums into a place of their own. But then when her co-worker went off on the manager that day, it really got her thinking. Were they just setting people up to fail? I mean popular wisdom was that the housing market would only ever increase, so any investment in it had to work out, but that’s not what Dan was saying. And Dan was gone now. But she and her husband had their house to consider. They needed her income. She couldn’t quit on some moral principle, she couldn’t start questioning things and get herself fired. So she kept quiet and did her job, even though that phrase about moral inventory caught her eye every time she went to a meeting.
A sower went out to sow. And as she sowed, some seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 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.
She had cut down to part-time work once the kids came, and had even changed jobs. Such a high-pressure work environment didn’t really like part-time workers. Things were pretty good with the kids, with her marriage, and she was still sober all these years. She was grateful. One day her six-year-old came home and asked why they never went to church! Her best friend’s family went to church every week and they had snacks and sang songs and played games. The girl felt like she was missing out. Funny, she had thought about church sometimes too. Whenever she walked by that pretty church down the street, with their clever message boards out front, she wondered if maybe there was something there for their family. She had been to the town art fair they hosted. It was beautiful inside too. She talked to her husband. He had grown up going to church, had even suggested they get married in a church, but with her family, it was not a good idea. When she told him early on that she had no interest in church, he was fine with that. But he was happy to go back, together, as a family. Couldn’t hurt to try, right?
So they went. Kaylie’s best friend went to that pretty church down the street! It was better than she could have imagined. Not only was the church pretty, but the minister was great. He talked about things that really mattered. And people were so friendly, so nice to the kids. They started going to Sunday school and loved it. When the director said they could use help in the classrooms, she was willing to give it a go. And she liked all the outreach they did – the food pantry, the thrift shop, the monthly community lunches. Her husband liked it too. He got on the building committee, and was always helping with some project or another. She let them know she had a finance background and could help with investing, collections, whatever. She also had some great ideas for reorganizing the fair. She went to meetings to share her ideas, but it seemed no one wanted to listen to her. What the heck! She kept pushing, just like she would have at work to get a job done. Nothing happened. And then to top it all off, the Sunday school director had some issue with her bringing macadamia nut cookies for the kids’ snacks! All this walking on eggshells for people with allergies! Just because some kids can’t have it doesn’t mean no one should have it. This whole church thing was getting to be nothing but stress. If people couldn’t appreciate what she had to offer, then why bother.
A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
She was so grateful, for all of it, for the good times and the hard times, for they all had brought blessings. After that whole church fiasco, she went through a mini mid-life crisis. The kids didn’t need her so much. Work was not satisfying, she had felt stuck. She had not been to meetings very often for several years – felt solid in her sobriety, had been so busy with the kids, and then church. Feeling adrift, at a loss, she had gone back to meetings, and wondered if maybe now was the time to do that step work – the moral inventory, making amends, etc. It was amazing the insight it brought her. Little by little things changed, got even better. She started volunteering at a hospice. It was amazing to see people facing such loss with grace. It was a privilege to be part of it – the transition of the soul out of the body. She almost never worried about money anymore. She found to her delight that she had more than enough to give away. She no longer resented all the appeals that came to her, and truly understood about how in giving we receive. She had found another church, and took her time in deciding what activities she wanted to be involved in. She got better at detaching, not letting small things become such big deals. And once the kids went off to college, she didn’t even go all that often. God was in her life. She didn’t need to go seeking anywhere in particular to experience the divine presence. It was woven through everything, all the time, even when she didn’t notice it in a particular moment. Her sense of gratitude spilled over to her husband and kids, and even for her parents. She had forgiven them their shortcomings, understanding that they did the best they could. Doing that step work, she had even made amends to them.
A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. This is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
Friends, God is the sower, and God has sown the seeds of the Word everywhere. God’s Word is a word of mercy and compassion, of love and truth and beauty. It was embodied in Jesus, but the seeds were sown in many ways. We are the wide path that the birds eat from, the rocky soil, thorny areas and the good soil. It’s not that some people are one thing or another, but we each carry all those aspects within us, perhaps at different times of our lives, or in different areas of our lives. The good news here is about what God has done. God’s Word will not return to God empty, but will accomplish that which God purposes. We don’t need to fix ourselves. We have a Savior for that. Matt Laney points out that dentists cannot put fillings in their own teeth, a surgeon cannot operate on herself. We cannot baptize ourselves or serve ourselves communion, so why do we still struggle to admit we can only be restored by surrendering to a Presence larger and wiser than ourselves? In this self-reliant culture, we might prefer to believe we can till our own soil to become good ground – a weeding here and some raking there should do. No need for a total overhaul of heart and mind. Laney notes the temptation of this belief, “If I am healed by my own efforts, there would be limits to what God could ask of me. But if I am healed by the grace of God in Christ, then I belong to Christ and I owe God everything.” A sower went out to sow. Let anyone with ears listen, and may God grant us understanding. Amen.
