The Farmer As God

​7th Sunday after Pentecost – A (Proper 10)                                                   LSB #’s 577, 589, 921
Text – Matthew 13:3b
 
A sower went out to sow. 
 
THE FARMER AS GOD
 
 
One of the earliest agricultural jobs I can remember doing is thinning sugar beets.  The rudimentary system of my relatives planted more seeds per row than could grow productively.  So,  we walked through the rows after the plants were a few inches tall  & hoed out a sufficient number of them  to leave the beets  spaced  about six inches apart. 
Modern planting of sugar beets can be completely driven by computers & satellite technology.  No more thinning the beets once they’ve sprouted.  Each seed is planted exactly six inches apart & at the appropriate depth for the kind of soil.  All that is mapped out by computer & the planter traces it across each field as guided by the Global Positioning Satellites. 
Farming has changed a lot in just the 60 years since I was a boy, but even 2000 years ago, no sower went out to sow in the way that Jesus describes.   Even then, good seed was too valuable a commodity to just throw it around along the path or on rocky ground or among thorns.   As Jesus told this parable, it was not His goal to share proper planting technique. 
He was, however, sharing with us how generous & merciful is our Father in heaven.  He spreads His Word far & wide, giving every human being the opportunity, wherever they may be, to receive His blessing.  What our Creator understands, that we struggle to, is that sowing the Word of God is totally unlike sowing seeds of a plant. 
By looking at the ground, or having it tested in a lab, a farmer can know if it will produce a crop.   Looking at human beings, even having them tested in a lab, gives no idea if the Word of God will bear fruit in any of those people.  Some of the most hardened individuals of history have become devout followers of Christ.  Some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet will be spending eternity where suffering & misery never end.  If people follow Jesus, it’s due to the power of God’s Word.   If people reject Jesus, it is due to the hardness of their hearts.  Still, Jesus calls them.  He calls all people to Himself, even those we think are unlikely to respond. 
As we heard in the Gospel lesson last Sunday, Jesus calls all who labor & are heavy laden to come to Him for rest.  (Matthew 11:28)   Today, He begins that with a very simple sentence, “A sower went out to sow.” (Matthew 13:3b ESV) Ironically, in telling the parable of the sower, Jesus is actually doing the sowing, as Matthew records it:
“That same day Jesus went out of the house & sat beside the sea.”  (Matthew 13:1 ESV)  In sitting beside the sea Jesus begins to sow, & He’s sowing with parables in chapter 13.   His ministry started off with a bang, but is no longer wildly successful.   Jesus’ followers are wondering why so many in Israel are rejecting His work, & not responding with faith.
It’s a common thought in our day as well.  Why does the work of preaching & teaching the Good News seem to regularly fall on deaf ears?  Why does the Church seem small & weak in a culture that desperately needs the rest Jesus offers?   The parable of the sower makes the point that many of the people upon which the Word is sown are simply not suitable for growth. 
That’s just the reality of what sin has done to God’s creation.  Sin really does bring death.  That’s not just a story Christians tell.   Yet, the focal point of the parable is not that depressing news.  Jesus finishes by highlighting what happens when God’s Word falls on people that are suitable for growth:
“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word & understands it.  He indeed bears fruit & yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, & in another thirty.”  (Matthew 13:23 ESV)    When the Holy Spirit changes your heart, you begin to live differently.   It becomes especially noticeable during times of struggle & heartache when patience, kindness & joy still appear in your heart.  Even when you’re crushed & broken by the effects of sin,  peace, gentleness & self-control   can become your “go to,” rather than chaos, yelling & despair.   Being a child of God is a real thing.  It’s not just a face we put on, even though many of our actions are still driven by our sinful nature. 
Among the world’s mysteries is this, that when God at last comes into His creation, He would come in ways that are mysteriously lowly, weak & resistible.   The Creator of the universe never crams religion down our throats.  He does allow us to go our own way, as much as it breaks His heart to allow that. 
If a sower is going to go out & sow, that sower needs someplace to do the sowing.  In Genesis, God created a garden so that He’d have a place to sow the seed.  Adam was that seed, but he failed, so God promised, & eventually sent a better seed in His own Son.   The 2nd person of the Holy Trinity took on human flesh & was born in a lowly manger in a tiny little town. 
God reigns over this world in what appear to us as foolish ways.  He is generous to a fault & wastes His resources in trying to save some human beings.  The greatest & most amazing way that God went out to sow, was when He willingly allowed human beings to nail Him to a cross. 
The power of God’s Word dwarfs anything that mankind is able to contrive.  His Word works miracles in the hearts of those who do believe.  In this world, we struggle to comprehend that kind of power.  In heaven we will understand that power clearly.  God’s reign arrived at Bethlehem, & though it appeared weak & small, it brought not only salvation, but judgment. 
By using this parable to teach, Jesus is calling for discernment among the people of God.  Though, by virtue of faith, we are good soil, we live in & among a world marked by hard paths, rocky, shallow soil, & weed-infested thorns which seek to choke out the Word.  We are to be diligent & warn about the deceptions believers face day in & day out.  The spiritual dangers are all around us, so let us not grow weary of the Word that has already taken root & borne fruit in our lives.  Rather, return to that wellspring over & over again.  The rest Jesus offers is life itself, & Word of God will accomplish things through anyone who trusts in Jesus as Lord & Savior.  This parable has depressing news about failure, but it also has great new about success. 
As Jesus concludes His initial telling of the parable, He says, “He who has ears, let him hear.”  (Matthew 13:9 ESV)   In theology, only believers have ears.  Only they can hear, but Jesus is warning those of us who do believe, that it’s not a one & done.  If you have faith, do not stop listening to your Lord & Savior.  Do not stop following Him.  Keep on using those ears to hear. 
If we don’t, Satan is ready to steal the word away, even from us.  He will use the thorns to choke out our faith.  Faith can be asphyxiated from lack of hearing the Word, or from lack of receiving the body & blood of Christ.  Be careful, that if you have heard the Word, if you have received God’s rest, that you do not take it lightly, or for granted. 
A sower went out to sow, & He still goes.  His Word still speaks, & still creates life. “As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you,” says Jesus.  (John 20:21)  The sower went out to sow, & sends us out to sow as well.  The seed which is sown has the same life in it, whether spoken from the physical lips of Jesus or by one of us sent in His Name. 
A sower went out to sow, & there was life.  The sower sent others out to sow in His name, & there was life as well.  Amen. 
 
 
 
Speak, O Lord, Your servant listens, let Your Word to me come near; newborn life & spirit give me, let each promise still my fear.   Death’s dread power, its inward strife, wars against Your Word of life; fill me, Lord, with love’s strong fervor that I cling to You forever.    As I pray, dear Jesus, hear me; let Your words in me take root.   May Your Spirit ever be near me that I bear abundant fruit.   May I daily sing Your praise, from my heart glad anthems raise, till my highest praise is given in the endless joy of heaven.  Amen.  LSB 589:1, 4.