The Different, Explosive and Dangerous Sower~ Bishop Terry White (Celebration of Deacon Rose’s Retirement)

Texts: Isaiah 55:10-13, Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Anglican priest Malcolm Guite has written a poem entitled

Good Ground

I love your simple story of the sower,
With all its close attention to the soil,
Its movement from the knowledge to the knower,
Its take on the tenacity of toil.
I feel the fall of seed a sower scatters,
So equally available to all,
Your story takes me straight to all that matters,
Yet understands the reasons why I fall.

Oh deepen me where I am thin and shallow,
Uproot in me the thistle and the thorn,
Keep far from me that swiftly snatching shadow,
That seizes on your seed to mock and scorn.

O break me open, Jesus, set me free,
Then find and keep your own good ground in me.

(Poem found on Malcom Guite’s Blog: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/tag/parable/)

Today Matthew’s Gospel we hear Jesus’ parable of the sower. Bishop and theologian NT Wright says: “Jesus didn’t tell parables to provide friendly little illustrations of abstract theology. He told parables because what he was doing was so different, so explosive, and so dangerous, that the only way he could talk about it was to use stories.”

What in the story of the Sower is different, explosive, and dangerous? One dangerous theme is abundance. Isaiah says. “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!” The poet abandons the normally cloaked speech of prophecy and speaks plainly. If you are hungry, take a big bite. If you are thirsty, take a deep long drink. The bar is free and the buffet always open. When God throws a party (and we are indeed invited), there will be plenty of refreshment and entertainment for all. The word of God goes out into our lives, and it will not return empty handed. If you refuse to come to the party, ten street people will be invited in your place. Only they were already invited too, so just come along, will you? Live it up: life is bottomless. Free refills, on the house.

This different, explosive, dangerous, parable mirrors the parable of the workers hired at various points throughout the day to work in the vineyard. St. John Chrysostom’s Easter Sermon often read at the Great Vigil of Easter includes this proclamation of the abundance of Grace:
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the
first.

He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

In the scandalous story of the Sower casting the Living Words of Life like seeds, the point is not that some seeds get eaten, choked by weeds, or dried out. Rather that rebel Jesus invites us to focus on the seeds that grew, and multiplied, and became an abundance. God has plenty of seed. There is no need to worry about supply shortages, or a bit of waste here or there.

The thing is, as Jesus explains to the disciples later, the seeds are the word of God and the ground is our hearts. And we all have stony places in our heart where the seeds cannot thrive.

And we all have hearts that will, on occasion, refuse to listen.

And we all have a thorny part to our heart, where greed and hate and despair can choke even the word of God.

It doesn’t matter though, because we also have good soil in there somewhere, and the seeds of God will find a place to root, and grow strong and plenteous. Jesus has a never-ending abundance of seeds. He’ll keep tossing them our way, until something takes root.

I feel the fall of seed a sower scatters,
So equally available to all,
Your story takes me straight to all that matters,
Yet understands the reasons why I fall,

Father Malcolm writes.

Jesus’ parables are different, explosive, dangerous. So are deacons. Called by Jesus to a life that is threatening to everything that opposes loving God and loving neighbor, a life that is a living parable of what it means to take a towel and kneel at the feet of Christ dwelling in every human being. Can I get an amen?

We mark today with deep thanksgiving for two servants in whom God’s seeds have taken root for many a growing season (did I say that carefully enough?) And lest I point too much to Rose and Bill: I see today just a glimpse of fruitful abundance of many a harvest.