Sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, July 16, 2023

Isaiah 55:10-13+Psalm 65:9-14+Romans 8:1-11+Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Of all the writings of the Apostle Paul, I think it is these two chapters in his letter to the church in Rome that I return to again and again for encouragement and affirmation of what it is to live a Christian life. In Chapter 7 from which we have been reading over the past few weeks, Paul is struggling with sin and sinfulness, his own struggle to do the right thing and realizing that he cannot, under his own power, do the things he believes he is supposed to do as a follower of Jesus. Chapter 8 is the acknowledgment that none of us, under our own willpower, can lead a perfectly sinless life. And the good news in this chapter is that it is okay.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do...(Romans 1:1-3a)

Y'all know how enamored I am with word studies when it comes to preparing sermons, and I want you to know that I looked at more than thirty translations of Romans 8:1, and that word - condemnation - is translated exactly that way in every one of them. There is no condemnation, no judgment, no punishment for all of us who are in Christ Jesus. We are set free.

Yet, what are we to make of this parable Jesus tells about the sower? This seed that falls on the path or the rocky ground or amongst the thorns or even in good soil - all of that ground is supposed to represent us, right? I mean, that's what it says. And somehow, we're supposed to make sure that we understand enough so that the birds don't swoop down and eat up the seed because we're too dense. And we're supposed to make sure that we keep our hearts on fire at all times so that our stony soil doesn't stop the seed from taking root. And God forbid that we should have full lives that choke out the word of God when it comes to us. Jesus seems to be saying that it is up to us to provide the good soil for the seed to take root.

But Paul is going to tell us time and again that it isn't actually up to us to create the right conditions. That's the work of grace.

So, which is it?

I think it's both.

We can do those things that make for hearts and minds open to receiving the Good News of the gospel - pray, worship, study scripture, tithe our resources, serve others. All of these are characteristic of the Christian life, and they are all really good spiritual disciplines to develop. But all the things we do are not going to save us, because it's really all up to God and God's abundant, mercy.

And that's why I think we overlook the opening of this parable to our own detriment. "A sower went out to sow," Jesus begins (13:3b). Those listening to this story will immediately recognize the absurdity of it. Most of us are not farmers and did not grow up on farms, and while we might tend to scatter grass or some other seed indiscriminately hoping that it will grow, in Jesus' time, seed was valuable. No farmer in her right mind is going to toss it willy-nilly all over the place. That would be a waste. No, we're going to till the soil and lay down manure and make it ready.

Not the sower in the parable, and if you take that sower to be God, then it's pretty clear that God does not care what the soil is like. God's word goes everywhere. God will toss good news toward the atheists and agnostics, the spiritual-but-not-religious and the "nones," the scoffers and the doubters, the overworked and beaten down because God's ways are not our ways. We just heard the prophet Isaiah, speaking in God's voice

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, 

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:33)

God will not be put off by our willingness or readiness or openness to God's love. God makes us ready to receive God's grace. God can afford to be generous beyond measure because it is God who makes the seeds to grow. It is God who makes the ground ready. It is God who casts the seed all over the place because in God, there is an endless supply.

Which makes me wonder: what if we are the sower? How do we share the abundance that we have been given in God's word, in what God has given us, our resources and our time and our talents? Do we just scatter it on the soil where it is likely to flourish, like with those who show up here each week? Or do we cast Good News out with abandon, even among those not likely to be moved or persuaded? If we're the sower, are we overthinking it? Are we neglecting our ministry as evangelists? If we cast the Good News of God's love with the same kind of careless abandon that God casts his love on us, what might this world be like?

Maybe, just maybe, the prophecy of Isaiah might be made real

For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song, 
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.(Isaiah 55:12) 

Our suffering earth singing and dancing, the people of the earth living in peace and joy, and all because a sower went out and sowed some seed.

May it be so.