“The Generous Farmer”

July 10, 2011
Matthew 13:1-9, (18-23)

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.

In the first two verses, Matthew sets the stage for Jesus’ parable lesson, telling us that Jesus leaves the house, goes down to the edge of the lake and sits down. To me it sounds like Jesus is taking a break, and in need of some quite time – away from all the people – time to just relax a bit. But the crowd has a way of finding him and there on the beach, the people begin to press in around him. So Jesus gets into a boat, anchored near the shore, and begins telling the people stories, each with a certain lesson. Matthew says one of these stories was about a farmer – who went out to sow.

It’s in that context we picture Jesus once again teaching the people. Writer, teacher, and Episcopal pastor Barbara Brown Taylor is poetic in her description of Jesus in the boat on the water, "his figure swaying a little with each lift of the waves, his words full of life and as hard to hold as a handful of lake."

“And as he sowed,” Jesus said, “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!”

If I may, I’d like to stop there, even though earlier we heard the rest of today’s gospel lesson when verses 18-23 were read. Many scholars believe those later verses expressed how early communities of the church in Matthew’s day interpreted this parable and were not, in fact, something Jesus said that day. These communities were impatient and disappointed with the lack of progress in their mission effort to spread the gospel. They wondered why the gospel that changed their life did not take root in the life of others more? For them the parable offers an explanation of why only some seem to really be able to receive the word and bear fruit. We can understand and relate to that way of thinking, can’t we? There are good fields and not so good fields, right?

But for now, though, I would like you to hear only Jesus’ words that day.

It is believed, because of possible spies in the crowd, or agents of those out to get him, Jesus was not being candid or direct as he gave his lesson from the boat. His parables, including this one, and their meanings, are therefore "hard to hold." Imagine what the people in the crowd might have thought hearing his parables? You’ve come to hear a compelling and clear message, or even a rousing speech to overthrow the Romans, but, instead what you get are stories in which images of God's kingdom are likened to the crops in you own fields and the loaves in your kitchens.

You can easily find yourself standing there on the edge of the lake, your eyes focused on this stranger bobbing up and down in a boat, scratching your head, and thinking, “What is the seed, and what is the ground, and who is the sower that he’s talking about? Some would suggest today’s text bluntly asks each of us, How do you hear? What type of soil are you? Has your hearing led to understanding?" And have we really received God’s word and allowed ourselves to be transformed by tit, growing ever closer to the kingdom day by day?

However, in Jesus’ original words in this parable there is no judgment of anyone in whom the word does not take root and does not come to bear fruit. Instead it is more of an observation of how things are.

It's not all about us after all. “Some seeds fell on the path… Other seeds fell on rocky ground… Other seeds fell among thorns… That’s life. Things can get in the way of growth.

It’s difficult to let go of the traditional interpretation of Jesus’ parable of the Sower but it would be a good thing if we could.

Let those with ears hear. Some seeds fall on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some fall on good soil. That’s how life is, that’s what the reality of the farmer was. To Jesus’ listeners, tamped down paths were part of any field that has lain fallow for a while, and you’d be very lucky if your field didn’t have rocks and thorns and weeds. In Jesus’ day, a hundredfold harvest is impossible, sixty highly unlikely and thirty something that only happened in a very good year. That was the reality of the farmer then.

Jesus knew that although he was sowing generously, not all seeds would bear fruit. There would be all sorts of things obstructing growth. There would be hardened paths and rocks and thorns to hamper his words from taking root. As farmers would know, a good plowing and tilling of the soil would be needed. The paths having developed on fallow ground would need to be plowed under, the rocks removed, the soil turned, the thorns pulled out and the soil thoroughly tilled.

In the story Jesus told, there was a challenge – a challenge that remains today. The land needed to be made good again. Maybe, just maybe, as a church or as individuals, there are well-trodden paths in our lives that need to be turned over, rock hard bits of belief and convictions removed, the things that choke or impede new growth uprooted.

Let anyone with ears listen!