A Prodigal Sower

Homily Pentecost 4A Parable of the Sower

Having served several rural congregations, I’ve learned a little about agriculture, and about the spirit and dedication of farmers in western Canada who still labour on the family farm and have survived, drought, flooding, poor commodity prices and high interest rates…to name only a few of the obstacles.

Farmers have had to become very resourceful to keep going, prudent in their decisions on how much land to seed, how much fertilizer to use, how much to spend on equipment. It’s a tough business.

And it was a tough business in the first century when Jesus taught this parable of the Sower.

What is so remarkable about the brief parable told in Matthew is that the Sower Jesus talks about doesn’t show any of that cautious, careful behaviour we’d expect from a farmer—then or now.

The sower distributes his seeds on the path, among the rocks, in the thorns, and in the good soil.

Since seeds were a very valuable commodity at that time, and most farmers worked for larger landowners in a tenancy system, it’s odd behaviour to say the least for the Sower to waste any seeds where they are unlikely to grow.

The thing about parables is that Jesus used them, to make us think. In this case Matthew also provides an interpretation of the parable a few verses later which is included in our Gospel reading this morning.

However before we accept that this as the only interpretation of the parable, we have to consider the possibility this was a later addition to the original text by an editor who wanted to have Jesus more fully explain the parable, rather than leaving it to the hearer or reader to figure it out.

My feeling is we are meant to struggle with parables, because they usually have some sort of twist, like the extravagant use of seeds by the Sower.

Then the task for us is to interpret what Jesus means, and what it might mean for us in our lives.

I think we could call this parable the “Prodigal” or extravagant Sower. The Sower could be seen as God, dispensing grace extravagantly—often on rocky ground, or where it will not take hold, but offering grace anyway in hopes the seed will take root in our hearts.

Or else we ourselves could be the Sower, passing on God’s grace, God’s love to others, whether it is returned or not, whether it takes root or not.

The return of the seeds which were sown on good soil by the Sower was 30, 60, 100 fold.

This kind of return would have been unheard of, even in a bumper crop, then or now for that matter despite all our high-tech agricultural processes to improve yield—the so called green revolution.

So what Jesus is teaching us is that God’s grace, when we receive it, or when we pass it on, can result in an unimaginable yield, beyond our wildest expectations.

And this parable can be seen as a way to explain God’s grace, rather than talking about belief.

That isn’t to say the interpretive section on the parable isn’t useful teaching as well.

One thing which strikes me is the description of what happens when the seed falls among thorns. The cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

This speaks to the spiritual crisis in more affluent societies—where the church is declining. We have lost our spiritual compass thanks to a materialism that puts wealth and entertainment above faith, compassion and service.

I’m not saying faith, compassion and service are not present in our society, but they seem to have been eclipsed by a hectic and often disconnected lifestyle which grows ever more complex,but lacking purpose.

Church life and community life have suffered as families and friends are scattered. We have great mobility. But the chances of putting roots down, as many of you have here in Sarnia, are less than they have every been.

So we have to recognize the thorns in our society which choke our faith. We need to also recognize the many manifestations of God’s grace in our lives, and try to share God’s grace with others, freely, extravagantly.

Perhaps the most encouraging message from this teaching of Jesus is that God’s grace is available to all of us if we seek it, wherever we are. Perhaps we have to overcome thorns to recognize it. Or go through some rocky times.

But we have the assurance that it is there. Thanks be to God.