Reflection on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

We’ve all heard this parable before and we know the moral: be the seed rooted in good soil not the seed rooted on the path or on the rocks or in the thorns. Plant yourselves in good soil, do good things, yada, yada, yada, be loving like Jesus was loving, Amen. Short reflection today; time to venture forth from the computer and enjoy our summer afternoon at the mall, or at home in front of the tube, or playing games in a family member’s home.

Leaving everything right there does not feel right does it? Do not get me wrong, some part of us wishes I was not joking, because there are much more interesting things to be doing out there than sitting here reading a sermon. There are malls to be explored, great scary theme park rides to be enjoyed, beautiful gardens to plant, unexplored mountains to hike, and fish packed lakes to be emptied. I know that part of you probably has that desire pulling you out the door, but there is that equally piercing gut feeling that tells you such an attitude towards God’s house is like a skin piercing vine of thorns that will painfully snag you as it grows past, and haul you far away from the good soil.

Let us be honest, do we not come to websites like this expecting to find the presence of Christ, expecting to find good, rich, dark, soil in which we can sink our roots deeply? Do we not hope, each time we read reflections like this, to soak up a word that is full of water and minerals? Many times we do not get what we desire, but do we not wish that we could?

I will tell you the truth, I am not quite sure how this sowing the seed thing works. I am certain that a lot of people come and read with the expectation of meeting Christ and do not feel as if they have. I am honestly not certain that some people are ever given the chance at sinking their roots into dark, rich soil. It seems that lots of people are just sown in the wrong places from the very beginning.

I have known lots of people who are thrown onto heavily traveled paths where they do not even have a chance because they are picked at or trampled on right away. Others are cast into the shallow soil on top of rock where they have little hope to spread their roots and get firmly established. Usually, they are blown away with the gentlest of breezes. Others are always winding up in the thorns, and I think we all know what life is like when the thorns are trying to tear you away from your good soil. There are all these people that I know who are good people, but they just can not seem to get a break. Why did God cast them into such rough conditions?

Yet, at the same time, there are those who seem to find the good soil anywhere they go. They get thrown on the path, and somehow they find the middle of the path where they will not get trampled. They actually thrive being in the conflict of the path. You know these people. Others are thrown onto rock and somehow they find the crack in which they can send their root deeply. They use the rock to their advantage, hooking the bottom of the rock with their root. You have met this person. They are probably sitting nearby. And much rarer, but still out there are those who find a way not to be choked or pulled out by the thorns. Somehow these people are able to make the worst situation great.

But, those people are not the rule. I am not sure that there is really anyone to blame here. People cannot be expected to be put into terrible positions and come out with deep roots in rich, good soil. To expect such a thing is just unfair.

I am not even sure that God can be blamed. God could be blamed for being a terrible farmer. No one throws away their precious seed on the path or on rocky ground, or in the thorns. That is just bad economics. But, I do not think it is evil. I think that God means it for good.

God does choose to be a terrible farmer. God chooses to cast us with the Word in our hearts all over the place.

That leads me to think one thing. It seems to me that since some people find the good soil in the worst of places; that God casts us everywhere, even the worst places, so that every place can have the chance to experience Christ’s love and forgiveness. I mean, look at the yield that God can produce out of just a little good soil in between two huge rocks: a great yield is four fold, but God’s yield is a hundred fold, or sixty, or thirty. It is amazing what God can do with just a little good soil.

Perhaps, you know what it is like to be sown on a busy and conflicted path? Have you had troubles setting your roots deep? Have you been sown among the thorns? Consider that God has provided you a small patch of good, rich, dark soil anyway. Perhaps, God intended you to fall among the thorns, not to harm you, but so that good soil might start to sprout life even there. What a great, green glimmer of hope you may be to someone who finds themselves cast into the shadows of the thorns.

What a gracious God we have, who provides good soil, even in the most unlikely of places. What a gracious God we have, who desires Christ’s grace and forgiveness to land everywhere, for everyone to touch and experience.