It seems rather absurd for me to be preaching the passage I am this morning. Today we will begin an examination of the Parable of the Sower and we’ll likely stay in it for about 3-4 weeks, we’ll see. But, as I said, whenever the topic of gardening or farming comes up, I have almost no point of reference and nor do I have any aptitude. In fact, one time one of my friends gave me a houseplant. I objected, citing my own incompetence, but she assured me. She told me she knew that and it was exactly why she was giving me what she termed, “indestructible.” Well, when the apartment manager told me that I either needed to either discard the desiccated plant or plan to pay a fee for improper garbage removal, I knew this gifted plant was a great many things perhaps but indestructible was not one of them.

So, whenever I come into passages like the one we’ll read this morning from Matthew or like the vine discourse in the Gospel of John, I tread lightly. I know little of either gardening or farming and am loath to overstep my knowledge.

But I do believe this passage worthy enough for me to bear my own anxieties about my dark-as-tar-thumb. After all, the parable of the sower is one of only 7 of 37 Parables of Jesus that appear in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Further, it is also one of the few in which Jesus takes the time to clearly delineate exactly what he means. For that reason, I think it fair to assume that this parable was highly regarded in the earliest church, and for good reason.   

And while many of us might bristle at the metaphorical image being used to describe us – dirt – we must also hear this parables’ wisdom which, I believe comes clearly on a number of different levels.

On one level, the parable of the sower gives us room to understand why it is that some people, even being exposed to the Word, never quite become Christians. On another level, it is strong encouragement for the work of “the harvest.” But finally, and most obviously considering Jesus’ explication of the parable, these verses provide for us an easy self-assessment. Because you see, it isn’t the case that our “soil-type” is somehow magically fixed. A plot of fertile soil untended can, over time, become far less so.

I read to you now from the 13^th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, verses 1-9, and 18-23. Hear now the Word of our Lord:

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea and great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, 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 produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears,^[a] let him hear.”

“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

The parable, as it would turn out, is made absolutely, abundantly, obviously clear what Jesus is talking about. In fact, the parable of the Sower’s meaning is so clear that, sometimes, it can seem difficult or daunting even to preach. After all, Jesus explained it. Adding to that divine explication strikes me as fairly big example of “gilding the lily.”