Matthew 13:1-9
The Parable of the Sower
Do you remember getting the plant seed packets in the mail? My dad would follow the directions carefully to make sure the seeds were planted properly – how deep, how far apart, how precise all the items must be!
For farmers today, technology provides GPS and intricate programs that can plant seeds precisely at the right depth and separation from others. They have even developed a planter that uses a puff of air to plant seeds, so they don’t roll around but are pushed into the soil at the right place and at the right depth based on soil makeup and many other factors.
When it comes to planting, you don’t want to be wasteful!
But did you notice how the planter plants seeds in the parable for today? The parable itself describes a sower who is ridiculously generous with the amount of seed he scatters, throwing it not only on the good soil but also on soil that even non-farmers like most of us can recognize as poor choices: thorny soil, dry soil, and even a beaten path. I mean, what are the chances the seed is going to take root in any of that? Which makes this sower not simply generous but wasteful. Seed was not cheap in the ancient world, and everyone who listened to Jesus’ parable would have recognized the sheer wastefulness, recklessness, even stupidity, of such an approach to farming.
The sower is extravagant. There seems to be no place where the seed isn’t cast. There seems to be no planning in where the seeds will go, where they will land, what the soil content might be – is there proper sunlight, moisture, and nutrients to provide for proper growth?
I believe there is a message here that is good news! The good news is there is more than enough – enough grace, enough forgiveness, enough love, enough hope.
God’s love is an abundant commodity.
A wonderful example of this extravagant love and forgiveness is shared in another parable of Jesus – the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). The definition of the word “prodigal” is one who spends money or resources freely and recklessly, wastefully extravagant.
The story is of a son who wastes away his inheritance and comes back home, hoping for some mercy, and possibly a place as a servant in his father’s home. But the father refuses that – instead, he welcomes his son home – the lost has been found, the dead are alive. Let’s celebrate.
The prodigal one – the one who is wastefully extravagant – is the father. You might say forgiving your neighbor 70 times seven times is wastefully extravagant. You might say dying on a cross for the sins of the world is wastefully extravagant. You might say…
You might say that is the way God operates.
We as the church are called to proclaim the Word of God – God’s Kingdom. But how often do we worry that there isn’t enough? We are afraid that there isn’t enough – not enough money, not enough staff, not enough resources, not enough time, not enough room, not enough…
And how often do we worry about who should get what, and how it will be received? We are skeptical of the person holding a cardboard sign asking for money. We question the motives of those looking for help. We are afraid that our limited resources we have to share will be squandered away.
God does not hold back. God is not worried about whether there will be enough seed or grace or love. God may want our hearts to be good soil, but nevertheless, God hurls a ridiculous amount of seed on even dry, thorny, or beaten soil. Goodness, but you get the feeling this God would probably scatter seed-love-mercy-grace on a parking lot! Why? Because there is enough! And, ultimately, because God believes we are enough. Enough to save ourselves? No. Enough to deserve love, dignity and respect? Absolutely.
The fundamental and unifying element in all of God’s hopes for us is that they all spring from God’s unconditional, even reckless, love for and acceptance of us right here, right now, just as we are. There is enough. You are enough. God will never give up on us. God’s love is unending. Period.
Let us Pray: