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Genesis 25:19-34, Romans 8:1-11, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
You may have noticed a bit of a shift in our readings, especially as we enter the green season after Pentecost. Our first reading from the Hebrew Scriptures is generally longer, they follow one another in story telling as we get the great stories of the beginnings of Israel. This is one of the gifts of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL): more of the familiar and not so familiar stories from the Old Testament.
With these stories we will follow the developing nature of the patriarchs and then what later becomes the twelve tribes of Israel through their enslavement, exodus, and settlement back in the land promised to Abraham so long ago. These are some of the best and well known stories in our Bible and I am glad that we are now having them read Sunday by Sunday to remind and refresh us of our own roots within this tradition; a tradition that brought forth the three great Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Islam traces it roots to the story we heard earlier of Hagar and Ishamel.
Scripture is not just about history, real and myth, as it is about how men and women have responded to the call and sense of God moving in their lives. Such is what Scripture is for us today: how is God moving in our lives through what we are reading on the page? How is the word of God alive for us today?
I find this particularly important in the teachings and parables of Jesus. His words transcend the centuries of hot, dry Palestine to hot, dry Utah. I find this particularly true of today’s story.
Jesus walks out of the house, very likely Peter’s wife’s home in Capernaum, and goes to the beach. A crowd gathers. He begins to speak, to teach. The crowd presses in on him. I can see him now squatting by the gentle waves, cool water on his dry feet. So, a boat is offered. He gets in and teaches a bit from shore. What he teaches is not just for them. We are also on that beach listening for he is speaking to and about us.
We know the seeds he speaks of. We are the seeds he speaks of. It is like looking in a mirror. The truth of these parables is that they are not static. They are dynamic and moving and ever changing. This parable especially describes not individuals, but the faith live of any individual. We all go through these stages. This is not about classes or people, it is about how I respond and have responded to the sense of God moving in my life. I am each of these seeds. I am in each of these settings. I am this parable. You are this parable.
Anglican priest Herbert O’Driscoll offers his wise insight into these examples. The first story is about how we can make wrong assumptions in what we say. We may assume that the person we are talking to knows the context of words such as grace, sacrament, born anew, resurrection, Trinity, Christ, etc. When we make the wrong assumption then the words and their power are plucked away from them, they have no sense of relationship to their life. Tell your story, yes. But make sure the listener understands the words you are using.
The second example is one all so common it seems. It has more to do with enthusiasm rather than faith. There is a spurt of enthusiasm with the Good News. But it is based on emotion and not faith, based on imagination and not on true seeking. Therefore, the first time something comes along that is not part of that person’s expectation there is disappointment. Many times this can deal with stewardship. Money is often a hard subject, hard as rocks. When everything was spiritual it was ok, but when talk shifts to responsibilities of community, things change, people drift.
The third example is not unknown in our lives and the lives of others. Yes, church is great. Yes, I believe. I have faith. Yes. I also have such a busy schedule. I will work as I can. But life becomes too much and church and faith take a backseat to what needs to be done on a Sunday. Yes, there are times when people need to be at work, or otherwise engaged on a Sunday. That happens in our society today and we all know that. This example is more about letting the calendar and desires dictate to faith rather than faith taking responsibility for decisions about sharing in the prayers and the breaking of the bread in community.
Finally, there is the example of the seeds that fall in fertile ground and grow and flourish and blossom in the light of the Gospel. This is where we all want to be. This is where hopefully we will get to through the other stages as well.
For me the best of the good news in this example is that God does not expect that I always am able to give 100% of me. Sometimes it is 30, or 60, or other percent. God meets us where we are and then invites us to come further. God meets me where I am able to meet God and then invites me into a deeper relationship that brings me even closer to the Divine and into the life of the community.
I am this parable. I see myself in each of these examples as I imagine each of you have seen yourself. This is not a condemnation as it is a description of our growth in faith and growth in Christ. I know I have been in each of these examples of seeds. And I still am in each of these. This is me. I suspect you see yourself in each seed as well.
Such is the gift of Scripture, it helps us see ourselves in relation to God and to each other. Then God meets us where we are and invites us to come further.