Embracing the whole imperfect landscape

A sermon on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.
[for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by imso gabriel on Unsplash]
So, there is a debate in the scholarly community about what to call this parable.
Traditionally, it is known as the Parable of the Sower, but more recently that has fallen out of favor because, if you pay attention to the parable, the Sower is not really the focus of attention.
It has become more popular in recent years to refer to it as The Parable of the Soils, since the different kinds of soil clearly do get a lot of attention in both the parable and its explanation.
But Iâm not entirely comfortable with this title either, because it tends to lead directly into the âwhat kind of soil are you?â question, which feels rather reductive to meâŠ
and even though I know thatâs a really easy place to go with parables, I think we can get more than reductive categories from this parable. (More on that is a minute.)
My former professor, Fred Borsch, suggests calling it The Parable of the Seeds because âthe interest (in the telling) is on what happens to the seeds.â[1]
I find this a better option. It lines up with Jesusâs explanation, which highlights the seeds at the beginning and end of the interpretation:
Identifying them as the âword of the kingdom,â and then concluding the parable with the promise of great yield from the seed.
So, we have some evidence that Jesus agrees about the seed being the key to understanding the parable.
If I were the one in charge of naming the parables, though, I would name this one: The Parable of Varying Growth.
(Now you know why Iâm not in charge of naming parables).
I know my proposal doesnât quite trip lightly off the tongue, but hear me out.
This parable is about BOTH seeds and soil, but more specifically it is about how they interact.
Itâs about how the potential for growth (in the seed / word) meets with different results in different contexts (of soil / circumstances). Itâs about where growth can happen and where it canât.
And if we want to understand how to apply this parable to our lives, rather than just provide an argument for what it means, in the abstract, then I think that paying attention to what it teaches us about growth is what will get us there.
Now, here is where I double back on that point about reductive categories because I have heard very application-focused sermons on this parable that flow from the âwhat kind of soil are you?â question.
Itâs super simple to go through the different kinds of soil in the parable, or rather, Jesusâs interpretation of what the different kinds of soil represent, and then to be like: âOk. There you have it. You know the dangers now: Satan, persecution, cares & wealth. So, go be good soil!â
But the problem is⊠life is not actually super simple.
So, itâs not actually terribly evident exactly how we are supposed to avoid âbeing bad soil.â
I donât personally feel like I have much control over the Source of all Evil and Father of Lies⊠so⊠Iâm not sure what to do about that threat.
Nor do I have the option to opt out of persecution⊠believe me I would if I could!
And, yes, I can work to deepen the roots of my faith, but I donât care how deep my roots get Iâm never going to be immune to scorching.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, if you cut me, I will bleed, and this is something that people of all faiths (and no faith) have in common.
And as for the cares and desires of this world, they are omnipresent. I honestly cannot imagine how I could arrange my life so that such âweedsâ were not present in it, on a daily basis.
And all of this means that when I hear a âwhat kind of soil are youâ sermon, my rather defeated answer is, âUmm. All of them?â
Because I am⊠I expect you all are too.
We are all just more complicated than reductive categories suggest.
We all have weaknesses that get exploited at one time or another by the negative forces in our world,
and we all have complex personal histories that create unique vulnerabilities,
and we all have responsibilities that demand our attention and desires that can distract us.
And we all, also, have plenty of âgood soilâ in our souls that bears much fruit.
We are all the entire landscape of this parable.
(That was my other naming option for this text: The Parable of the Whole Imperfect Landscape⊠what do you think, does that work better?)
My point is that once we recognize how integral all of the different âsoilâ conditions are to the experience of being human, the call to âbe good soilâ doesnât make any sense.
We canât just âcut offâ any parts of ourselves that are not âgood soil.â Itâs all mixed together.
And thatâs an insight that helps us to apply this parable beyond our individualism as well. (Because Jesus was teaching to a much more communal society - you can bet that his lessons were never about âjust me and the state of my individual soul.â)
If it doesnât make sense for us to try to be exclusively âgood soilâ ourselves, then we also should not carry that expectation into our interactions with the world by believing that it is the churchâs job to form society into our vision of perfect receptivity to God.
The world we are called to serve has all of the same challenges that are part of our lives and thatâs not going to change.
But that doesnât mean this parable has nothing to teach us.
Jesus WANTS us to learn something. That much is clear.
When he ends the parable with the call for those with ears to listen, the Greek word carries the connotation of not only hearing, but learning.[2]
And the conversation with his disciples before the interpretation (which gets skipped in the lectionary) is all around the theme of understanding.
And he starts and ends his interpretation of the parable with comments about those who hear the word and either do not or do âunderstand.â
So, what is it that Jesus wants us to understand? What does this parable about seeds falling on different soils, with different patterns of growth, have to teach us?
Greek scholar D. Mark Davis makes a point in his translation of this passage about the word for âunderstandingâ that Jesus uses to open and close his interpretation. Davis notes that the word, ÏÏ Îœáœ·Î·ÎŒÎ¹ (synÃÄmi), âhas the sense of bringing thoughts together (ÏÏ Îœ), like the English âsynthesis.â[3]
In other words, itâs about seeing the whole picture.
And the whole picture for 1st century farmers, would have been that with all the natural challenges present in the story, there was still a bountiful harvest.
Yes, there would be some unfruitful seed - Bishop Borsch refers to this as the âexpectation of natural loss,â[4] which would be no surprise to Jesusâ audience.
And, of course, it helps to be able to identify the barriers to growth: to try to ward off the birds, plow-up the rocks, and pull the weeds.
Or, in the interpretation:
to expose the lies that try to steal the truth,
identify and work to heal the traumas that block a deepening of faith,
and work to uproot the hold that various distractions and competing priorities have on our souls.
But the big picture is still one of hope⊠for us AND for the whole messy world we live in.
The growth that God is bringing into the world through the scattering of the seed of the word of Godâs kingdom, is NOT an all or nothing game.
And, by the way, itâs not all about human effort either. The metaphor of the seed-bearing-fruit is an image of NATURAL growth.
The farmer has no part in triggering the natural processes whereby a seed splits open to generate roots, and stem, and leaves, and fruit all from one small, seemingly lifeless source.
So, yes, Jesus does want us to understand, to ÏÏ Îœáœ·Î·ÎŒÎ¹ (synÃÄmi) what God is up to in our lives and in the world, but the most fundamental thing I think he wants us to understand is that there is hope.
Not every seed needs to bear fruit for there to be a bountiful harvest.
Not every square inch of our soul needs to be âgood soilâ for us to see the evidence of growth.
And all the evidence of brokenness and barriers in the world cannot negate the work that God is doing. Because God keeps sowing the seed everywhere⊠even in the most unlikely places.
Because growth is a miracle. And it can surprise us with unexpected harvests.
Thanks be to God.
[1] Frederich H. Borsch, Many Things in Parables, Eurgene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1988, p. 129. [2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g191/kjv/tr/0-1/ [3] https://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com/2017/07/seed-and-soils.html; accessed July 14, 2023. [4] Borsch, Many Things in Parables