By Rev Bill Stewart
"Farmers call for HECS-style loan to see off drought"
"Cost of carbon regime ’modest’ "
"Man of the land supports laws of nature"
"Recycled water ’will have bugs’ "
All these headlines come from the front page of this Wednesday’s copy of The Australian newspaper (29 October 2008). They remind us – as if any of us needed reminding – that in most parts of Australia rainfall has been very low from many years now and a serious water shortage is being experienced. This shortage has implications for people on the land but also for those of us living here in the city. I quickly watered a few of my plants between 6-8am this morning. How many of you did too? We are all "living at 3a", the advertisements tell us – level 3a water restrictions, that is. And there will almost certainly be greater restrictions on water consumption unless there is an almost biblical flood in the next few months.
I expect that if Jesus were telling his parables today these are the kind of situations he would be talking about in his parables because they are the things that shaping our lives. That’s why they are "front page news". Jesus talked about the things that shaped the everyday lives of the people of his day.
2. Everyday life ("the kingdom of heaven is like")
"A sower went out to sow". In one sense, parables are simple short stories aren’t they? They are based on simple analogies: a resemblance between two things: in some ways this thing is like that one. And they all have the same basic theme. Many of them begin with the words: "The kingdom of heaven [or the kingdom of God] is like…" Some of the later parables in chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel do have this introduction (vs. 44, 45, 47 etc.) Jesus does not use it in what he calls "the parable of the sower" (see v. 18), but the theme is the same. So what is Jesus saying the kingdom of heaven is like in this parable?
"A sower went out to sow". Or "a farmer went out to plant some seed", in our language. Why do farmers go out to plant a crop? Farmers plant seed to get a harvest, don’t they? This is the key point isn’t it! Jesus’ parable doesn’t teach a lesson about agriculture – his listeners already knew that -- but it takes what they already knew to teach a lesson about "spiritual fruitbearing" (Craig Blomberg). God as a "sower", people as "soil", and birds as "Satan" were standard images in Jewish circles. Just as the sower’s desire is to plant successful seed, Jesus says, God’s desire is to establish his kingdom. The seed is "the word of the kingdom" (v. 19). And the people of Israel are the soil upon which the seed falls. And immediately we recognise a contrast, don’t we? The three unfruitful soils are contrasted to the fruitful soil (Blomberg). It seems to me that Jesus had at least three points to make here.
(1) Firstly, that like the SOWER, God spreads his word among all kinds of people. "Listen! A sower went out to sow" (v. 3). Of course, hand sowing wasn’t as precise as modern direct-drilling cultivation equipment. So the seed is sown all over the place. But the results are different in different places.
(2) Like the three kinds of UNFRUITFUL SOIL, many people will respond to his word with less than saving faith. Some seed Jesus tells his followers fell upon the "path" (v. 4). And when Jesus followers ask for an explanation he tells them: "When anyone hears the WORD of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart" (v. 19). In other words, for some people (i) there will be a complete lack of response due to the enticement of evil, the desire to live without God.
Some seed fell upon "rocky ground" (vs. 5-6). And "this is the one", Jesus says, "who hears the WORD and immediately receives it with joy but such a person has no root, but endures only for awhile, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the WORD that person immediately falls away" (vs. 20-21). For other people, it seems, (ii) there is temporary but ultimately superficial response which appears at the beginning to be true commitment.
Other seed feel among "thorns" (v. 7). And, Jesus says, "this is the one who hears the WORD but the lure of wealth choke the WORD and it yields nothing" (v. 22). For other people, then, there is (iii) genuine interest and conviction that in the end simply falls short due to the demands of discipleship.
Like God we too desire to see people come to saving faith. The sad news is that not everyone responds favourably to God’s word. And it is always distressing, isn’t it, to see people reject God. Sometimes it can be even harder to see them respond enthusiastically at first, then drift away as time goes by. Those of us who have been Christians for many years will probably have had the experience of seeing that happen. It can be especially hard when it involves people we know and love, family and friends.
But the great news is that many people do respond positively and we get the privilege of seeing them grow in faith and bear fruit. In Jesus’ parable, some seed fell in "good soil" (v. 8), and "this is the one who hears the WORD and understands it, who bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, in another thirty" (v. 23). (3) Jesus third point, then, is that like the FRUITFUL SOIL, the only legitimate response to God’s word is the obedience and perseverance which demonstrate true faith.
All the way through this parable an important fact is assumed. And that is that God’s word does what it is intended to do. The prophet Isaiah makes this clear in a passage which used some similar imagery to what Jesus later would use is his parable:
"For as the rain and snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall MY WORD be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)
3. Real-life drama ("Do you see this woman?")
Many of us – and I certainly include myself here – have a problem with the parables. Many of us have been hearing the parables since we were in Sunday school when we coloured pretty picture of the sower going out to sow. And there’s not all wrong with that – quite the opposite (and no offence intended to Sunday Club leaders!) But the danger is that we are so familiar with the parables they have ceased to have the impact they had on Jesus’ listeners. Someone once said, I forget who it was, that sometimes the "most uncomfortable thing about the parables is the pews you have to sit on while listening to them." I suspect that happens because of our familiarity with the parables. But there may be another reason also. Is it also because it is easier to interpret stories where we know specifically the historical events and the people they were about? What I would like to do is look at a parable where we do know the events and the people that the parable was speaking about.
There are a few. A great one is actually in the Old Testament in 2 Samuel (vs. 1-15) where the prophet Nathan was called to the dangerous task of confronting King David about his adulterous conduct with Bathsheba and his manipulation of the death of her husband, Uriah. Nathan chose to use a parable and David responded exactly as the prophet hoped – he was outraged and then Nathan told him: "You’re the man!" David then recognised that he had sinned against the Lord. Read this parable this week if you have an opportunity.
But the parable I’d like to look at in a bit more detail this morning is from the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 7 tells us, one the one hand, about a Pharisee, a respected teacher of the law, named Simon who invited Jesus to dinner to interrogate him. And on the other hand, was an unnamed woman, someone despised by most in her society, probably a prostitute. But in a real real-life drama the woman somehow gate-crashed the party and stood behind Jesus
"at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ’If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him – that she is a sinner’." (Luke 7:38-39)
What does Jesus do at this point, storm out of the room in protest? Did he make a mental note to report Simon to the Equal Opportunity Commission? No. Jesus told Simon a parable, story. I mean, come on. Was he serious? Jesus told Simon:
"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." (Luke 7:41-48)
Now what is extraordinary about this story? Many, many things I suspect, but let me suggest just two right now: (1) Firstly, this parable was clearly about what was going on right then and there, wasn’t it! It was a "story" of real life-changing event happening then and there (or possibly, in Simon’s case the lack of personal transformation). This is not a "story" about a hypothetical creditor who owed 500 denarii but could not pay, but a real woman. And this was not a "story" about another hypothetical creditor who believed he only owed 50 coins, and may have thought he could pay whatever he owed. The woman’s actions were those of someone who knew she could not pay but had still been forgiven.
(2) The second extraordinary thing is that Jesus claims that he is the one who cancels the debt!
But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And [Jesus] said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (vs. 49-50)
What I’d like to suggest is that this look at the parable of the two debtors is not an irrelevant side-track to our understanding of today’s reading – the parable of the Sower. That’s because in the sower parable, Jesus is the agent through whom God is sowing his word! When Jesus was speaking the parable the sower was sowing the seed (Tom Wright). And the truth is that the seed is still being planted every time the parable is read! That’s true regardless of whether I’m reading the parable by myself in private, whether it’s being read out in church, or preached on, or being shared with a friend or being told to a team mate or a work colleague. As one writer said: in the parables human "destiny is at stake … in ordinary, creaturely existence, domestic, economic and social" (Amos Wilder, The language of the Gospel). I must confess that I don’t always read the parables this way. But every time a parable is heard the seed is being sown.
4. Life-changing events ("the kingdom of heaven has come near")
Can I conclude suggesting that the overall theme of the parables, which I mentioned earlier – "The kingdom of heaven is like…" – actually brings each of Jesus’ followers into the parable of the Sower, and into the sowing of the seed. There’s a pattern in Matthew’s Gospel you may have noticed which begins at the start of the ministry of John the Baptist:
Matthew 3:1-2: "In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’."
And it continues at the start of the ministry of Jesus:
Matthew 4:17: "From that time, Jesus began to proclaim, ’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’."
Jesus uses exactly the same words as John. Then Jesus continues the pattern again:
Matthew 10:5-7: "These twelve [disciples] Jesus sent out with instructions to go ’to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ’The kingdom of heaven has come near’."
Jesus’ followers are called to "proclaim" exactly the same message: "The kingdom of heaven has come near." And still today, whenever the parables are told, the kingdom of heaven has come near for those people who hear them. For me there is something really exciting in this. And that is that although for me the parables are very familiar, perhaps too familiar, an increasing number of our fellow Australians have never heard any of the parables. And the parables have the power to transform lives in the same way Jesus transformed the life of the woman who then washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. I think memorising some of the parables and looking for opportunities to tell them to people around us who may never have heard them before is a really powerful way of sharing the good news. The parables are not just stories; the parables are life-changing events. The parables can get people asking: "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
For more sermons from this source go to http://www.stthomasburwood.org.au
