Are you an optimist, or are you a pessimist? Are you a glass half-empty person, or are you a glass half-full person? Do you complain that rose bushes have thorns, or do you rejoice because thorns have roses? Do you see the storm clouds, or do you see the silver lining? There are various activities and things in life that can show us whether we are optimistic, or pessimistic. There are many things that can pull this trait out. Perhaps, the thing that does this best is gardening.
The pessimist says, “Why plant anything if nothing results because birds, bunnies, insects, deer, weeds, creeping charlie, blight, hail, or bad weather can ruin and kill what I’m trying to grow?! What is the point? Why take the risk and waste the time?”
The optimist, despite potential failure, plants. Why? Hope. A good farmer, or an avid gardener, lives in the confident hope of a rewarding harvest. Not every seed will produce, but enough will make it worth all the while. That is the parable of the Sower.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus compares sharing God’s Word to planting a field. He uses worldly realism that alert us to the potential failures, but He still calls us to faith and to action. He promises and teaches, that “If you plant it, it will grow.” Our goal is to grow in faith that produces the fruit of the Spirit, including the desire to be planters of the seed of God’s Word.
In our Old Testament reading, we see the foundation and confidence for such a promise, “if you plant it, it will grow.” God starts by using a simile to introduce His promise. He says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,”. Before the rain and snow are taken back up into the sky (as mist), they achieve the purpose for which they are sent. God then makes His point and gives His promise. “…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 shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God’s Word will do the same! It accomplishes and will accomplish that which God sends it out for!
It is an all-powerful word that He sends! His Word spoke creation into existence. “Let there be…and there was….” This powerful word can kills and make alive, it strengthens, sustains, pardons, justifies, enlightens, and guides. In Matthew, Jesus’ word brings people to faith, forgives sins, heals diseases, casts out demons, calms a storm, multiplies bread and fish, and calms anxious hearts. It is a word that does what it says! This is no ordinary Word! This all-powerful Word will accomplish what it is sent out to do. Plant the Word, and it will grow! To teach this point, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Sower.
Jesus says the Sower goes out to sow, and he throws seeds everywhere! Some seed fell alongside the path. The birds then came, and they picked and pecked that path clean. Not a seed remained. Jesus says that these people hear the Word, but they don’t listen to the Word. Jesus says the devil, the evil one, snatches away that seed, that word. “Snatch” evokes a powerful image. It is an overpowering, a wrestling away, a show of force. It is a ripping out of someone’s hands. It is a disregard for someone else. I think of an older brother ripping something out of the hand of a little brother. It is never a pleasant experience to have something snatched from you. Sad to say, there are many things in our modern culture that provide open ground for the devil, our sinful flesh, and our evil world, to rob people of the Gospel before it ever takes root. It gets snatched from them, and with deadly consequence. But, the sower continues on. He still spreads that seed.
Jesus says some seed fell on rocky ground. Believe it or not, soil can be quite rocky. Growing up, my Grandpa’s family had one of the last pieces of farmland in the Chicagoland area. On occasion, we would have family gatherings there, and have family hayrides with his tractor and wagon. One of the things that my cousins, my brother, and I would do during them was to play a game. While the wagon was moving, we would scoot off it, run to the field, and try to grab a rock, or as many as we could, and then run back to the wagon an dhop on. We would see who could collect the most. It was always funny when my Grandpa would accelerate when he saw us running back. Some seed fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil. The seed quickly sprouted, but since there wasn’t much depth, it withered away once the sun hit it.
Jesus says these people hear and listen to the Word, but only for a while. Their faith blossoms quickly, but then just as fast wilts and withers, often when under pressure. When my sister was in and out of the hospital, I remember my Dad making the comment, “You see a lot of people searching and calling out for Jesus, here.” He was right. You would see many people praying or talking about faith. But, I often wondered, how many people continued to do so once they left! Once the crisis passes, faith can disappear. Once the need is gone, they have no need for Jesus. The seed withers away. But, despite this, the sower continues on.
Jesus says some seed fell among thorns. To the sower, this seemed like good ground. The perennial thorn roots weren’t visible. Initially, it looked promising. But, once the seed sprouted up, the thorns grew first, and they choked the seed, limiting it, and killing it. It was unfruitful. Jesus says these people hear and listen to the Word, but imagine that God doesn’t need their undivided attention and devotion. Jesus presents the challenge of faith in good times. Notice the word He uses: “choke.” It is a brutal and violent word. Being choked is a slow process, where you lose all power, life, awareness, and ability to resist. It is where you tense and shrivel up. Jesus doesn’t mince words. What is it that chokes? The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. Jesus says these things can slowly choke and kill that seed, kill that Word. This is the context we find ourselves in. This is the soil of America!
With the lack of success so far, it is enough to make this optimistic sower a pessimistic one! It is enough to make anyone go home, throw the bag of seeds, and say, “What is the use? It seems pointless! Nothing is working!” But, hold on. The harvest is to be expected. All is not lost. This Word does that for which it is sent. Plant the Word, and it will grow. God promises!
The harvest is to be expected! Be the optimistic gardener! Some seed fell on good ground, and it produced an extravagant harvest! It produces 100x, 60x, 30x, what was sown. The sower’s work wasn’t in vain. Jesus says these are those who keep on hearing and listening to the Word. They grow in their faith and sanctification. The Gospel always bears fruit. It will always make a harvest.
This Word makes a harvest in us. God’s Word doesn’t come back empty or void; it does what it is sent to do. This word delivers Jesus. It gives all that He has and is: His righteousness, His works, and His merits. It gives us all that Jesus gives and does: His grace, forgiveness, life, and salvation, won at the cross, confirmed at the Tomb. Jesus comes in that Word through baptism and His Supper. Jesus comes in that Word that is spoken and read. This Word, this Gospel message, always produces a harvest. It always bears fruit.
What does this look like? Paul gives us this picture in Galatians. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” The Holy Spirit produces this fruit, this harvest in us through the Word. He also produces another fruit, too, good works.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the sheep, the elect, some of their good works. He says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me….as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Talk about a harvest! God produces a harvest in us, through His Word, by the Spirit. Plant the Word, and it will grow. This promise and reality encourages, emboldens, and empowers us! It encourages us to be sowers, so others can enjoy the same harvest, too.
English writer Herbert Leslie Gee tells this story. At the church where Gee attended, there was an old man named Thomas. Thomas had outlived most of his family and friends, and no one at the church really knew him. He hardly said a word to anyone, but Gee knew him. When Thomas died, Gee had the feeling that there would be no one to go to his funeral besides the pastor doing it, and he was right. On the day of the funeral, it was quite stormy, and no one showed. When Gee and the pastor reached the cemetery, there was a soldier standing at the gate. The solider quietly followed them as they brought the casket to the open grave. Once the graveside service was over, the soldier gave a salute to old Thomas, and walked away. As the soldier left, Gee approached him. The soldier said to him, “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here. Years ago, Thomas was my Sunday School teacher. I was a wild boy, and a trial to him. I was an absolute terror. He never knew the impact he had on me, but I owe everything that I am or will be to old Thomas. I came to show him my respect.” Sometimes, we might not see the harvest this side of heaven. We might be that soldier in the life of another, or we might be Thomas! We might fear that word or witness to a spouse, child, friend, co-worker, or neighbor falls on deaf ears, or goes unnoticed. We might just see the weeds, thorns, and birds disrupt the work where we sow. But, remember the promise: plant the Word, and it will grow. Sow the seed, and leave the rest to God. His Word will not come back empty or void, He promises. I think that promise is enough to make anyone an optimistic gardener. Take heart, the harvest is coming.
