Siximagisma

Since I have not met any of you for any extended period of time let me introduce myself.

Fr. Andrew, live in Darke County, there is a lot of farming.

What it takes to farm corn…First you prep the land, you kill weeds you spray fertilizer or even do soil sampling then fertilize. BTW…not just one kind… wet dry potash…it goes on.

Then you put corn in the grown…then once its strong enough to side dress…nitrogen. Then you detassle…then after a whole summer of being at the mercy of the weather, you finally get your corn...

So to just focus in on the this one process of “Sowing” is a little reductionistic, but the point of a parable is to make one major point.

Today the Lord is talking to us about the perils and the fruits of different “soils,” or additues to faith.

So first Jesus Gives us the parable which we will look at and then he will interpret.

[5] “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. [6] And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. [7] And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. [8] And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

So…a sower went out… the 2/3rds principle for ancient people. People would have been surprised with how cavalier this sower was.

Well we have the fate of the 4 seed categories: The Path…, The rock, The Thorns, The good soil...

Then there is the benediction…he who has ears…not literal but spiritual

[9] And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, [10] he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

I often pray about being understood, and sometimes wander in my presentations hoping to add clarity…Its comforting to know that Christ own disciples didn't alway know his meaning right away.

The big Shocker, Jesus did not always intend for them to catch his meaning

For some the parables are used by God to give clarity, and for others to keep them from clarity. Sometimes at my best, my meaning is not understood. But God has no problems being understood when he means to and not being understood when he means to. But in this case Jesus tells us he holds some meaning back, so that the kingdom would hit those for who it was intended...

This is controversial in our modern day in that it is undemocratic, but God has the right to communicate how he wants. God could remain hidden to all people. He does not he reveals himself through his Son, his word and his created order. He could make it so clear that no man ever doubt, but we see here he is restrained at times.

Well at this point Jesus give us clarity by explaining his Parable.

[11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [12] The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

[13] And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

[14] And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

[15] As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (ESV)

In Anglican Christianity we talk about the curing of Souls. So what we want to be mindful of is how can we live in light of this Parable so as to grow in faith and cure our souls.

Well, first its right to acknowledge that a parable is often used to make one pig point, it is not necessarily meant to be dissected into a Systematic Theology. What is the main point of this Parable? different soils have different outcomes…different postures of the heart have different responses to the word of God. And those among us who garden know that you do not treat soil as a one and Done reality.

We must be mindful of the paths that we nurture in our brains that get trodden down, that seed can not penetrate and the devil can steal from. We must prepare our selves not to be an inch deep but to go deep in Gods word to give space for the roots. We have to be mindful of the idolatry and worry of this life, that we not elevate good things above God. At its best youth sports give us exercise connection, character lessons in teamwork, how to loose, how to prepare…at tier worst they become an idolatry that takes our eyes off Jesus. Beware the thorns.

And by the strength given in the Holy Spirit, if we till the soil well, God will allow his people to persevere and to bear fruit...

And while we talk about tilling soil, how does one do that. by the three fold Anglican way. The Daily offices, weekly communion, and the church calendar…lets call it 3 and a half bc I am gonna throw catechism in there. The BCP gives us what we need to till the soil well.

We use a one year lectionary and we will have the chance to revisit this parable soon so I want to hit pause and go on a bit of a tangent. So lets put the parable of the sower on the shelf for a moment and look to the state of our hearts today.

We are a community in mourning…not just this family, but this congregation, this dioceses. And I wanted to share a few hopeful verses that we can meditate on in our grief and in that way we an be comforted my the Holy Spirit.

1. Jesus Wept. At the tomb of Lazerus we see that God is not callous to our grief but he walks in it with us.

Blessed are they that mourn, they will be comforted. We know the truth of the human condition. We know that

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.(1 Th 4)

We know that death hurts, its so unnatural and our hearts ache…but death does not win the day. Our grief today is tangible and real. These verses are not permission to ignore our hurts. BUt they are reminders that our hurt does not get the last word…Jesus Christ does!

My encouragement is that we find comfort in the cross. The cross is not only the place where Jesus defeats sin and death by traveling through them, it is the place where he uses his death to secure for us a seat in everlasting life.

Losing someone had broken our heart many times including today, God is not unfamiliar. Mourning can feel like abandonment, God is not unfamiliar. Brothers, sisters, God is not unfamiliar.

Hope in the cross for everlasting life.