Reflection on the readings for the 12th July, the 6th Sunday after Trinity
- Jul 16
- 6 min read
Readings: Isaiah 55:10-13; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
Today’s reflection is by Reader, Pete Gillions.
The Parable of the Sower
It is very difficult for us put ourselves in the place of the hearers of this parable. To feel their longing for change, their hopes and expectations of people. And in particular, what they see in this new preacher and make of the stories.
So, to help with this, here is a contemporary example. Mr Andy Burnham has caught the attention of more than a few people and there are many questions about what his vision is for the future. So I want you to imagine him making his way through the crowds to stand on a platform to speak. Silence begins to fall and someone shouts out “What about immigration?”.
And Burnham says “Let me tell you a story. Imagine you have saved up for a journey of a life-time, a first class ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express. You have wonderful food and are seated each day in a luxurious carriage. As you travel further east, the temperature drops and you see flurries of snow. But your carriage is heated by a woodburning stove carefully attended to by the guard. You travel further east and see ice forming on the outside of the window. It is then that your peace and quiet is disrupted by the sound of some running on the roof of the carriage. There’s a shuffling sound as you now can see a gaunt man lower himself off the roof and climb into your carriage through an unlocked window. He starts to warm himself by the stove for a moment before a guard takes hold of him and starts to drag him to the exit. That’s when you intervene. You explain to the man that whilst you are sorry he is cold he cannot stay in the carriage. That this is a first class compartment and he has only a third class ticket. The man nods wistfully. “I know, he says, the problem is that the wood for your little stove comes of the roof of our carriage and we are all freezing to death”. And then as Burnham moves on to his next appointment, people are left wondering what that story was meant to mean.
That is exactly the effect that this parable of Jesus would have had. There was an even greater hunger for change than we have in our country right now. There was an even deeper sense that the nation had lost its way. And driving all of this was a deep sense of national destiny, the promises of God that the people of Israel imbibed with their mother’s milk. Of course, for some listening to the story of the Sower it would mostly appear unremarkable, something that everyone who has ever farmed knows. The promised harvest looks ridiculous but otherwise there is nothing new there. And that is how all scripture works, it can be seen in different ways. As the old Rabbis say: “Scripture has seventy faces”. There is more than one understanding of it. The parables of Jesus are invitations to see the old world through new eyes. They are quirky, surprising, suggestive. They begin to unravel how we understand the world and then give us a new version of it. And, fortunately, this is one of the few parables where Jesus does some of that work for us.
Although it is called the Parable of the Sower, the explanation Jesus gives tells us it is actually much more about the seed and how the seed prospers. Jesus explains that the seed is the message of the Kingdom of God and the parable is about how that message is received or rejected. Jesus outlines four types of response. Jesus says ‘When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
Before we consider the last and most positive response, it is important to say that all of the above can be true for not only the people Jesus was speaking to at the time. The various responses perhaps referred to various different groups of people, but they also can connect to each of us. Can we place ourselves into these parts of the story? Our hearts can become hardened to the grace of God, we can let troubles or worries separate us from his love. We can all be choked by the deceitfulness of riches and the desire to have more. We live in a society that projects scarcity – whatever you have, the message is ‘you are missing out on life if you don't have this gadget or that experience’. The truth of the message of God’s Kingdom is that we are at our most fulfilled when we are following close to God. We are created to fulfil God’s purposes and that is where fulfilment lies. It is not always easy. Yet sometimes we discover that God can even use the adversity we might face to break open our hardened hearts and discover that He is right there is the midst of the storm.
Then there is the seed falling on good soil. On those who hear the word and understand it. The ones who produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. This is where the message of the Kingdom of God is so radically different from the scarcity that society projects. Listeners to the parable would know that when you sowed seed you could expect to get at least five kilos of wheat for every kilo you sowed. In a good year you might get ten times more than what you sowed. Exceptionally perhaps even fifteen times more. Jesus speaks of a harvest of 30, 60 or even a 100 times more. This is the economics not of scarcity, but of abundance. It is where a small thing produces a great outcome.
This can be one individual hearing the word from God and responding, then watching the harvest grow exponentially. Organisations like Amnesty and the Samaritans were both the fruit of individuals responding to situations to help bring in God’s Kingdom. And yes, even here in Horsforth we see the same thing happening time and again through folk in Horsforth Churches Together. What we shared to the folk in the Old Folks Homes was the wonderful way God’s people are helping bring the Kingdom of God to Horsforth.
If you were asked where the Kingdom of God is to be glimpsed here at St James’, I wonder what you would suggest. It is encouraging to see the buildings -the Parish Centre, the Shed and the Food Pantry. But, of course, it is in the effect these have on people’s lives in this community that matters. As a Church we believe that God is calling us to continue to bless the community by not only making this building better suited to worship on Sundays but also making it better suited to meet the needs of the community on the other days of the week.
And we find great encouragement to help bring God’s Kingdom to earth not only in the parable but in the prophesy we heard from Isaiah written over two and a half thousand years ago. “My word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”. We are fortunate to be called by God; let us together see His Kingdom come in fresh ways here at St James.
A word of prayer:
We remember with thanksgiving miracle we see in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The seed that died and yielded a harvest beyond our imagining or deserving. Help us to follow you faithfully.
Amen.