Reader’s Version of Sermon with Study Guide
Grace Lutheran Church, Lakeland, Fl
Date— July 16, 2017
Scripture— Isaiah 55:10-13;
Genesis 25:19-34 (semicontinuous);
Psalm 65:[1-8] 9-13;
Psalm 119:105-112 (semicontinuous);
Romans 8:1-11;
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
[1]Lectionary/Liturgical Calendar— Lectionary 15 / Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Intro: A mother was going to teach her children about patience, taking care of the earth and being responsible. So, she started a garden. The daughters planted their seeds. As the days past the girls watered their plants, weeded and took care of them. One sister had a great plant. It was growing well and looked like it would bear fruit. The other sister’s plant didn’t do so well. It struggled and never did well, and finally died.
Why? What went wrong? The soil? What?
It turned out that the plant that didn’t do well belonged t a very impatience sister. She would periodically, go out and dig up the seed just to see how it was doing. The disturbed the seeds. Of course, the dug up seed didn’t do well.
This text has been told so many times how can we get anything new out of it?
Well, let’s go back to our text. We missed chapter 12. In that chapter Jesus is dealing with Jesus ministry. Jesus keeps telling all who he is and what is going on and the established religion forces keep fighting back.
Chapter 13 may be Jesus giving an overview of how the ministry is going so far. Some seeds fall on rocky ground and do well at first, then die, some on barren ground then die, some on good soil, some got eaten by birds and the like.
The seeds are good, the conditions are different; thus, different outcomes. Jesus has been called to the religion of his childhood to tell them that he is the Messiah the promised one. He comes as the fulfilment of the law, the Savior.
But, different soil different temperaments, different life experiences mean that this Jesus, this seed from God is received differently. Some bear fruit, some is carried away, some dies.
Story: I had a friend that was not raised in the church. In fact, her father was against all organized religion. But, her mother had a different understanding. She wanted her daughter baptized and had it done unbeknown to her husband.
The child had no upbringing in the church, no religious education. But, she had the seed of the Holy Spirit planted and it grew. She grew up to very curious about religion, but took a different turn in college. She went in for mathematics and science. She got married and had a child. Regular kind of life.
But, she married a Lutheran, and she herself went on to be an ordained Lutheran Pastor.
Sometimes we are amazed at where the seeds get dropped and how they grow, or don’t grow.
God knows what God is doing in this world and the next.
As people of faith we are not left without a shepherd, one who will guide us through the most difficult things of life.
That is why this text is so important, as part of the ministry plan of God for God’s people. Jesus comes and preaches the new kingdom and some welcome it and some are afraid of. Some just don’t want to believe it because their life is good as it is. They are on top of the world and don’t want to take a step down.
So this text is a text of dynamics, seeds, soil, weather, circumstances. So our faith is dynamic as well.
Take Away for us:
We have a parable in Matthew 13 about how Jesus’ ministry. That ministry is played out in chapter 12.
But, we can also view seeds as bits of God spread into the world. The world has so many different surfaces and places the seeds can land.
But, God makes the seeds of faith grow in way that God wills. The grand plan of Jesus saving the world through the cross.
When Jesus is alive and well in our lives dynamic faith happens.When the ministry of Jesus is growing and bearing fruit we can see it and enjoy it in our world
*we see the hope in Resurrection Sunday and the empty tomb
*we see promise when conflict between people can be resolved in peace
* we see Jesus in the world as relentless in mercy and grace even in the midst of evil.
*we have joy even in despair. For examples, we view funeral as completion of our baptismal journey.
*we see programs that help the poor, disabled, hungry, homeless, displaced, veterans flourish even in the midst of funding cuts and uphill battles.
Even when a child is baptized against her father’s will doesn’t grow up in a faith home, she can become a pastor of the world and sacrament.
So, when the seeds of faith fall they fall and God watches them and takes care of them. We have those seeds fall they plant the faith in our souls. They grow in our life as we move through the stages of our growth and maturity.
The cross of Christ and the empty tomb bring us peace. No matter what we encounter in our faith lives we know the outcome. The soil can be barren, rocky, pestered by hungry birds or good soil but the sees.
Our answer in all things is Jesus. The seeds of faith, the hope of the world.
Amen
For Further Study:
- What have you been taught about “The Parable of the Sower”?
- When you read the other texts do you see a theme, or do they seem disconnected?
- In the sermon there is mention of a person being baptized without the consent of her father, and then becoming a pastor. Should the father have been engaged? What if he still said no what should the mother have done? So you think the child would have become a pastor regardless of whether she was baptized as a child or not?
- If you were to rewrite this parable what would be a modern take on where the seeds would have landed?
[1]The lectionary is a pre-selected collection of scriptural readings from the Bible that can be used for worship, study or other theological uses. The ELCA uses the Revised Common Lectionary which follows the liturgical year in a 3-year cycle and provides scriptural recommendations that compliment the current season of the liturgical year. (Disciples of Christ web site used for some of this discription) Liturgical Calendar is a year based on the life of Jesus starting with his birth. Related colors of the season are reflected in the church decoration/paraments.