May my words be in the
Name of the Holy & Undivided Trinity: + Father, Son, & Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Our
gospel reading today concerns the parable of the sower. It is a
ferociously familiar passage, one that we've all heard or read many
times, as well as hearing it preached on or talked about in Sunday
school … not to mention all the paintings, stain glass windows, and
other images based on it … but I wonder how many of us take time to
consider the opening verses of this passage?
It
begins with the line: That same day Jesus went out of the house
and sat beside the lake. The setting is, of course, Lake Galilee,
and the house is Jesus' home there in Capernaum. In the verses
preceding this passage, we read how the Pharisees are beginning to
plot to kill Jesus, angered by the challenge of his teaching, and
especially his doing things like healing on the Sabbath. So Jesus
withdraws; he goes to a quieter place; he goes home. But still the
people come to hear him teach. When he goes out of his house 'great
crowds' gather around him. So many press around him as he sits there
that those at the back probably cannot hear him speak. And so he gets
into a boat, goes out a little way, and teaches them from there.
It
is a remarkably clever thing to do. The flat surface of the lake
would act almost as a stage; while the gentle slopes of the shore
would act almost as a natural amphitheatre, so that all could see,
even those standing at the back. And we all know how well sound
travels over water; and so all would have been able to hear him
clearly as well.
Now,
I'd like you to hold that image of our Lord, sitting in the boat,
teaching the crowd, in your mind for a few moments, because I think
it is very important. Think about what is happening here: Jesus is
having trouble reaching out to so many people to teach them, to share
his Good News with them, and so he enlists the help of a boat in
order to carry out his mission. Now consider that from the earliest
days of Christianity it was quite common to compare the Church of
Christ to a boat. Historical figures such as Tertullian and
Hippolytus did so; and indeed, during the time of the undivided
Church it was common throughout Christendom to refer to the Church as
the Barque of Peter, barque meaning boat. What we have in our Lord's
actions here, I think, is a foreshadowing of the birth of his Church,
a term I do not use lightly. In fact, some commentators call the
passages which immediately follow this episode in the Gospels 'the
birth of the Church,' hardly surprising as they culminate in Jesus'
famous words 'thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church.'
And
so I'd like to consider the parable of the sower in the sense of it
being a charge to the church, with a sense of mission, purpose,
command. It is easy, I think to see the parable as one concerned with
personal holiness: our Lord sows the seed and depending on the ground
it falls upon it bears fruit to a greater or lesser degree. And note
carefully, by the way, that while in the parable the ground that the
seed falls upon is what it is, rocky, thorny, thin, or rich; but in
our Lord's explanation, the people whom he is talking about in the
parable do have a choice – being overly concerned with the cares of
this world, allowing oneself to continue in a lack of understanding
of the Gospel message, letting ourselves be lead astray by the
temptations of the world, the flesh, or the devil – these are all
choices and we are responsible for them and therefore responsible for
the the Lord's seed withering instead of producing good fruit. But
what is that good fruit that others produce? Is it only personal
holiness? Is it only having a more or less perfect relationship with
God? Or is it not also reaching out to others to share this good news
with them? When Jesus speaks of the harvest being plentiful but the
labourers few, he is talking about need for men and women to follow
in his way, spreading the word, and winning souls for heaven. So when
he speaks of producing good fruit here, it is not unreasonable to
suggest that such good fruit includes labouring in his vineyard to
produce a rich harvest of souls for God. In which case, those who
chose not to hear and receive his word in the ways outlined in the
parable do not only do injury to themselves; they deny others whom
they might have shared that word with the opportunity of hearing
God's word. We sin not only in what we do but in the things we fail
to do.
But
returning to that scene with Jesus in the boat, an image I think
which points us to the Church. And that reminds us that Christ has
not left things to chance, to individual actions and responses; just
as he used the boat that day for the sake of his mission, he now uses
the boat of his church. He has entrusted the work he began to his
Body on Earth, the Body that he continues to lead as its head; his
Church continues his work of sowing the seed of his word; his Church
continues to work the ground to make sure that as much of it as
possible is good soil; and his Church continues to work to provide
all with the possibility of bearing good fruit, in abundance, and so
at the last being with our Lord in Heaven.
To
him who is the shepherd and guardian of our souls, by
whose wounds we are healed and who is with us always until the end of
the ages, be glory now and forever. Amen.