Most of us are familiar
with Jesus’ parable of the farmer sowing seeds, which is found in Matthew 13. A
farmer scatters the seeds over his whole property and some fall on the path,
some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and yes, some of the seeds fall upon
good soil. The twelve Disciples who are with him don’t understand his message
so when they are alone they ask him to explain.
Jesus patiently explains
the meaning of what he had hoped they might understand:
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and
does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in
the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky
ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with
joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when
trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately
falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the
word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it
yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who
hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one
case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. (Matthew 13:18-23)
The bad soils are the
temptations that lead us astray, the things that are more important to us than
the word of the Kingdom, the things that suck the life out of us. These are the
things that make wealth, power, principalities more important to us than the Word
of God, than the Kingdom of God, that make it tempting to ignore evil. It is
often easier and safer to go along to get along, to avoid rocking the boat.
In this way we avoid the
pain and persecution that often come to us when we do what is right. All we
have to do is look at Jesus and his life to see what can happen to one who puts
God above all else. Years ago, when I was going through a conflict with some
very important people in a church in another state and, feeling persecuted, I complained
to my wife. In her wisdom, and trying to help, she replied, “just remember what
they did to Jesus. My response to her was, “that’s not helpful.” Not helpful,
but true, and we do our best to follow Jesus, no matter what.
Those who are like good
soil, Jesus says, “receive the seed and it grows.” They follow Jesus, no matter
what! And they often pay a high price. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged in a
German prison when he was 39 years old for fighting against the oppression and
evil of Hitler and the Nazis; Martin Luther King, Jr. stood up the systemic
racial oppression in the United States and was accused of being a communist,
thrown in jail, and later assassinated when he was 39 years old. There are many
others throughout the world, in cities, towns and villages who have followed
the Master and paid a price in prestige, persecution and sometimes even death.
And yet they did it anyway—no matter what!
If we choose to follow
their example, if we choose to follow Jesus, how do we become good soil? We do
as they did. We do as Jesus teaches us: We
continue in the apostles teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the
prayers. We seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as our
selves, and we strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the
dignity of every human being. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 305-305)
No Matter What!
Becoming good soil also
means that we strive to have friends who will be honest with us, who will tell
us what we need to hear and not what we want to hear. We learn to talk with and
respect people with whom we disagree and we learn not to dismiss those of
different denominations, religions or political persuasions as sinners, evil, stupid
or liars. It will not be easy, but being like good soil, following Jesus, never
is, it’s just worth it.
We are called to be like
Jesus, even if they do to us what they did to Him.
God has called us to be
Good soil, to hear the Word and to understand it, to “bear fruit and yield one
hundred fold, sixty fold and thirty fold.
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