Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - A

July 12, 2020

(Art by Van Gogh)

“Let Anyone With Ears, Listen!”

Saint Matthew 13:1-9

Someone shouts from the balcony three times:

 ‘Let Anyone With Ears, Listen!’

Parables – stories about the Kingdom of God are an exercise in listening.  Jesus spoke in parables.  Parables are stories of comparison and contrast. 

Parables “tease the mind into active thought.” [C. H. Dodd]  Parables break through the senses. They open our eyes to see old things in a new way and new things in an old way. Jesus spoke in parables.

Today we have the classic parable of the Sower, Seed, and Soil.  Please take out the insert pamphlet.  It shows you the symbols all around in our sanctuary.  Above the pulpit is a ‘tester.’  The ‘tester’ was placed above many pulpits in Europe.  It served a practical purpose of sending the sound down to the congregation so that they could listen to the preacher…hear the spoken word. 

Carved on our ‘tester’ here at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, is the parable of the sower.  Open the pamphlet and you will see a picture of the carvings:  The seed is sown and there are 4 kinds of soil that are described in the parable:  the path, rocky ground, thorny ground, and good soil – each depicted by a carving on the ‘tester.’

Then you have the words of Jesus carved into the ‘tester’:  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” and “He who hears the word understands and bears fruit.”

This parable dramatically carved on the ‘tester’ above the pulpit here at Gloria Dei – very fitting, very thoughtful!

How do we Christians in the 21^st Century hear this parable? 

First of all we need to remember that the Bible is a conversation – it is a dialog between reader [listener] and writer.  The Bible is not a static book in which once interpreted we are done.  What we have in the second half of the reading is Matthew’s take on the parable.  We in the 21^st Century will hear it and listen differently from our context.  The Bible is a living word – a conversation and encountering the living Word is like wrestling with angels.

So what do we wrestle out of this story of the sower?  What ears do we take to this parable?  What do we listen for?  What is unexpected?  What comes to life for us?  Is there a surprise?

When we step back from this parable and take time to take it in we can see that there are really just two kinds of soil – fertile soil and un-fertile soil.  The un-fertile soil is along the path, where there is rocky ground, and among the thorns.  The good soil is in a cleared area where the seed can take root.

We need to remember that unlike modern American farmers who carefully prepare the soil with just the right ‘PH’ balance and then inject scientifically prepared seed, farmers in the time of Jesus cast the seed first and then plowed up the field.  So the sower had a scattershot approach and seed that did not get plowed under remained vulnerable on the path, unable to enter rocky ground, and chocked by thorns.

For all practical purposes there are two kinds of soil – good and bad, fertile and un-fertile.  The bad soil simply has several variations.  But note that the sower is extravagant in his sowing and scatters lots of seed in a random and free fashion.

Two kinds of soil – fertile and unfertile:

What is ‘bad soil,’ or toxic soil, or unfertile soil?

Guilt, shame – how many of us have felt that in our lives?  How often are we confused about God’s will, unable to fulfill it, and fall short?  I don’t know about you but sometimes in my faith life I feel stuck between knowing what to do and yet not being able to do it!

The church and the way we’ve been taught about God can add to the toxic soil that can stunt and distort faith.  Maybe you’ve grown up with the emphasis on a God who punishes:  “Be good or you go to hell!”

Maybe you’ve grown up in the soil that says that God might punish us, indeed will punish us, in this life or the next, if we haven’t sought and received forgiveness.

Churches are known to teach that ‘if one dies with sins that are not forgiven, one goes to hell!’  What happens if you die suddenly of an illness or killed in an accident and not in a ‘state of grace’ – left not forgiven?

For centuries Christians have been haunted by the shadow of a punitive God who extracts a sincere confession before giving forgiveness.  In other words grace is dependent upon my penance!

Living in doubt and insecurity our human state has been described by Henry David Thoreau who wrote something like this:  “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with a song still in them.”

In such a toxic soil we can never rest assured that we have confessed enough to merit God’s forgiveness.

Martin Luther, the 16^th century monk who reformed the Medieval Church was raised in such toxic soil.  Johann von Staupitz was the head of the Augustinian community at the University of Wittenberg. At the time Luther was struggling with the need to completely confess everything he had ever done wrong.

Luther’s confessions exhausted Johann von Staupitz, as Luther tried to remember every possible sin that his mind might be attempting to cover up. 

On at least one occasion, Luther confessed for six hours straight. He was filled with doubt.  Luther describes this part of his life:  "I was myself more than once driven to the very depths of despair so that I wished I had never been created. Love God? I hated him!"

When Christianity emphasizes the punitive character of God – it throws the seeds of faith onto toxic soil.  Although less dramatic and more subtle than Luther’s time the church still tries to control people with guilt and shame.  We may still feel unworthy and never completely forgiven!

That is the toxic soil of a punitive God who is going to send you to heaven or hell!  But is being forgiven by God dependent on something we do or fail to do?  The common thought is that forgiveness is conditional – we can be forgiven only if…  That is indeed toxic soil that will stifle the growth of faith!

Good Soil – Fertile Soil

What if we are already forgiven by God?  What if we are already accepted by God, loved by God –whether we know it or not?

That is the fertile soil of Biblical grace.  The radical good news:  You are accepted by God in spite of what you may think or feel.  God’s grace is unconditional.  God’s love is a given!

That is easier said than received!  After years of putting conditions around God’s grace it is difficult to believe it – make it real – internalize the good news.  Yet after years of toxic soil – God offers good soil for your faith to grow.

Yes, sin is sin and confession is good for the soul.  Yes, we have been less than what we should be: less loyal, less committed, less attentive, less generous, less willing to spend and be spent for the sake of following Jesus.

Forgiveness means that ‘in spite of’ all that – we are loved by God.

‘Let anyone with ears, listen!’

Love wins – God’s grace has the final word!

In order to help us internalize God’s unconditional acceptance, I am going to invite you to do something this morning.  There is a blank post-it note on the back of the bulletin.  Take a pencil from the pew or your purse or pocket.  Reflect and write down the one thing you feel worst about – the one misdeed or misfortune or regret that wears on you or the part of your life that forever threatens condemnation…take time now to write it down.

Then when you come to the communion table place it in the trash right here and say the words to yourself or out loud:

“There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

St. Paul plows the fertile soil of the good news of God unconditional love. 

‘Let anyone with ears, listen!’ 

Did you hear that?  No condemnation, none, nada!  When?  In some distant eternal future – no – NOW!  Right now – this very moment!

Why?  Because God forgives us, restores us, welcomes us.  God embraces us like a loving parent embraces an errant child.

How do we know?

In Jesus we see that God already loves us. 

Note the old toxic soil puts in our ears the message that Jesus came to die in our stead in order to satisfy an angry God.  Jesus got beaten to death so that we can simultaneously feel guilty and grateful!  No – that is toxic soil.  Jesus did not come to satisfy an angry God.

The good soil:  Jesus came and went to death on a cross to demonstrate that God already loves us.  And God raised Christ from death in order so show that God’s love is more powerful than anything else including death!

“Let anyone with ears, listen:  There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

Internalize the good news, begin each and every day splashing yourself with water and reminding yourself that you are indeed God’s beloved.  Send away those toxic tapes from your past.  You are loved by God!

Pulitzer Prize winning Poet, Mary Oliver, writes in her poem: Summer Day

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”

God has set us free from the threat of inadequacy and condemnation.   What will you do with your wild and precious life now that you are free in Christ?  What will you do with all the love and grace that God has given you?

Amen

[Sources: “What will we do…?” by David Lose from www.workingpreacher.org and Speaking Christian by Marcus Borg]