SPEAKER_00: The Holy Gospel according to Matthew the thirteenth chapter.
SPEAKER_00: Glory to you.
SPEAKER_00: That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
SPEAKER_00: Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
SPEAKER_00: And he told them many things in parables, saying, Listen, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up.
SPEAKER_00: Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
SPEAKER_00: But when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.
SPEAKER_00: Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
SPEAKER_00: Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
SPEAKER_00: If you have ears, hear.
SPEAKER_00: Hear then the parable of the sower.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: This is what was sown on the path.
SPEAKER_00: As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word and it yields nothing.
SPEAKER_00: But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understand it, understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty and in another thirty.
SPEAKER_00: This is the gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: From the one who was, is, and is to come.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard not to think about gardening or growing grass or crops growing when you hear this apparel.
SPEAKER_00: I've been especially mindful of it because the trustees have planted grass seeds on a section in the front lawn of the parsonage.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've noticed it.
SPEAKER_00: It used to be just a dirt path, and now there's a grass growing.
SPEAKER_00: So I've literally been watching the grass grow because they've asked me, make sure to water it.
SPEAKER_00: We've got the holes right there for you.
SPEAKER_00: So if you just take care of it from time to time.
SPEAKER_00: So I've I felt a little bit like I need to make sure that I have the grass grow at the parsonage right in front of me.
SPEAKER_00: So keep an eye on me, make sure I'm I'm doing my job.
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to vegetable gardening, I miss having a garden.
SPEAKER_00: Our yard right now in Rabbit City is not very big, but we have a few garden boxes that from time to time we occasionally try to grow vegetables in.
SPEAKER_00: And yet it would be nice to say we could just throw out the seed and just let it grow and come back later and pick the bounty.
SPEAKER_00: And I've lived a few places where the soil seems that good that we could almost have tried it.
SPEAKER_00: And yet it still takes time to tend it and to cultivate it for you to enjoy the bounty of a vegetable garden.
SPEAKER_00: When my boys were little and we were visiting my parents, he asked them one time if they wanted to help him in the garden.
SPEAKER_00: And says, It's time to plant potatoes.
SPEAKER_00: Will you help me?
SPEAKER_00: And my youngest was like, Oh, I love grandpa potatoes.
SPEAKER_00: So he was all in.
SPEAKER_00: Let's learn how to plant grandpa potatoes.
SPEAKER_00: So they went out and they prepared the soil and they were spent all that time out there when they came in and they washed their hands and they were very proud of themselves and they helped plant the garden.
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't soon after that that my youngest Joshua said, Well, let's go out and let's pick some.
SPEAKER_00: It would be good to eat some of those potatoes for dinner.
SPEAKER_00: And he learned a bit about patience and how long it actually takes for potatoes to grow before you can enjoy the bounty from the garden.
SPEAKER_00: I will have to admit, I wish it was that way, that either you didn't have to do any preparation at all, or as soon as you went and planted them, you could immediately go out and enjoy the bounty from the garden.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't happen that fast.
SPEAKER_00: Even though in this parable, it seems that that's what they're doing.
SPEAKER_00: They're going out and they're just randomly scattering the seed here and there and hoping that it takes and something to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And yet most of us know that we can't do that.
SPEAKER_00: So, what is this parable about?
SPEAKER_00: Why is Jesus saying, all who have ears hear, all who have ears listen?
SPEAKER_00: It would be one thing if we heard the parable on its own, but we also have the parable with Jesus' very explanation of what meaning comes to the parable itself.
SPEAKER_00: Those who have ears, hear, listen to what is to say.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes, when these parables are told, it's easy as the listener to place ourselves in particular characters.
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder when you hear this, where do you place yourself?
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to place ourselves in the place of the sower, the one who throws the seed.
SPEAKER_00: We can be at least in control of where we throw and scatter the seed.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe we think, oh, maybe we are the seed that it gets scattered, because aren't we called to go out and scatter ourselves in our community and in the world and bring God's word to us and to others?
SPEAKER_00: And yet, in this particular parable, when Jesus says, all who have ears, listen, hear what I have to say.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, just maybe, we are the soil.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we are different kinds of people and different kinds of soil.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, if you're wondering, what soil am I?
SPEAKER_00: And am I that soil for all my lifetime?
SPEAKER_00: Think about all the different seasons of your own life.
SPEAKER_00: That maybe that there are times in our lives where we are these different soils.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe this parable for us is for those who are willing to hear and willing to tend the soil, willing to open their ears to God's changing word for us this day.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not the master gardener and I'm not the master, but I do understand that it takes time to tend the soil, and it takes time to open my ears to hear God's word and what it has to say for me, that it can take root in me and that God's word can take root in you.
SPEAKER_00: It's what's great about being the church as well, for we believe that God's word can bring change and can bring hope.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not that it happens just on our own.
SPEAKER_00: For just as my dad was helping my children learn about gardening and cultivating and tending, so too we are in need of help and we are in need of our community to walk alongside us as we cultivate and tend our own soil to hear God's word.
SPEAKER_00: How well is it do we do to tend our own soil?
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes it depends on where we are at.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we feel like God's word is deeply rooted in us, and we're that rich, dark soil where it seems like God's word, it just throws out there and it immediately grows up.
SPEAKER_00: Although there are times that we might feel like the dry parched soil, which might be easy to think about when we're going to go out into pretty hot temperatures this week, when that drawer that soil hardens up and everything just kind of lays upon the top of it, as we see the cracks in the soil happen when it dries out.
SPEAKER_00: We know what life is like when that happens to us as well.
SPEAKER_00: Professor Matt Skinner of Luther Seminary writes about this parable that it's deadening to toil where you see no growth.
SPEAKER_00: Those times where the soil does seem parched and dry, and almost like, what's the point?
SPEAKER_00: And yet we know that there is a point that that soil will not be that way at all times.
SPEAKER_00: And we might find ourselves in that place as well.
SPEAKER_00: I recently read an article about two brothers who found themselves attending Luther Seminary right now.
SPEAKER_00: And both of them are from different denominations and they live in different parts of the country, and they felt it was time to cultivate their faith by going to seminary and spending time deepening their faith to go back out to serve the congregations that they serve across the country and in their different denominations.
SPEAKER_00: Because each one of them, even though they have different backgrounds, they felt themselves being weary and tired, especially trying to lead a group after COVID and different changes.
SPEAKER_00: And they felt just as what Matt Professor Skinner talked about, they felt like it was deadening to toil where they saw no growth.
SPEAKER_00: And they realized that they were speaking of their own selves, not of the communities that they were in.
SPEAKER_00: And so they thought it was time to cultivate their faith, to be a part of a community that would learn and grow together.
SPEAKER_00: Just as we go through seasons, tending the soil of our faith grows through seasons.
SPEAKER_00: We might find ourselves in difficult seasons, or we might find ourselves in seasons filled with joy.
SPEAKER_00: And in every season we find ourselves, we can tend to our soil and tend to our souls.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus says, All who have ears, hear me, listen to what I have for you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, just maybe, we can spend 10 simple minutes this week opening up our ears to God's word to renew our faith and our strength, to breathe in God's spirit and hear what God's word has to say to us again.
SPEAKER_00: Many times that's why we gather here together, even in the midst of summer, where some might be out boating or enjoying the temperatures before it heats up, is because God's word calls to us and it takes root in us.
SPEAKER_00: And no matter what soil we find ourselves in, God's word is already there.
SPEAKER_00: Because we are told that promise and scripture, the spirit dwells in you.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit already dwells in you and takes root.
SPEAKER_00: So whether you feel like you are cultivated soil or dry soil today, have no fear, for the spirit of God dwells in you.
SPEAKER_00: God's word guides you and tends to your soul, regardless of where you are today.
SPEAKER_00: And yet do not be afraid to weed out in your life and in your mind those things that might choke your ability to see yourself as God's child or to see others as God's beloved ones.
SPEAKER_00: For the spiritual life invites transformation, and you are transformed by God's very word, God's word who brings you gratitude, trust, obedience, humility, compassion, service, and joy.
SPEAKER_00: Tend to your souls and be kind to yourself, because you are the you that we need in this community.
SPEAKER_00: And we are thankful that God has called you to be a beloved one of this place.
SPEAKER_00: And remember, just as that promise is given to us through Christ, we hear that promise throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: You will go out in joy and be led back in peace.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.