WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.919 The Holy Gospel according to Matthew the thirteenth chapter. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:05.200 Glory to you. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:11.119 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:19.920 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:32.320 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. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:41.200 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. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:47.200 But when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:52.159 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:59.679 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.320 If you have ears, hear. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:04.799 Hear then the parable of the sower. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:14.239 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. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:16.799 This is what was sown on the path. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:24.239 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:36.239 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. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:47.760 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. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:02:03.920 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. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.239 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:09.919 You may be seated. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.280 From the one who was, is, and is to come. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:29.759 It's hard not to think about gardening or growing grass or crops growing when you hear this apparel. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:40.400 I've been especially mindful of it because the trustees have planted grass seeds on a section in the front lawn of the parsonage. 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:42.000 And maybe you've noticed it. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:47.039 It used to be just a dirt path, and now there's a grass growing. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:54.479 So I've literally been watching the grass grow because they've asked me, make sure to water it. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.039 We've got the holes right there for you. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:00.479 So if you just take care of it from time to time. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:08.319 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. 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:11.280 So keep an eye on me, make sure I'm I'm doing my job. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:17.280 When it comes to vegetable gardening, I miss having a garden. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:29.120 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. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:38.080 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. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:44.879 And I've lived a few places where the soil seems that good that we could almost have tried it. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:54.960 And yet it still takes time to tend it and to cultivate it for you to enjoy the bounty of a vegetable garden. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:04.960 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. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.000 And says, It's time to plant potatoes. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:09.280 Will you help me? 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:13.360 And my youngest was like, Oh, I love grandpa potatoes. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:15.199 So he was all in. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.879 Let's learn how to plant grandpa potatoes. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:30.639 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. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:36.879 And it wasn't soon after that that my youngest Joshua said, Well, let's go out and let's pick some. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.680 It would be good to eat some of those potatoes for dinner. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:50.959 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. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:05:05.920 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. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:09.360 But it doesn't happen that fast. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:13.439 Even though in this parable, it seems that that's what they're doing. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:21.759 They're going out and they're just randomly scattering the seed here and there and hoping that it takes and something to grow. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.160 And yet most of us know that we can't do that. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:28.399 So, what is this parable about? 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:34.639 Why is Jesus saying, all who have ears hear, all who have ears listen? 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:48.160 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. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.879 Those who have ears, hear, listen to what is to say. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:06:02.079 Oftentimes, when these parables are told, it's easy as the listener to place ourselves in particular characters. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.600 And I wonder when you hear this, where do you place yourself? 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:11.600 It's easy to place ourselves in the place of the sower, the one who throws the seed. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.560 We can be at least in control of where we throw and scatter the seed. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:30.959 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? 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:40.639 And yet, in this particular parable, when Jesus says, all who have ears, listen, hear what I have to say. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.720 Maybe, just maybe, we are the soil. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:49.759 Maybe we are different kinds of people and different kinds of soil. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:52.319 And yet, if you're wondering, what soil am I? 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:56.240 And am I that soil for all my lifetime? 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.399 Think about all the different seasons of your own life. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:06.000 That maybe that there are times in our lives where we are these different soils. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:23.279 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. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:47.920 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. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:08:00.000 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. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:04.000 And it's not that it happens just on our own. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:25.120 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. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:31.519 How well is it do we do to tend our own soil? 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.360 Oftentimes it depends on where we are at. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:48.480 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. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:09:12.960 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. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:17.200 We know what life is like when that happens to us as well. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:27.039 Professor Matt Skinner of Luther Seminary writes about this parable that it's deadening to toil where you see no growth. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:35.039 Those times where the soil does seem parched and dry, and almost like, what's the point? 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.440 And yet we know that there is a point that that soil will not be that way at all times. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.600 And we might find ourselves in that place as well. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:53.679 I recently read an article about two brothers who found themselves attending Luther Seminary right now. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:16.720 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. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:29.519 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. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:38.080 And they felt just as what Matt Professor Skinner talked about, they felt like it was deadening to toil where they saw no growth. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:44.960 And they realized that they were speaking of their own selves, not of the communities that they were in. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:54.159 And so they thought it was time to cultivate their faith, to be a part of a community that would learn and grow together. 00:10:54.799 --> 00:11:00.799 Just as we go through seasons, tending the soil of our faith grows through seasons. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:08.399 We might find ourselves in difficult seasons, or we might find ourselves in seasons filled with joy. 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:17.279 And in every season we find ourselves, we can tend to our soil and tend to our souls. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:24.720 Because Jesus says, All who have ears, hear me, listen to what I have for you. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:45.279 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. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:12:04.639 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. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:11.440 And no matter what soil we find ourselves in, God's word is already there. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:19.120 Because we are told that promise and scripture, the spirit dwells in you. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:24.879 The spirit already dwells in you and takes root. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:36.960 So whether you feel like you are cultivated soil or dry soil today, have no fear, for the spirit of God dwells in you. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:44.960 God's word guides you and tends to your soul, regardless of where you are today. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:59.120 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. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:15.279 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. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:24.799 Tend to your souls and be kind to yourself, because you are the you that we need in this community. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:30.799 And we are thankful that God has called you to be a beloved one of this place. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:38.960 And remember, just as that promise is given to us through Christ, we hear that promise throughout Scripture. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:44.159 You will go out in joy and be led back in peace. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:45.759 Thanks be to God. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:46.639 Amen.