Sermon for Trinity 5

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

I’ve always loved stories, especially those with a good ending. One of my earliest memories

is of reciting nursery rhymes to myself over and over. Like most children, I liked them because they were so visual and they told a story. They didn’t always make sense, of course and I can remember really analysing each line to try to figure out what they really meant.

Jesus is well known for telling stories that need a bit of analysis. On the surface, his parables seem quite simple but he didn’t tell stories just because people liked them, he told them so that he could teach them something about God, his kingdom and about their relationship with him. Jesus used parables to make his stories clear. His stories were about the world in which he lived. He talked about things that people knew well and could relate to.  

So, when Jesus told them the story about the man sowing seed, they knew exactly what he was talking about and they could picture themselves in his story. I can imagine them nodding along as he spoke.

In Matthew’s gospel, we have the added benefit of actually having the gospel explained to us.  It’s at this point that we start to nod along too, because experience tells us that we know people who fit the description of each type of soil mentioned.

But what about us? What’s our soil like right now? How would you label yourself?

Of course, we all strive to be “good soil”. It’s sort of expected of us. We’ve heard the word of God and we responded to it. We go to church, we say our prayers, we read the Bible…

yes, we tick all of the boxes.

Or do we?

Now, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we probably fit into more than one category

depending on what’s going on in our life or how we are feeling. I know I do. There are times when things feel a bit stony or even when we’re feeling choked by the thorns of our everyday lives and things that get in the way. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t.

The big challenge of course is about bearing fruit a hundredfold. That’s a lot of fruit! Now, we could be forgiven for not even reaching thirty-fold. After all, we’re still in the midst

of the corona pandemic and we’ve been in lockdown. Our church buildings have been closed for 15 weeks and the majority of our congregations are still shielding.

A couple of questions…

·       how would you label your soil before lockdown?

·       And…will anything change once some sort of normality resumes?

I take comfort from the fact that the sower keeps on sowing his seeds. He scatters them generously far and wide, even on the areas that shows little promise.

Jesus doesn’t give up on the unproductive soil even if the response isn’t forthcoming. The gardeners amongst us will know that the ground needs constant attention and for seeds to grow, it takes more than just the soil. It needs watering and warmth in order to yield a harvest.

Jesus invested in his disciples who, let’s be honest, showed very little promise. And just look at the people he gave his time to. The very people who the elite and respectable of his day frowned upon…the tax-collectors, the beggars and the unclean.

I often wonder what Jesus’ ministry on earth would look like in this day and age. What would the focus of his parables be in order to get his message of God’s kingdom out into the world? The obvious way of course would be the internet. I can just imagine Jesus saying

“Listen…a church put a post on facebook…”

Now…I jest! BUT…is it really that far off the mark?

This corona pandemic has really brought home to us the power of technology when it comes to being Church. Just look at us…here we are, worshipping God using Zoom

on the world-wide web. Who would have thought it?

The internet…the world-wide web…did I say worldwide?

Now that has a lot of potential when it comes to outreach and mission.

I know not everyone likes the internet but there is no denying that it has the potential to reach a lot of people. And people who don’t normally step over the church threshold.

·       Facebook

·       YouTube

·       Twitter

·       TikTok

·       Instagram

and a host of other social media platforms.

We now live in an age where we do many things …on demand. We choose when to do our shopping, when to watch a film… or even ‘live’ sport. And now that we record our morning worship and upload it to YouTube, it means that our congregation can be anywhere in the world and can worship God at any time they like. Night or day. How mad is that?

Those who administrate these social media platforms can see the statistics…and they are showing that massive numbers of people are viewing online worship. Much more than would ever attend church each week.

And that, my friends is…modern-day mission!

It does of course make us wonder …how deep the soil is? But God’s word is God’s word

and it isn’t up to us what takes root or how or why! When the seeds land on good soil, they can flourish and multiply, regardless of who does the sowing.

It has become even more apparent over the past few months that the church isn’t the building, it is the people.

Each one of us chooses our own path. We decide how we respond to God’s call. It is between us and God. The more we put into it, the stronger our roots will become. It doesn’t matter whether we have been attending church all our lives or whether we are new

and just dipping into the occasional service online, we need ears to hear what God’s Spirit is saying to us. We need God’s warmth and water so that we can be nourished by his love and grow in faith. When that happens, the most natural thing in the world is to share the story of Jesus with others…and to tell our own story. We all have one.

People enjoy a good story!

So…”Let anyone with ears listen!”

Amen

^“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain,

some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Let anyone with ears listen!”

Matthew 13:8-9