Karen Hollis | July 16, 2023
Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 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. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"
"Hear then the parable of the sower. 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."
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be reflections of your word to us today, in Christ’s name we pray. Amen
I love parable Sundays – there’s so much great stuff to consider about the parables of Jesus. The more I learn about the parables – and I did a lot of reading over the last couple of weeks – the more I wonder if the parables are really for preaching. As we will explore for the next few minutes, the parables stand on their own . . . rather than inviting interpretation, they invite individual engagement. They invite each of us to find ourselves within the parable.
This morning I’m going to share some context about parables, specifically as tools for teaching, Jesus, as one who teaches in parables, and some context around this particular parable. And then I’ll close by reading the parable of the sower a with an invitation for you to reflect (you should have a copy from the greeters). The parables invite us to shift our way of thinking and this deep work. As I’m talking, if you find yourself wanting to stretch or yawn – and receive that lovely kind of release - please feel free. If you’re yawning because you’re bored or think I’ve missed the point entirely, I’ll never know, so feel free.
Let’s begin with Jesus. Jesus was called Rabbi by many followers, but he was not a priest and kept his distance from the Temple hierarchy. He was also not a prophet in the usual sense of the term: a messenger sent to the people of Israel to warn them of impending political catastrophe in an attempt to redirect their hearts to God.1 The only other option in the Jewish tradition was a teacher of wisdom. The hallmark of a wisdom teacher is their use of sayings, puzzles and parables.2 The gospels are crystal clear that the method of teaching Jesus used was indeed parables, short sayings, even puzzles. By identifying Jesus as a wisdom teacher, I’m not trying to comment on his divinity – across denominations our tradition teaches that he was fully human and fully divine – I’m commenting here on his humanity, what kind of teacher he was and the tradition through which he taught. In keeping with the wisdom tradition, Jesus asks timeless and personal questions like: What does it mean to die before you die? How do you go about losing your little life to find a bigger one? Is it possible to live on this planet with a generosity, abundance, fearlessness, and beauty that mirror Divine Being itself?3 These are questions are open ended, there is no correct answer . . . there is only individual engagement with the question.
Through these teaching tools, Jesus helped people deconstruct their thinking so they could see more, so they could see past their circumstances, so they could access the Kindom of God that is happening all the time, so they could rewire their consciousness. Now that’s a lot to unpack . . . I’m not going to do that today or invite you to rewire your consciousness. My purpose today is to invite us to look past what we’ve been told about the parable of the sower by the gospel writers and others (we’ll get into that in a minute) and consider the parable again. Do we really know what the rocky ground is or what the seeds are? In a few minutes, I’ll invite us to consider it again.
Have you ever noticed that parables are written in common language? Have you noticed that God is not mentioned? Sure, we put God and Jesus in various roles in the parables, but that is our doing . . . God isn’t mentioned in the text. Parables are told with common language. In the wisdom tradition, engaging people is more important than imparting theology or tradition on new ears. And using language people understand helps keeps people engaged.
But parables don’t just use common language, they take these familiar words and present them in a new context . . . in other words, the language is heavily metaphorical . . . theologian Sally McFague refers to them as extended metaphors. The story itself is a metaphor containing metaphors . . . and because there is no set path within the parable, we enter them somewhat unaware, and stumble around a bit.4 Maybe we reach out to a companion for help . . . “what does it mean?” We fumble around until we remember: the parable is the point . . . it carries its own meaning.” As such, it asks something of us . . . it asks for our imaginative participation. Eugene Peterson writes, “parables are feeble – almost all the power is in the hearer.”5 You hold the power of the parable. John Dominic Crossan says (and I love this one), “a parable is an earthquake opening up the ground at your feet.”6 Isn’t that delicious? It invites a bit of courage . . . trust that Jesus knows what he’s doing and walks alongside us.
Now, we’re not hearing the parable directly from Jesus . . . we’re hearing it through the tradition of Matthew, and Mark before them:
The parable in the canonical gospels comes with commentary and interpretation, which makes sense because they are testaments of faith. The authors are writing the good news . . . they want people to engage with these texts and come to faith. Maybe Jesus took his disciples aside and told them what the parable means . . . but wisdom teachers don’t tend to do that, because parables are their meaning. Interestingly, where the parable of the sower appears in the Gospel of Thomas, which is likely an earlier text, no commentary is included.
Still, this particular parable stands out among others. Matthew introduces this one parable by writing, “And he told them many things in parables” . . . parables, plural. Perhaps this one parable could represent parables in general . . . perhaps as a way of teaching us how to enter into them. Perhaps when dipping a toe into the wisdom tradition, the parable of the sower is a good starting place.
One last note about Matthew’s version: Matthew’s Jesus invites us to “understand” the parable, which might be confusing at this point. Doesn’t all this wisdom tradition stuff invite us to engage more than our minds? Yes, indeed. The Hebrew notion of “understanding” in the context of this passage is: a commitment to involving our inner selves. It’s not an understanding in our minds, but a commitment to involving our inner selves. Again, the parable asks something of us . . . for our imaginative participation. As we imagine our way through it, hoping for soft landings when we trip, the parable helps us locate ourselves . . . it helps us notice what the world looks like through our eyes. Rather than the text being interpreted, we are interpreted. (yawn) And Jesus teaches that this is the way to the Kindom of God . . . by considering parables and being found in them. They invite us to perceive differently . . . and help us see God’s realm all around us.
(everyone take a deep breath)
This past week I did a little of my own exploring the parable of the sower. St. Ignatius, who founded the Jesuit order of the Catholic church in 1540, developed some creative ways of engaging with scripture. In his “imaginative prayer” exercise, one is invited to imagine oneself within the scripture passage . . . he suggests a simple process, but it really isn’t more complicated than using one’s imagination to put ourselves inside the story of scripture and walk around in it. So earlier this week I read the passage a few times, sat back in my chair, closed my eyes, and imagined Jesus climbing into the boat and facing the crowd on the beach. In my imagination I found myself actually in a boat near Jesus and as he told the parable of the sower, I was just tickled and found myself curled up in the bottom of the boat just giggling. I love everything about growing food and have done a lot of it. One thing I rarely do is just throw seed everywhere. I’m really specific about where I plant things. Throwing seed all around? What a silly thing to do . . . it just tickles me (I laughed inside for days) . . . so maybe there’s an invitation for me there beneath the giggling.
I’ve talked enough. I invite you now to take 30 seconds in silence to just breathe or stretch or whatever you need to do to transition. I’m going to read the parable once and you should have a copy from the greeters, followed by a couple of minutes of silence before we transition into the hymn. I invite you to enter the parable, don’t worry if you stumble around or find yourself committed to Matthew’s interpretation. Just see what happens. If you’d like to chat about the parable after worship, I’ll be in the corner of the hall with the couch and piano (online can send me an email) after I greet people.
Hear this parable of Jesus:
A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 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. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
1 Bourgeault 24
2 Bourgeault 23
3 Bourgeault 24
4 Peterson p. 22
5 Peterson p. 19
6 site Peterson 20