Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 16, 2023 - 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Isa 55:10-11; Rom 8:18-23; Matt 13:1-23]"Just as the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth...." [Isaiah] "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." [Matthew]
For the past eight years I have lived in a region that is primarily agricultural - West Texas. I am preparing to move to another primarily agricultural region - East Texas! And to make things more particular, I enjoy gardening, even if I'm not very expert at it. Sowing seed and watching it grow makes for a very satisfying experience, which may account for the continual efforts of those who feel called to farm. It is a risky vocation. It is not just a matter of sowing and harvesting. The soil, the weather, the seed and the sowing all have to come together to produce the crop.
Jesus uses the parable of the sower and the seed to warn the disciples that good results are not guaranteed every time they preach. Palestinian farming techniques in the first century were not as exact as modern farming is. Jesus' image of the sower is more like the fabled Johnny Appleseed, throwing the seed this way and that. Isaiah promises that the seed is good and will sprout and bear fruit, but Jesus warns that the results will depend very much on the soil and other variables.
My own pastoral experience has borne out the truth of Jesus' image. One meets every degree of faith in persons, and that degree of faith can change over time in given individuals and communities. Effective sowing means knowing the soil, but that knowledge is not always available. What a disciple must do is sow the word or there is no crop at all! The seed is guaranteed but the conditions are not. We cannot control all the variables, but we can control our efforts to sow the seed of God's word. Disappointment will be part of the experience, as well as satisfaction. But discouragement can lead to giving up on the task. Jesus challenges us both to sow the seed and be realistic about the results! AMEN