The Gospel reading we just heard contains one of Jesus’ most famous parables, probably right up there with the parable of the Good Samaritan. This morning we heard both the parable and its interpretation, skipping a few verses so that it sounds like one came straight after the other.
I am sure that there is a very good chance that you would have heard sermons preached on this aspect of the parable, considering what kind of soil we find ourselves in, what might be the thorns in our lives that choke God’s life out, the pressures on us that cause our faith to wither, perhaps even ways we can improve our yield – becoming the soil that produces hundredfold rather than thirty, what might be the spiritual growth enhancers or fertilisers.
But most biblical scholars date the explanation of the parable as being a later addition to the parable itself. In many of Jesus’ parables, the ending is just the simple but enigmatic “If you have ears, hear!” Indeed, in the verses we skipped over in between the parable and the interpretation, Jesus explains why he teaches using the enigmatic form of parables, that some will understand and others will not, suggesting different possible meanings. The interpretation, however, treats the parable as an allegory, with each element having a particular meaning- the thorns are the lure of worldly concerns and wealth, and so on.
But if we attend to the parable itself, without the given interpretation, then the parable opens up to several possibilities of meaning. One of these is about the various soils, but there are others, and the context of the parable in Matthew’s gospel might account for these other possibilities.
But there is more to this parable than just the soil, and its context might lead us to explore some of those other elements. In the two chapters before this reading, Jesus has encountered misinterpretation of his message and actions, and opposition from various groups. In the verses just before this reading, Jesus’ mother and brothers ask to have a quiet word, possibly to tell him to tone things down. And at the end of this chapter, the people of his hometown will reject his message. Jesus is surrounded by opposition, those who cannot accept his message, those whose concerns about his family history cannot be overcome.
In such a context, perhaps the focus on the ending of the parable is appropriate. With such opposition, it is a miracle that any of the seed produces good fruit. And yet, when it does, the results are spectacular. A sevenfold return was considered reasonable, a tenfold was excellent. And yet these numbers are way beyond that. Thirtyfold would feed a village for a year, one hundredfold would enable the farmer to retire to a villa in Capernaum. The result of the fruitful soil far outweighs the difficulty encountered by the less receptive ground. The harvest, despite the obstacles, is bountiful beyond all imagining, and all the different soils – 30, 60 or 100 have contributed to that bounty.
The bountiful harvest comes in spite of a sowing technique that seems a bit careless. There is no soil preparation, no attempt to conserve precious seed, to preserve resources. Why would any sensible sower waste resources by throwing seed onto the path, into the rocky outcrop, amongst the thorns? Would it be too much trouble to do a bit of weeding to get rid of the thorns, a bit of groundwork to break up the path? Or perhaps to stick to sowing only in the good soil, where the return is guaranteed.
None of this seems to concern the sower, whose only focus seems to be on distributing as much seed as possible. The sower’s approach is generous, carefree – they want to nourish whatever ground they find. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. But the sower continues. The generosity of the sower is the same as the generosity of God, a God who does not restrict his mercy and compassion on the deserving, or those who reciprocate, but scatters love without restriction, without limit. And somehow, despite setbacks, the hard ground, the thorns and rocks, this generous love is able to produce a bountiful harvest.
At times it can be easy to focus on the setbacks and obstacles in our lives, individually and as a community. Ongoing global and local tensions, being a small community with a significant upcoming financial expense, even perhaps lack of belief that we could possibly be the fertile ground of the parable, all of these can overwhelm us. These circumstances are real, and there is no use pretending otherwise. But the promise of the parable is that the harvest is more abundant than any setbacks, and the sower is more generous than we can dream of, or believe. And as we turn our attention to the generosity of the sower, and the abundance of the harvest, as we reflect on and deepen ourselves in this generous love, so our lives begin to more resemble that generous and limitless love of God. We begin to reflect that compassion in our own lives, and this bears fruit in our lives together and in the lives of those around us, sometimes in surprising ways. There may be setbacks, but if we persist in dwelling in, and living out, God’s generous love, then the harvest will be plentiful, extravagantly, ridiculously plentiful. So let those seeds be scattered!