July 16, 2023 Sermon
Guest Minister: Rev. Drakar Druella
Sermon Title: “Good Soil”
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23
Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!"
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18"Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When 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. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet 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. 22As 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. 23But 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."
“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 this gospel, Matthew’s value for deeper understanding given to us by God is emphasized through the description of each kind of soil that represents human understanding. Using images of a farmer, seeds, and soil, Jesus names the realities of his disciples’ everyday lives and points to the range of possibilities that he and his early followers encounter as they follow him and preach his message. For Matthew’s audience, it was likely descriptive and inclusive of the various kinds of people who were part of his community.
Something I find interesting is how the parable is not focused upon the sower (Jesus), but on the seeds (God’s word) and where they fall (human consciousness or understanding). And with such a focus, this parable is saying that the circumstance that allows for God’s word (the seeds) to grow and eventually bear fruit in the world is through a fertile human consciousness or understanding (good soil). And when I say “fertile human consciousness,” I’m talking about the kind of mind and heart in a human being that is open and willing to explore ways to better understand and follow God’s word.
But here is the thing – here is the catch: Jesus does not go into much detail as to what makes for “good soil” or what I’m referring to as “fertile human consciousness.” He does not talk about how to develop a more open heart and open mind to his word in this particular scripture. After reading it, I found myself wondering what, exactly, makes us as conscious human beings fertile ground for God’s word. With all of the stress and challenges of these modern times, how do we ensure that the troubles of this world and our own problems do not stifle the spiritual growth we could derive from God’s word? How can we allow God’s word to take root in our lives so that transformation and change are possible, both personally and in our community? Quite simply, how can we be good soil?
To be honest, I think that being good soil or having an open and conscious mind to God’s ways is a lifetime process. It doesn’t happen overnight and is a process of growth that when constantly pursued leads to a more fulfilling life. And when I say a fulfilling life, I mean the kind of life in which we can show up in the world in ways that give our lives more meaning and allow us to effectively be a support to one another. That said, I think an essential element to becoming good soil is inviting certain virtues to develop within ourselves and being willing to do the work to further develop them.
How many of you are familiar with the Twelve Fruits of the Spirit? Anybody familiar with these? For those of you who are not familiar with them or would like a quick refresher on them, the Twelve Fruits of the Spirit are states of being or actions that are produced within or through a person when the Holy Spirit dwells in them. Another way to put it is that when we are connected to God through regular spiritual practice, our character and actions begin to take on a higher state of being and become more virtuous. It is a natural result of spiritual practice. These twelve qualities or virtues are charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faith, modesty, self-control, and chastity. I like to think of them as the positive symptoms of being connected to God through spiritual practice.
As I mentioned, developing these qualities requires some kind of regular spiritual practice, whether through self-reflection, spiritual readings, meditation, Bible study, or even regular exercise done consciously. Ultimately, some form of practice to quiet the mind and open it to new spiritual possibilities is helpful. This is the first step toward becoming good soil. This step helps open your heart and mind to God’s word and its possibilities in your life.
Of all the virtues, I would like to focus on a particular one more in relation to becoming good soil. Although developing and exercising all of these qualities is helpful for developing into good soil, one of the qualities that stands out to me is “modesty.” Modesty is a quality which I also correlate with a certain element of humility. The reason this one stands out as particularly important is because when we begin to develop a modest approach to life and a certain humility, we become more open to listening to others and questioning our own personal perspective on things.
If you think about it, the ability to hear and understand God’s message is often impeded by our own assumptions, cultural norms, and biases. Because of this, I believe simple modesty or humility is a necessity when approaching God’s word. The reality is that none of us is a blank slate, and that we all pick and choose the parts of scripture that seem to best fit our predisposed understanding of God. It’s the human thing to do, but if we are to “walk humbly with God,” we should be prepared in our nature to be open to the surprising message the Holy Spirit’s work can bring us through scripture or spiritual practice when we are humble. As the Japanese Zen masters say, “Don’t seek the truth; just drop your opinions.” The irony is that once your humility brings you to a place of openness to God’s word, your opinions begin to drop, then you receive the truth. And that’s the point.
For many years, I had some very strong opinions about my parents and my childhood. I had a lot of anger and judgments toward them. In my defense, there was quite a bit of abuse in my childhood, something I have shared with you in the past. Given that, going through a period of anger was understandable and a natural part of the healing process. Over time, however, as I continued reading spiritual books with an emphasis on forgiveness, kindness, compassion, and love – all virtues mentioned earlier – I found my judgments began to subside. As these judgments subsided, slowly they were replaced with a curiosity around what my parents may have experienced as children. Had they been abused, too? Perhaps they had difficult upbringings and simply did the best they could.
The spiritual books I read had become a spiritual practice which, over time, began to shift my thinking and soften my heart. I became open to hearing what the Spirit had to say to me, and the message was one of compassion and understanding. It took several years for this process to unfold, but it did. Becoming good soil takes time and practice, but it is worth the effort. I am more peaceful and have developed a new relationship with my family that is open and kind. Some family members have not changed, but for me to become good soil does not require others to become who I think they should be. It only requires me to do the slow and gentle work of becoming good soil, and so it is for all of us on our spiritual paths.
To be good soil, we must also have the imagination and creativity to dream, and what I mean by “dream” is that we need to be able to see beyond what is already happening toward what could be possible. This is the second thing that is helpful to becoming good soil. If I had not felt empowered enough by what I had read about compassion, understanding, and love, I would not have seen the possibility of reconnecting with my family. Developing the virtues within needs to extend into the arena of seeing what could be possible. And I believe this part is best done with other people. Some of the best ideas and possibilities often come when a diversity of voices and perspectives are present. Even if the changes we seek to make are strictly personal, as was the case for me, having others walk with us in our journey of faith can help us affirm and change course as necessary. If this had not occurred for me, I probably would not be up here talking about this.
And finally, the third thing to becoming good soil is that we must have the conviction to act. While the hearing and the dreaming may happen internally, this third piece is the outpouring of what God is doing within us for the world, our response to what we have learned and received. This can oftentimes be the hardest part. Living what we believe, acting on our convictions, and persevering in the face of adversity are not for the faint-hearted. It was one thing for me to contemplate compassion and understanding, but it was another to extend it to my family through actions of reconciliation. It first had to start within before it could extend into action. It took me over thirty years to arrive at this place, however, so we should all be patient with ourselves! Becoming good soil takes time, and it is never too late to start.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus calls the disciples to reflect upon the kind of soil they hope to be and makes it plain that they want to be the kind of person who “hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields.” The beauty of this is that we are all in the process of becoming good soil, and we are all receiving God’s word and hearing it in our own unique way throughout our lives.
We each are becoming good soil and what a blessing that is.
Rev. Drakar Druella
