Through the written word and the spoken word may we know your Living Word, Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen
Under the guidance of the sainted Monty Don I am attempting to grow a lemon tree. Apparently, all you need is a seed from any old lemon, mine is of the unwaxed Sicilian variety via Poland and Sutton in Ashfield, a good compost, warmth and water and in a few weeks’ time I should see a shoot. Oh how easy it all seems!
Today’s Gospel reading is as familiar to us as the wise words of Monty Don and fish and chips. Ask anyone young or old of faith or of none to name a parable and the Sower will surely be there along with the Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
So because we know the story so well and the meaning behind it, as in Matthew’s gospel Jesus takes time to explain it to his disciples there is little more for me to say. We know about the seeds and where they fall, we know about the different types of ground and how the seed are affected by it, we know about birds, weeds and outside influences and more importantly we know that the seeds represent us, the people, who hear the words and teachings of Jesus Christ in different ways and with differing effects and responses.
The story however throws up a question which I have pondered on for a few weeks now as I’ve looked for the shoots to sprout from my lemon seed… Who are we, the faithful Christians in this story, are we sower or seed? For centuries theologians have debated this question.
John Wesley (1703 – 1791) the founder of the Methodist movement stated ‘How exquisitely proper is this parable to be an introduction to all the rest! In this our Lord answers a very obvious and a very important question. The same sower, Christ, and the same preachers sent by him, always sow the same seed: why has it not always the same effect? He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!’
Charles Spurgeon (1834 – 1892) Baptist minister said ‘Now the preacher of the Gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed; the seed is given him by his Master… What the minister has to do is go forth in his master’s name and scatter the precious truth… But not knowing men’s hearts, it is his business to preach the Gospel to every creature – to throw a handful on the hardened heart yonder, and another handful on that overgrown heart, which is full of cares and riches and pleasures of the world. He has to leave the fate of the seed to the Master, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only responsible for the care, the fidelity and the industry with which scatters the seed, right and left with both hands.’
Both theologians interpret the parable with a sensitivity to how God can work in the heart of his people. The responsibility for the sowing, however, is down to the minister alone. The quotes are of their time and it is obvious that they believed that the word of God was only to be spoken by an ordained minister, that we laity were only here to hear the word.
We have moved on a pace since then and the late 20th and early 21st century has brought many changes to Christian organisations. Within the Church of England, as we know, women have taken on prominent roles, lay ministers like me, are encouraged to take on more responsibility for evangelism, nurture and outreach and the Fresh Expression movement has grown into areas where the word of Christ most predominantly fell on the ground where weeds grew up to choke it, inner cities, deprived areas and middle class housing estates.
There are more ‘free churches’ and alternative forms of worship than we could ever imagine in Wesley and Spurgeon’s day. The sowing of the seed is no longer the sole domain of clergy it is the charge of all of us. We are all to be sowers.
Many of you will remember Bishop Tony Porter who was an advocate of making sowers of us all. He led successive ‘Seed Scattering’ events around the diocese on this premise. Churches were encouraged to go out into their communities and proclaim, entice and cajole people into hearing the Gospel of Christ through numerous social events and activities.
This church held a couple over the past decade, but unfortunately it seems that the seed fell on stony ground. Or does it? Bishop Tony was never discouraged, and neither should we. We may think that the seed we have scattered hasn’t taken hold, but as we know anything is possible with God, we just need to be patient and watch for the new shoots.
So that answers part of the question yes, we are the sower. However to confuse you even further I think we are the seed too. To go back to Charles Spurgeon, he stated that the seed is given to us by the master, by God. But how can we be good sowers when our seed is not rooted in good soil?
In the 18th and 19th century it was understood that all clergy were rooted in the Gospel, that is why they were seen as the sowers. This was not true then and is not true now. We are all human, ordained and lay alike. The word of God, the seed falls on us where it likes, we hear it one day and not another. Yesterday I was rooted in the good soil, I prayed into situations and I felt the presence of God really close to me, but a couple of days last week I was definitely on stony ground being choked by weeds and the cares and distractions of a material world.
I love God and the teachings of Jesus Christ inspire me to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News, to be a good sower, but I am weak, and I fall by the wayside because I don’t firmly root myself in the Gospel. Am I failing God and you by being like this? I don’t think so, because I am trying to acknowledge my weaknesses. You may tell me differently of course!
If we look at ourselves and at our church and see where we are weak as seed and sower and pray into the situation, we may through the grace of God find a way to grow and see new shoots appear and to disperse the weeds.
Within our church life are the weeds that are disempowering our seeds of our own sowing. To use another analogy… if I had a tin of biscuits to offer around you would all look for your favourite and that is exactly what we are doing with the seeds. We are not necessarily sowing God’s seeds, but our own choice variety. For example if we are sowing to the immediate community the seeds of traditional church with hymns and liturgy, what hope have we in growing where the seed falls amongst those who seek and hear God through support, guidance and charity. It is not always where the seed lands but what form the weeds take to choke the growth.
As a church, the people of God, we need to stop and think as sower, seed, weed and soil that God is in all of us in whatever guise we appear to be at moments in our life, that the seed that has inspired us to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ will grow and be rooted firmly in our hearts so that we may proclaim and scatter the seed and word of God within us further afield and with more determination, direction and resolve.
Let us pray at this time of vacancy and expectation that the churches of St Wilfrid’s and St Thomas’s becomes a carpet bursting with nutrients and love which will transform desert, wasteland and tip into a fruitful field of God’s bounty. Amen.
Ann Hilton
Reader St Wilfrid’s & St Thomas Kirkby in Ashfield
Let us Pray
Seed of God’s word, sown in good soil, watered by his rain and warmed by his sunlight, produces a good crop of spiritual fruit.
Heavenly Father may your words of truth take root in our hearts and grow to rich maturity.
May we hear your will for us and act upon it;
may we take seriously our responsibility to encourage and nurture one another in faith at every age and every stage.
Heavenly Father may every act of selfless giving and every search for truth be richly blessed and rewarded;
Disturb assumptions and lead us to ponder more deeply the spiritual dimensions of our lives.
May the word of God reach all who are ready to receive it and help us set no boundaries as to who they might be and the needs they may have.
Heavenly Father make our homes places of love and growth, welcoming all who visit them, and accepting and forgiving to all who are nurtured there.
Help us through the quarrels and heartaches and remind us to honour another as your cherished children.
Heavenly Father may all whose bodies, souls and minds are aching know the comforting and strengthening power of your companionship, and the healing work of your love.
May we be more ready to support and befriend one another through the difficult times, in the name and love of the God we worship.
Heavenly Father we pray for all who are making the journey through physical death, as they put down earthly things and wake to your presence.
Bring us all to share with them your life in all its fullness.
Heavenly Father the rain and sunshine, the growing and harvesting sing to us of your faithful love, and we offer you our thankful praise for all your gifts to us.
Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen.
The Collect
Almighty God,
Send down upon your Church the riches of your Spirit,
And kindle in all who minister the gospel
Your countless gifts of grace;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread,
Forgive us our sins as we forgive
Those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
Now and forever. Amen.
