6th Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 10A​(Gen. 25:19-34; Ps. 119:105-112; Rm. 8:1-11; Mt. 13:1-9, 18-23)

There are some things in our life that give us excitement and hope. (I’m not talking about Friday evening.) These are not quite mature or fully grown yet. They have so much potential within themselves. For example, when we look at a baby or a child, especially their smiles, they are not just being cute. As their smiles open up our hearts, we see something hopeful arising and even sense a glimpse of sacredness in them. They are full of life. 

Today’s gospel lesson, the parable of the sower deals with something full of life and hope. It is a seed. More specifically speaking, it’s about where seeds are sown and how they bear fruit or not. I looked up what a seed actually means. According to its dictionary definition, a seed is “the unit of reproduction of a flowering plant, capable of developing into another such plant.” From a biological standpoint, it is “an encapsulated plant embryo.” 

The parable of the sower in St. Matthew’s version is pretty clear about to whom Jesus refers the seeds. Those who have heard the message of Jesus become the seeds themselves. This message is the word of the kingdom, where one follows God’s will shown in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They carry that “encapsulated gospel embryo” in their hearts. And we who have heard the gospel of Jesus are the seeds too. Sacramentally speaking, baptism is like sowing that encapsulated gospel embryo in us. 

In the parable, there are four conditions on which the seeds are sown. The first condition is that the seeds are sown along the path, which would be eaten by birds. The second one is that the seeds are sown on the rocky ground and would be scorched. The third case is that the seeds are sown in the thorns and would be choked. And finally, the last condition is that the seeds are sown in good soil, bearing fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. 

These four conditions reflect the realities that we often face in our lives. Especially, I can easily resonate well with the first three conditions. The first condition seems to talk about my forgetfulness of the Christian identity. I often forget who I am, whose I am, and who I’m called to become. In dealing with matters like politics, injustice, or violence around us, I forget or hide my Christian identity out of fear and anxiety as if the evil one can take away my baptismal identity in which I am being sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. 

I find myself standing on the rocky ground. When troubles in my life arise, I forget the joy of the gospel. My patience is drained. As doubts about God’s unconditional love pile up, the root of my faith withers. I don’t see Jesus suffering with me anymore, but I’m just scorched. 

What about feeling stuck in the thorns? Yes, I see all these cares of the world and lures of wealth. I’m fascinated with what better future the world and wealth can offer me than following the footsteps of Jesus. How easy it is to forget God in all the cares and occupations of life! 

I feel like I’m making a confession to you right now, but I believe you can also join my experiences of these conditions. We all go through these conditions, stages, or crises of faith in our life. Simply believing that I am somehow sown in good soil is a bit naive. It can actually be self-deceiving. The reality of our human nature and life is that at times we find ourselves on the rocky ground, in the thorns, and along the path. Perhaps tomorrow, we may feel like being grounded in good soil. 

Although there are four conditions described to us, there is this common denominator to all these different conditions. The seeds all die regardless of which ground they are sown. They all disappear to be the seeds after all. And depending on which ground they are sown, they can be gone forever or be born into something greater than themselves. Living as the seeds in good soil then is about how to die fruitfully, which is also about how to live fruitfully. Being grounded in good soil takes the seeds to death and resurrection. Dying to ourselves and living to Christ, turning again and again to Christ and embodying Christ deeper and deeper.

Then we might wonder what helps us stay in good soil? Jesus says it is a matter of understanding the word of the kingdom. It is not so much about getting some theological knowledge, but cultivating that encapsulated gospel embryo in us over and over again in good soil by being open to all the fullness that God desires to pour into our hearts. That is to contemplate Christ and his will, be in a spiritually intimate relationship and communion with him, be in love with him. 

The parable talks about producing some hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. This is not about increasing church membership and attendance. But more like, quoting the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ words, it’s about developing “the face of a humanity in endless growth towards love, a humanity so delighted and engaged by the glory of what we look towards that we are prepared to embark on a journey without end to find our way more deeply into it, into the heart of the Trinitarian life.” (Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury's Address to the Thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith) This is often expressed and exercised in one’s prayer life.

Just as this inner cultivation involves communion between self and God, getting us into the good soil is never an individual act just as good soil is never a single unit. The soil is mixed with sand, silt, and clay particles. It’s never one particle. And how they hang together, how they are connected with each other matters. I’m using an analogy of good soil in a botanical sense, but it applies to our faith life as well. 

What moves us sown and grown in good soil is when we find ourselves together with one another in communion. In the parable, the seeds play a passive role. They are simply sown by the sower. What’s different about our reality from the parable is that we as the seeds can change the grounds we are initially sown into when each one of us come together as Church, as communion. Our gathering together at the Eucharist to receive the Divine Seed is in and of itself the work of the Holy Spirit plowing fields of doubt, hatred, and apathy into the good soil of trust, humility, and compassion. Whenever we come together as Church, the Holy Spirit sends away the birds, stirs up the rocky ground, and plucks the thorns. We who are distinct and unique bring some dirt with us. These specks of dirt, which are our brokenness and vulnerability, help us hang together as Church. And the Holy Spirit transforms whatever ground we individually are sown into the good soil, the “godly soil.” This is the same Spirit of Christ which dwells in us according to St. Paul.

Jean Vanier, a philosopher founded the community called “L’Arche” to live with people with intellectual disabilities. He says something profound about community, “One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn't as individuals. When we pool our strength and share the work and responsibility, we can welcome many people, even those in deep distress, and perhaps help them find self-confidence and inner healing.” (Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 271) As there’s no single Christian, but always Christian”S,” our sticking together as Church is the only way to be grounded in good soil. Deepening our communion with God and one another then bears the fruit of hope, healing, and resurrection on the ground of despair, hurt, and death. 

At the Eucharist where we kneel together before the Body of Christ, may we once again remember the Divine Seed is forever sown in our hearts. May God weave us together so that we can transform whichever ground we are sown into the good soil, the godly soil! So that we may bear the fruit of hope, healing, and resurrection, the face of a humanity in endless growth towards love that God reveals to the world in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.