Pentecost 6, year A, 2026 -parable of the Sower

A sower went out to sow…let me tell you on the surface of things, I have a poor first impression of this sower.  I think I should rename this parable to The Parable of The Spendthrift Sower, because clearly this sower hasn’t a clue about good farming practice!  Why would you be throwing valuable seed on the roadways or among the rocks and the thorns?  A good farmer would have prepared the This sower is just tossing good seed hither, thither and yon!  What a waste!!!!

Which I’m sure that the agriculturally minded people of Jesus time would have found even more ridiculous than I do.  It is contrary to both farm sense and common sense.  Even if we aren’t versed in the ways of farming we know we shouldn’t waste a limited amount of resources on unlikely enterprises.  If the sower had simply sowed more efficiently and stayed to the good soil then the production would have been far more consistent and more fruitful.  Like that seed sown on the good soil which produced a much better if inconsistent crop.

But perhaps…this parable isn’t about growing a huge crop…or maximizing resources, perhaps it isn’t about the crop at all?  What if the point IS the inefficient method of sowing.

If we look at the scripture around this parable we find that Jesus is speaking about the kingdom of heaven.  We read that the kingdom is like a mustard seed, small to begin with but growing as large as a tree, so that even birds can nest in it.   This is clearly an exaggeration. 

There is also the parable of the yeast which tells us that the Kingdom of heaven is like making bread wherein a small amount of yeast can leaven a huge amount of bread. 

Also the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, wherein a farmer plants his seeds in good soil (as one should) but as the wheat springs up so do the weeds…and both are left to grow together until the end of times comes.

The common denominator in all of this is that when it comes to the kingdom of heaven, or more generally the way God works….a little goes a long way…and God tends to provide more than just a little.  Mustard seeds grow into trees and provide for the birds.  Yeast leavens a lot of flour and we know what Jesus can do with a few loaves!  And we know that for Matthew the Kingdom of Heaven is about turning things upside down.  Changing the status quo and fulfilling the promises God made of old to covenant with His people and provide abundantly.  

This parable of the sower certainly turns things upside down…abundantly.  The kingdom of heaven is like a sower who goes out to sow.  Jesus’ parable tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven does not grow in common sensical, efficient or economical ways.   Rather Jesus teaches that in the Kingdom of Heaven, God will turn things upside down, ignoring all common sense practices to ensure that the word of God, the message of God can reach as many people as possible.  The parable of the sower speaks of God’s abundance, the radical ridiculous abundance of God’s own nature.

The parable of the sower is a parable of Spendthrift love.  The word of the kingdom is distributed as widely as possible and as abundantly as possible regardless of where we think it will take hold.  After all, it is God who makes the growth and even the “good” soil has inconsistent yields.  It is not up to us to determine what soil is worth seeding if Christ’s own parable has the word of God sown abundantly from farm to ditch to highway.

So the first lesson I’m going to learn here is that I do not get to pick the soil or where to seed.  If we are called to sow the word of God’s kingdom…then have at it! and sow that seed, here there and everywhere!    None of us can tell what is happening in the hearts of our neighbour, so there is no need to try and figure it out.

 In our culture there is a great love of marketing strategies and in our economy a great drive for efficiency; we are told that our ‘business’ should be branded and have target demographics, but that is clearly not what is taking place in our parable today.  There is no target demographic and not much of a marketing strategy, the sower just sows in unrestrained abundance and the seed goes where it will, on any and all soils…to any and all people.

 For Christ there is no idea that we should be marketing to attract the youth…or planning liturgies to accommodate families.  No need to ensure that a particular liturgy is followed or only certain music played.  Do what you do best and do it abundantly, don’t worry about attracting one kind of people…rather sow abundantly to give opportunity to all kinds of people.  The parable of the sower demonstrates a compulsion towards  abundant love and abundant mission. 

It is easy to look at the decreasing numbers in our churches and judge the soil for being to rocky or hard…or to blame the birds or the thorns, or society or the youth these days.  Forgetting that God knows their the condition of the soil that is out there and sows there anyway.

It is no surprise that seed of the bare ground will be eaten by birds, but we also know that flowers still bloom in the sidewalk cracks.  Who knows how many seeds were sown there? How many were plucked away leaving that one bloom.  That’s the cost of abundant love…we sow and we never know what if anything will take root.  The cost of loving generously is always going to be the risk of failure, and it is a risk we see in scripture that God is willing to take over and over again.

Imagine if God only sowed in good soil…if God only loved those who were guaranteed to respond.  If Christ had only died for people who would never fail.  If forgiveness were offered only after we had already become worthy.

I for one would not place odds on my acceptance, I am a recipient of that reckless, ridiculous and spendthrift love that God is known for.  So how can I not pass it on?  How can I not take up the seed that has grown in me and sow it far and wide in response? 

Unrestricted, risky, intemperate sowing never knowing if I will see the return or if it is only God who will know the results.

The church is not called to hold God’s love in but to sow it with careless and loving abandon.  The kingdom of heaven has never depended on models of efficiency and safe practice, the church was born out of abundance.

Logic dictates "Protect what you have." Jesus says: “throw it to the wind!”  A mindset of fear says "Don't waste your resources."  Jesus tells us “take a risk and see what happens”

The world says “love isn’t enough” Jesus says “love anyway.”  The Parable of the Sower is not about the harvest, it is about the sower. 

A God whose grace is lavish. Whose mercy is indiscriminate. Whose hope refuses to give up.   Whose abundance is greater than every loss.

Matthew’s gospel shows the kingdom of this world turned on it’s head so that the Kingdom of Heaven can take it’s place.  A Kingdom of abundant, ridiculous, unconventional love for all…rocky, barren, lush or thorny.  God’s word is meant for all of us, and God’s kingdom includes all of us. 

And as we have received, so too should we sow…abundantly, indiscriminately and with great love.  amen