The Way Things Are

Genesis 25: 19-34 Matthew 13:1-17 A Sower went out to sow... What else would one expect a sower of seed to do? This is not about Plumbing or Carpentry, the sower's purpose was not to even to plant or to bring about a harvest, but only to sow with abundance. The choir make music... Missionaries from the church go to do mission, in the village and town, in Manhattan and Brooklyn, in Korea, Haiti, Africa and to the ends of the earth! Is there any description here of what kind of seed the sower sowed? Is there description of who the sower is? Is there description of where this sowing of seed took place in Galilee of the Gentiles, or Jerusalem? No, a parable is not specific. A parable is not for use in judging and condemning others. This morning, I would like for us to hear the parable, not as the words may have been applied a hundred times before, that your neighbors are Weeds, and brothers dumb as Rocks, or some are down-trodden and others picked over by the birds, so what does it take to be Good soil? NO, but instead, that all of us, ALL of us have the capability of being all these different conditions. There are times when we are hard and trodden, like a packed road that has been walked over for a thousand years. There are times when we are as receptive and perceptive as rock. There are times, when we are so busy and pre-occupied nothing has a chance to grow up with depth or free of choking competition. The wonder of this parable, the wonder of our lives, is that the seed stands any chance at all. Too often, the Scriptures, faith in God, religion, class, race and nation, have been used as tools in demonstration of ELECTION as if one person or group of people were morally superior over any other. We have heard these stories so frequently, that when we hear of Pontius Pilate, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees and Saducees, the hairs on the back of our necks stand up believing we know who they were and they were trouble. We read the book of Genesis, knowing that Cain is going to kill Abel, that out of all the world's sinful population Noah will be chosen, and his son Seth, whose descendent will be Terah, whose son is Abraham will be the one chosen. That even though they were childless for 30 years, eventually although as good for childbearing as if they were dead, Abraham and Sarah conceive, and Isaac is this miracle child. What if this morning, instead of claiming the conclusion that we are like Jacob, wise and refined, vulnerable and cultured, who will displace Esau who is more brutish and hulking; what if we identified ourselves with each and every character, seeing each in ourselves, then and only then questioning the meaning of Election and Faith. First, knowing that like Isaac, we each are long awaited miracles. You are children of the Promise. Everything this church has been about for 2013 years has been done for you! Everything faith has been about for all these thousands of years, has become a blessing for you. You know that as difficult as life may become, our ancestors struggled with similar circumstance, often much harder. Yet the promise was given through them, so you are going to live through the struggle, you are going to be the means of God providing faith to all peoples. When Isaac and his beloved partner were unable to conceive, even for 20 years, Isaac prayed and God listened. Like unto this, Rebecca, who desperately wanted a child, even for 20 years, instead was given twins. Whose pregnancy was difficult, tearing her apart, yet in the midst of her struggle, in the midst of doubt and pain and suffering, Rebecca was able to hear God where she never had before, and where God spoke to her different than to any other had heard, explaining and revealing that the twins in her womb were two nations from one family. Would that in any war, particularly civil wars within nations, we were able to see the enemy as being our own sister and brother and what this is doing to parents and children beside us. Would that we could recognize how like Isaac and Rebecca, we as parents have in subtle and not so subtle ways played favorites among our children, teaching them to manipulate and to lie, even to themselves. We are like Esau, accepting and claiming what we describe as the natural order of things, especially when they benefit us. Believing the world is a place of kill or be killed, where instead of forgiveness, justice, love, we seek retribution and to win so as to fill our bellies regardless where goods came from. Rocky Soil filled with choking weeds, we are like Jacob, plotting and scheming to trip others up. All throughout the early part of this story, Jacob is not described as being like Abraham or Isaac, having faith in Almighty God. Jacob was out for whatever would give him success, would allow him to win. Only after he runs away from home, only when he is alone, tired and afraid, was Jacob able to witness God's Ladder between heaven and earth, to recognize God as being a reality in this life. Oddly enough, in other parables, Jesus describes “the Kingdom of God is like” or “God is father of two sons,” here he simply tosses the parable out there as much as to say “This is the way it is.” God the Creator and Redeemer of life, God the Savior and Judge, does not simply plant individual acts as seed, God blankets the earth with grace, sowing seed everywhere, grace is abundant and sufficient. Sometimes, we are able and willing to hear, to listen, to respond and take in. Sometimes, we make ourselves too busy. What Jesus described to the disciples, is an exact quote from Isaiah in the First Testament who had a revelation of the kingdom of God sending out prophets like the indiscriminate scattering of seed, and God naming that this generation of humanity would witness without perceiving, would hear without the capability of being able to understand. I was reflecting with close friends the other day, that in all our years together, with all that has been done, there have been crises every year, this little community has known great tragedy and loss. As a pastor, my role has rarely been prophetic, managerial or leadership, but simply controlling ANXIETY; allowing people to know we would be with them. What I have witnessed more often than not, is that in the midst of those very crises, accidents, bankruptcies, violence, divorce, when we have been so humbled we could no longer be in control as we wanted, those have been the times when we were able to see God, to hear God in our midst. As frustrating as Life can be, there are times when we have to get out of our own way in order to listen. I am increasingly convinced that ELECTION is not about God ordaining this is what is going to happen and who is going to do what. But rather, that all of us are capable of doing terrible, horrible, very bad things, as well as receiving and acting as conduits of God's grace. All of us are Rocky soil, Hard Trodden, Weed Infested, Bird Pecked, as well as having everything essential to receive God's grace. 30, 50 and 100 fold were not quantities like an Ephah or Omer, but rather described abundance. If we can allow ourselves to receive, to take in and grow, we will produce, in some cases enough to benefit the whole village, in other cases enough to benefit the world, in still other cases enough to benefit the world for generations to come. Election and Faith are not about some being better than others, or judging one another as sinners. Faith and Election are realization that possibly we could act and our actions could be of benefit to others. Faith involves the struggle with Why God, but also is God in the midst of this and where?