Sermon Ordinary 15, 16th July 2023

MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>

We all know “The Parable of The Sower” and as we also know, Jesus spoke in parables. It was a common way Jewish rabbis taught in those days, and Jesus followed the rabbinic tradition.

Sowing seeds was something Jesus’ listeners knew a lot about. That’s how crops were planted - everyone did it or saw it. Folks would take a handful of seeds and cast them out over a small area of ground, as opposed to our modern planting drills that place individual seeds in straight rows at just the right depth, so many centimetres apart.

Sowing, by comparison, is unscientific, and, by our standards, an inefficient way of getting the job done. A lot of seed is wasted. Some seed falls on the hard ground and can’t take root. Other falls on the pathway and gets stepped on. Other seed gets eaten by the birds before it can sprout. Other seed gets taken over by weeds and grass. Only a small percentage of the seed sown actually grows and bears fruit.

Yet … in spite of everything … the harvest was plentiful! That’s the nature of the Kingdom of God!

And that’s the Good News we need to hear. Because, when YOU consider all the “seed” that YOU sow in the course of a day or a week or a lifetime – and all that goes to waste – YOU can get pretty discouraged. YOU might even begin to despair and wonder and ask yourself, what’s the point? <PAUSE>

For example, what’s the point … of recording a ten-minute message when the average attention span is something like three minutes? I know lots of preachers who get discouraged preaching Sunday after Sunday. Does anyone really listen? Is anyone’s life ever changed for the better by what’s said in the message? If we dispensed with the sermon entirely, would anyone notice or care? <PAUSE>

What’s the point … of inviting others to come and meet Jesus when maybe one out of one hundred (if you’re lucky) accept your invitation? Most of our efforts for growing God’s Kingdom fail before they get off the ground, not because there’s not enough potential people to call on, but because we honestly don’t believe we’ll be successful. So, what’s the point? <PAUSE>

What’s the point … of giving to missions and charities when so little seems to change? Remember the 1985 “Live Aid” concert - almost, to the day, 38 years ago? Ever wonder about that? What changed in Ethiopia? <PAUSE>

Some of the most cynical people I know are those who’ve been hurt by trying – and failing.

I see this ‘fatigue’ a lot, caring, concerned people who give so much for so long they just don’t have anything left inside to give. And they wonder, what’s the point? <PAUSE>The Good News is that, despite the odds, God promises an abundant harvest:

“…Some seeds fell by the roadside…Others fell on rocky ground…
Others fell among thorns…Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit:
Some one hundred times as much…”

For example, on this current journey that Kim and I are taking around Scandinavia we meet, greet, spend time with lots of people. Then, we part and we don’t see them again. This website, this message is read\watched by people from all over the world. I never see or hear from the vast majority of them.

It’s tempting to wonder what, if anything, is accomplished. <PAUSE>

But, then, I never know. Only one success, JUST ONE, now and then, is enough to outweigh a multitude of failed attempts.

Remember, the mightiest tree sheds hundreds of seeds a year, but less than a handful become trees; most get eaten up by animals or just blown away to be lost.

Remember the greetings you all send out to friends on birthdays - you’ll never know how much they mean and the impact they have. Over the years you send a lot of cards, a lot of emails, a lot of good wishes. A very few become cherished for a lifetime - but you often just don’t get to know that!

Think about today’s parable in relation to the Christian faith. Thousands of people heard and saw Jesus of Nazareth, but only a handful came to believe that he was the Son of God.

Was that all such a waste? So many pearls of wisdom go unheard. So many acts of kindness go unnoticed. So many opportunities go unaccepted. So many blessings fall through the cracks. As I said a moment ago … it’s enough to make you want to throw up your hands and cry, “What’s the point of it all?

Well, In spite of all the obstacles, God prevails. And the resulting harvest is abundant and plentiful.

Now, here’s the “twist in the tail” … Jesus told this parable to a crowd of Jews gathered at the Sea of Galilee. Matthew says there were so many of them, Jesus had to get into a boat in order to be heard.

We don’t know how many were in the crowd that day, but there must have been a good bunch of ‘em. Let’s be generous and say most of them were paying attention and got the point.

The truth is, after Jesus finished teaching, most of them went home – or back to work – their lives unchanged. But a handful of those who heard him that day were touched in such a way that they would never be the same again, and they went on to become a part of the larger group of Jesus’ followers, and it’s through this handful of faithful witnesses that the gospel of Jesus Christ spread from Jerusalem to all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

AND THAT, THAT, IS THE POINT.

In spite of it all our uncertainty, all our insecurity, all our doubts …

Our task is to keep sowing the seed, it’s God’s task to nurture that seed and - - -

GOD ALWAYS COMES THROUGH!

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu.
In the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit <AMINE>