progressive involvement: Lectionary blogging: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ²Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹Let anyone with ears listen!’

Father Robert Capon says that the parable of the sower is the touchstone of all the parables. He notes its primacy of place in all three synoptics. Even the gnostic Gospel of Thomas includes the parable of the sower. In Matthew, this parable is the first of a string of parables that follow one after another in chapter 13. The parable of the sower sets the stage.

The lection begins with Jesus leaving the house. He "goes out" to the sea just as the sower would soon "go out" to sow. This would apparently be his own house, and the same one where he had just refused entrance to his own relatives (12: 46-48).

At the sea, "great crowds" flock around Jesus. The word is sunago, and means that the people "gathered together" around Jesus. He is at the center of the people. This is not surprising. Jesus had significant support in the region of the Sea of Galilee. The people loved Jesus and thrilled to his message. He is presented first as a "man of the people."

Then, he gets into a boat. This gives Jesus a bit of distance from the crowd which continues to stand on the beach. Matthew has moved Jesus from being "man of the people" to being "authoritative teacher." Therefore, in that role, he is at a bit of distance from the people.

What a deft piece of political theater. Jesus is sitting in a fishing boat, which is, quite literally, on the sea. In a sense, Jesus is speaking to and for all the people who try to make a living from the Sea of Galilee. It's not for nothing that fishermen were some of Jesus' first supporters, after all. Jesus may have had a home at Capernaum, perhaps the most important harbor city on the entire Sea of Galilee. He also traveled to many other towns and villages that lie on the sea, including Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene, his frequent companion.

Jesus told them "many things in parables," and starts off with: "Behold! A sower went forth to sow." In the sowing, some seeds fell "on the way"--para ton hodon--and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on rocks where "they did not have much earth"--opou ouk eixen gas pollen. "And immediately, they sprang up through not having depth of earth."

Literally: "But the scorching sun rose up, and since they did not have root, they dried up. But other seeds fell upon the thorns, and the thorns rose up and strangled them. But others fell upon the excellent earth and gave fruit, some truly a hundred, but some sixty, but some thirty. The one having ears, let him hear."

‘Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.^* ²²As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

In the intervening verses, 10-17, Jesus tells the disciples that they get to hear "the secrets of the kingdom of heaven," but others do not. Jesus says that he speaks in parables, but no one understands. This suggests that, far from being easy to understand, the parables are so contrarian that they are difficult to hear.

In verse 18, Jesus calls the story "the parable of the sower." This alone is instructive. It means that this is a parable about God, and not about us. It's the parable of the sower, not the parable of the four kinds of soil. It's about what God does, in other words, and not our feeble efforts at putting God's word into action. Then, verses 19-23 literally:

"Each one hearing the word of the kingdom and not 'bringing it together' (understanding), pain and trouble--ponerus--comes and seizes what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown alongside the path.

But the one sown upon the rocks, this is the one hearing the word--logon--and immediately takes it with joy, but does not have root in himself. It is but for a season. But when oppression and persecution happen because of the word--logon--immediately he is made to stumble--skandalizetai.

But the one sown into the thorns, this is the one hearing the word, and the cares of eternity and the deceit of riches together utterly choke the word and it bears no fruit.

But the one being sown in the beautiful earth, this is the one who hears the word and 'brings together' (understands), who in reality brings forth fruit, doing some truly a hundred, but some sixty, but some thirty."

The common evangelical protestant view of the parable is that Jesus was going around throwing out "the word." We want to prepare ourselves to be really good soil so that when Jesus throws "the word" on us, we--splendid people that we are--can put it into action and make it grow.

This is completely wrong-headed because the sower is not Jesus. God is the sower, and God sows the Word--logon, Christ--absolutely everywhere. Jesus is not the sower, but the seed sown. As the fourth gospel puts it, "The Word became flesh."

The four types of soil are meant to signify all conditions of life. Jesus has already been sown everywhere in the world, in good soil and bad, among rocks and among thorns. This sowing of the word into the entire world, and into all conditions of life, has already been done without any participation on our part whatsoever.

The story would have been shocking to many who heard it. There were many--in those days, and in ours--who most certainly did not think God had sown the seed of the word everywhere in the world. God had sown it only in Israel--or America, or the Roman Catholic church, or only among those who believe protestant theology. Israel is not special in Jesus' story, and that would have caused some major grinding of teeth in some people. The same is true today.

Moreover, there is nothing spectacular about a seed. For people expecting a triumphal messiah who enters the fray with force, the seed is a weak image. Seeds are tiny. They fall into the ground and get covered over. They "die" into the earth.

It is precisely then, when they are out of sight, that they begin to do the work of a seed. The message of the story is that the seed--the Word--sown into the world doesn't look like all that much. It can be hard, or even impossible to find. It does its work out-of-sight, mysteriously. Capon, Parables of the Kingdom:

Once again, this is not our idea of how a respectable divine operation ought to be run...Given our druthers, our pet illustration of the kingdom would probably be a giant nail--driven into the world, appropriately enough, but a giant hammer in the hand of a giant God. Something noisy and noticeable. But a seed? Oh come now.

You'll notice, too, that the seed has already been sown. It is not about to be sown, and it is not waiting for us to do something to put it into effect. It has, in fact, been done. In every case, the seed, which is the word, springs up, even in rocky soil and even among thorns.

But the birds, you say? What about the birds who snatch up the seed and carry it away? So what? That seed is still going to land somewhere. We had a tree on our farm that was in the oddest place. It was in a ditch, and there wasn't another tree, in any direction, for a few hundred yards. I once asked my dad how in the world that tree ever got there? His one word answer? "Birds." Birds may snatch up the seed, but they're just going to distribute it somewhere else, where, again, the seed which is the word will do its work.

Aren't the birds equated with "the evil one" in verse 19? The word is o ponerou. "Evil one" is not a great translation. "Hardships" or "troubles" would be better. If Matthew had really intended "evil one," he would probably have written diabolos.

The word, which is Christ, has already been sown into the world. God has done this mysteriously and paradoxically--not through a power-display, which would have been business-as-usual, but rather through suffering and death of a peasant. This has already been done. "It is accomplished."

Significant traditions within the church, however, have typically said just the opposite. They have said that, really, the world wasn't quite saved yet. It was only potentially saved. In order to get it really saved, we needed to do something to kick the Word into gear. We needed to repent, or confess our sins, or get "born again," or cry our eyes out over something-or-other, or sacrifice a goat, or wear pink on Thursdays--or whatever! It was always something. We needed to make ourselves into good soil so that the Word could really work!

Wrong. The four types of soil reflect the human condition which all of us share. They are a statement of reality, meant to cover the bases of existence. We all live our lives in the context of "pain and trouble." We endure "rocks" and lack "root" in the face of oppression. We live amid the "thorns," which are the "cares of eternity," and "the deceit of riches." This "chokes" us--and doesn't it? Isn't that an accurate description of our reality?

But we also have capacity. The "beautiful earth"--ten kalen gen--is also part of our reality. We don't put the Word into action--Christ has already saved the world--but the Word prospers in some conditions more than others. In "beautiful earth," it "bears fruit" in the world.

In Matthew's theology, "bearing fruit" means living out the kingdom of heaven. With Jesus as our model of what that looks like, "bearing fruit" means gender equality, open table fellowship, non-heirarchical living, embracing the human dignity of all, resistance to oppression, and resistance to religious corruption. "Bearing fruit" is that program lived out in every day life.