Sowing Seeds of Grace

Sowing Seeds of Grace St. John’s United Church of Christ July 16, 2017 Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

This parable of the sower explores the question of scarcity vs. abundance, a timely subject, something churches across the nation, are thinking about these days, as shrinking membership numbers and funds force them to take a hard look at their ledger books and think about priorities.

Seeds were a precious and scarce commodity in ancient Palestine, where most people were simple farmers. Seeds were life-giving, not only because they produced food to eat but, also, because they yielded crops that could be sold to support a household and pay the stiff taxes imposed by the

Roman Empire. No farmers in their right mind would waste precious seeds by scattering them on barren soil, rocky earth, among thorns much less a hardened path.

So, those listening to Jesus must have laughed at this story about a foolish, wasteful farmer. They would have been perplexed by the sower’s behavior because the sower’s actions did not make sense in their world view.

1 Following Christ’s call to lavishly and with abandon sow seeds of grace, also, makes little sense in today’s world.

 Many churches ask, “How can we waste our ever-dwindling pledge

income on mission projects, when we have a building, grounds, and

staff to maintain?”

 Why should we ask our busy members to spend time and money on a

joint, mission-focused Vacation Bible School when we, have fewer

children than the other churches in the area?

 Why should we put our time and energy into educating the public

about the problem of opioid addiction, as we did with the Memorial to

the Lost, when the epidemic just keeps growing and claiming more

lives with no end in sight?

 Why should we put time and effort into our Insights Conversations

that explore important societal issues when it is usually just members

of our own congregation who attend?

2  Why support third world farmers who grow coffee beans when our

efforts to help them are only a “drop in the bucket” in the face of

enormous economic devastation in their part of the world?

Like a parable, these questions exaggerate to make a point. But, you here at St. John’s are blessed because you know the answers to these questions.

You, who demonstrate God’s abundant love through so many mission projects, know what other churches sometimes miss. You get the point

Jesus is making in this parable. You know, as God’s people, that there is always an abundance of grace and love to spare, even if there might be a scarcity of financial resources.

In the last year, you at St. John’s have grown to define yourselves as a people of God seeking to be Christ’s body on earth, ministering to the afflicted and suffering right here in Butler County and around the world.

You may be small but you are an energetic congregation deeply connected to the community. Sowing the seeds of grace is your strength.

Like the farmer in the parable, you know you are called to spread

God’s love and grace freely. But, you are realists. You know the ways of the world. You know that sometimes extending God’s grace produces no harvest, no yield.

3 You, through Amber’s efforts, continue providing creative Sunday school programs, vacation bible school, and offering Confirmation classes, even though you know that sometimes young people, even when nurtured in the church, do drop out. As the parable says, sometimes God’s grace falls on a stony path.

You know there are people are very active in the church for a while, but, then, for one reason or another, of for no reason at all, you don’t see them anymore, they have moved on to something else. The parable says, sometimes God’s grace falls on rocky ground.

Sometimes the people we help in the name of Christ are grateful, but after a period of time, the ongoing struggles in their lives overwhelm them.

The parable says that sometimes God’s love falls upon thorns and is choked by the cares of the world.

To further complicate matters, soil conditions are ever changing.

Individual receptivity to God’s grace may change over the course of a lifetime. While we like to think that all of us here are receptive to God’s grace, that we are indeed good fertile soil, in every congregation, in every group of people, at any given time, there are some who are open to the Holy

Spirit in and some who are not. We remember times in our own lives when

4 we have been distracted by worldly concerns and just could not focus on church or what God might be doing in our lives.

We can remember times when we were enthusiastic about doing

God’s work and other times when we were merely passive observers. Then something happens, a young person who has not come to church for a long time becomes involved in a mission project and begins to show-up every

Sunday. A middle-aged man who seeks pastoral counseling because of a personal crisis continues to attend worship even after the crisis has passed.

People change, circumstances change, soil conditions change, we never know when we shall cast our seed on fertile ground. And, sometimes seeds take root and flourish, where we least expect it, on hardened ground, rocky soil, or even among thorns, just like weeds popping through the cracks in a concrete walk.

We are called to spread God’s grace freely to everyone. We are called to till the soil, to plant, to water, to fertilize, to cultivate. We cannot discriminate, we cannot hold back, it is not up to us to pick and chose who receives God’s grace. And when God’s grace falls on good soil, it bears fruit and yields abundantly!

 If one family, attending the Memorial to the Lost service, received

comfort and closure and were able to once again remember the person

5 their loved one was before being captured by addiction, then the Holy

Spirit has worked through you.

 Or if one young person saw the crosses in our lawn and decided to

say no to the lure of opioids, then, the Holy Spirit has worked through

 If a child learns that playing on God’s team means serving others,

during our upcoming Vacation Bible School, then, the Holy Spirit has

worked through you.

 If one couple, inspired by our Insights program, helped their children

by doing some end-of-life planning or we became a more sensitized

congregation to the LBGTQ community, then the Holy Spirit has

worked through you.

Many of the seeds you sow do fall on good soil and bear fruit. This is the harvest of God’s Kingdom. This is your cause for celebration. Many churches advertise that they seek a pastor who can “grow the church” and attract young families. What these churches do not understand is that it is

6 only God who can germinate the seeds, it is only God who can “grow” a church.

Think about it, even the most loving parents are merely caretakers, charged with protecting and nurturing a child while God sees to it that child grows from being a baby to an adult. Parents and guardians perform an important function. They provide the conditions necessary for growth to occur, but the growth itself is a gift from God.

Likewise, pastors and congregations, can only plant the seeds, care for the soil and make sure the light of God’s love shines through. The rest is up to God.

One congregation in search of a pastor describes its mission as “to become a community so faithful, imaginative and vibrant that God’s love is seen in the world through us as we reach out to future generations.” That church also understands the parable of the sower.

That church, like you here at St. John’s, know that we are commissioned to labor on, to receive God’s grace and to distribute it generously to all who need to hear and receive it; to spread God’s grace in times abundance and, especially in times of scarcity. For, we know that even in times of scarcity, we have been given enough seeds to make a difference. We plow, plant,

7 fertilize, water, and cultivate, assured that even though the rest is in God’s hands, the harvest indeed will be great.