The Rev. Patrick Keyser: God Is At Work
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Last Sunday, we had the great joy of celebrating the baptisms of four young ones here at the Cathedral as we welcome them into the household of God. Preparing families and individuals for baptism is for me one of the great joys of ministry. One thing I always seek to highlight for candidates during preparation is the reality that baptism is entry into a lifelong process. While the actual day of baptism is so very important and memorable, it is but the first step of the journey of a new life. Something very similar happens, of course, with a wedding. The wedding day is for many couples the most special of their lives. After so much planning and preparation, the couple affirm their love and commitment to each other as family and friends gather around them to celebrate. As special as the wedding day may be, any married couple will undoubtedly acknowledge that it too is only the beginning as marriage must be lived out each and every day that follows.
In a similar way, baptism initiates a lifelong process of growth into the image and likeness of Jesus into the full stature of Christ, to quote the letter to the Ephesians. It is this idea of the Christian life as a process of growth initiated at baptism, that I would like for us to consider this day as we put it in conversation with the scriptural texts before us. The gospel reading for this day marks the beginning of a section of Matthew’s gospel that is a distinct discourse, unfolding across the long 13th chapter, which we will hear almost in its entirety this Sunday and the next two that follow. It features a series of parables focused on the kingdom of heaven. Though somewhat difficult to precisely define, a parable is a story, often a very short one, used to illustrate a spiritual or a moral teaching. Parables are without a doubt the most characteristic teaching tool employed by Jesus in the synoptic gospels. Most of them are offered without an accompanying explanation, in large part because they are not generally reducible to one single meaning. Instead, parables invite the listener to engage with the story and discover new insights and understandings in each hearing. They are more poetry to be appreciated than puzzle to be solved.
This series of parables from Matthew, chapter 13, draws our attention to the important but often overlooked reality that for many who encountered him in his earthly ministry, Jesus was primarily thought of as “teacher”, which is how we translate the word “rabbi” into English. While we can never lose sight of his role as savior, redeemer and healer, we ought to remember, as well, the many scriptural stories where individuals come to Jesus calling him “rabbi” or “teacher”. Reflecting on that designation invites us to consider what it would mean for us to think of Jesus in the same way. To claim him as teacher implies that we are those who learn from him. We are the students. Now, I imagine for those who have always loved school and learning, and including myself here, the idea of being a lifelong student is pretty thrilling. Of course, there are many others of you for whom that prospect sounds distinctly less exciting.
In considering this idea, I’d like to expand our sense of the terms, using some insights from former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, found in his small but exceptionally rich volume, entitled Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life. In the opening pages, he reminds the reader that in the strict sense of the Greek word “discipleship” means being a student, but certainly not in the sense of periodically showing up to hear a lecture from a learned teacher. In the ancient context, he argues, being a student involved committing significant time and effort toward following the teacher around, spending time with them, observing their behavior, absorbing everything they offered, watching and waiting for even the smallest bit of wisdom.
Archbishop Williams writes, “To be the student of a teacher was to commit yourself to living in the same atmosphere and breathing the same air. There was nothing intermittent about it. Being a disciple, a learner, in that sense is a state of being in which you are looking and listening without interruption.” That I would suggest is an altogether different, indeed, much more powerful sense of what it means to be a student, a learner, a disciple of Jesus. It demands we continually seek him out, spend time in his presence and depend on him for guidance, nourishment, and wisdom. One of the primary ways we do that as Christians is, of course, through the weekly gathering as community in his name to hear the scriptures proclaimed again. And that brings us back to today’s gospel text.
The teacher offers what is generally called, The Parable of the Sower, the first significant parable contained in Matthew’s gospel. One we might rightfully consider critical for understanding all those that follow. Jesus begins his teaching with the ever important command, “Listen”, and then tells the story of a sower going out to sow seed. As the sower did so, seeds fell in various locations. Some fell on the path and were quickly eaten by the birds. Others fell on rocky ground where they sprang up quickly, but lacking depth of soil and the ability to establish roots, they were scorched by the sun and quickly withered away. Still other seed fell among thorns which grew quickly, surrounding and strangling the seeds. Finally, some fell on good soil and brought forth grain and varying quantities, all of a great abundance. Jesus then concludes his parable with the same sentiment with which he began it, “Let anyone with ears, listen.”
Several verses later in Matthew, but immediately following in the text as presented to us today, Jesus offers an explanation of this parable, something he rarely does. He tells us that the seed is the word of the kingdom, and the four locations represent ways individuals respond to that word. The seed on the path is like one who hears but does not understand, and the word is quickly snatched away. The seed on the rocky ground represents one who hears the word with initial joy, but lacking foundation, falls away at the first sign of trouble or difficulty. That which was sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but finds it snuffed out by the cares of this world and the allure of wealth and material things. The seed, sown among the good soil is the one who hears and understands and then bears fruit in abundance.
Although Matthew’s gospel supplies this relatively straightforward explanation of the parable, it does not completely capture or exhaust its meanings. A parable cannot be reduced to just one interpretation. A common, but I think overly simplistic reading of this parable, takes it as a simple lesson of choosing to be like the good soil, the one who hears, understands, and bears fruit. It is, after all, clearly the only positive option. The other three yield no fruit at all. Be like the good soil. While an appealingly simple lesson, is a reading of the parable that ignores the reality that in any genuine and lasting spiritual journey with Christ, there will be seasons and stages of varying vigor. Some that look like the abundance of the good soil and others that look more like the thorns or the rocky ground or the barrenness of the path. Some periods are filled with life and energy and while others feel more desolate or difficult. This is an experience shared by all of us, even if we fear at times to admit it.
It is not a sign of failure or lack of faith, and we shouldn’t feel burdened or guilty by this reality. To be a student, a learner, a disciple of Jesus, is to commit to the journey no matter the circumstances and to recognize that we will never reach a moment when the learning ends, when there is no further capacity to grow more fully into the likeness of Christ. That being said, it is important to acknowledge a related point that is a genuine struggle for many of us. There are persistent messages in our culture and surrounding world, telling us that we are never good enough, that we are always in need of improvement, of more possessions, more accomplishments, more talents, more everything. That is an insidious and exhausting narrative that we must reject. And we should not confuse it with this idea of the Christian life as an ever unfolding process of growth into the full stature of Christ. There is always capacity for growth there, not because of anything that you or I have done or left undone as individuals, but because of our shared human nature as sinful yet redeemed and beloved children of God. It is then not personal defect, but an affirmation of our humanity, that on this side of the life to come we cannot attain the fullness of the divine love, compassion, and sacrifice that Jesus shows us.
We can, however, pledge and strive to become more and more like him as we follow his way and seek his presence. There will be times when we are zealous and highly motivated, perhaps at a moment of conversion or recommitment, only to find our fervor weakened as time passes, much like the shriveled seed sown on the rocky ground. Or of particular relevance given the reality of our current world, there will be times when we find ourselves so distracted, so caught up in the things of this world that seem so important, but only detract us from what actually matters. All thorns stunting our capacity to grow. There are those blessed moments when our faith grows and produces in abundance. Just as there are moments when faith seems so difficult, and all seems to be snatched away before anything takes root. Our journey with Christ will include all these stages, struggle, distraction, stagnation, and yes, flourishing. The good news for us is that our growth depends not on our own efforts, or our sheer will alone, but on the one who sows the seed and cares for it, watering it abundantly and making it very plenteous.
God is far more gracious than we could ever imagine. This journey, that has no final destination, operates on the long horizon. And anyone who farms, gardens, or tends the earth, will attest that the process of growth happens on the same terms. It cannot be rushed or manipulated to our own ends. God is at work even in the most difficult and unreceptive of situations. We need only commit to seek out and dwell in the presence of Christ Jesus, who ever teaches us in his ways, and molds us more and more into his likeness. Amen.