This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to ponder Matthew 13:1-9, and 25-30. The English Standard Version supplies the headings “The Parable of the Sower,” and “The Parable of the Sower Explained.”
As I ponder the text, I have six thoughts in my mind.
First, a speech in Johor by a politician. He told a Malay-Muslim audience that they will soon make up 70 percent of Malaysia. Therefore, they must assume power and shape the nation. But they can’t if they’re divided. So, they must unite, under the banner of “religion and race.” If they don’t, they’ll be at the mercy of other, minority, ethnic and religious groups.
Second, statistics which show the huge extent to which Palestinian Christians have emigrated from Gaza and the West Bank. For example, in 1947, 85 percent of Bethlehem’s[1] population identified as Christian. In 2017, the figure had dropped to 10 percent.[2]
Third, celebrations in the U.S., of the passing of 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Many of the “founding fathers” of the U.S. were descendants of Christians who fled from Britain and Europe in order to avoid religious persecution.[3]
Fourth, a meeting of our congregation yesterday, to talk about plans for our church building. About 40 of us were at the meeting, which followed after we heard a sermon on discernment.
Fifth, a presentation by a renowned Malaysian university professor in which he said there are about six million foreign workers in Malaysia.[4]
Sixth, data that by 2030, about one in six persons in the Klang Valley – where our congregation is – will be 60-years of older.[5]
Our text is in chapter 13 of the Gospel, the Good News, according to Matthew. This follows after chapters 11-12 in which Matthew tells of society having become divided after three years of Jesus-lead arguing, teaching, and healing. Which led to the decision of the rulers to kill him.[6]
Jesus addressed a great crowd – so great that he had to sit in a boat and speak to them, assembled on the shore.
Jesus told a story. A story of a farmer. A farmer who sprinkled seeds. Precious seeds of grain. Sprinkled them unwisely. Unwisely because he sprinkled the seeds randomly. Randomly across four types of ground: a foot path; rocky soil; weed-infested soil; good soil.
Jesus described what happened to the seeds. The seeds on the path never sprouted; because birds ate them up. The seeds on the rocky soil sprouted but couldn’t put in deep roots to draw water; when the sun came up, they dried up and died. The seeds among the weeds sprouted; but lost out to the thorns in the fight for nutrients, so they died. The seed on the good soil multiplied; some by a hundred, some sixty, some thirty.
As was usual with Jesus, he didn’t explain the story to the crowd. He left it to them to try, among themselves, to understand it. But he did explain his stories to his disciples, to those who stayed close to him. They asked him why he spoke to the crowds in parables, in stories which could be understood in many ways. He explained that he was showing the crowds they were impervious to truth; were unwilling to see, hear, and obey God.
Then, Jesus explained to them the story he’d just told. His explanation was far different from what most listeners would’ve expected. If a farmer had sent his son out to sow precious seed, and the son came back and said he’d sown it on a foot path, on rocks, and among thorns, you can imagine his father scolding him, “You lunatic! What’s wrong with you?” Perhaps “The Random Sower” would be a good heading for today’s text.
Jesus explained using words which recall Prophet Isaiah saying that God sends out his word. That his word will not return to him without accomplishing the purpose for which he sent it. And his purpose is to convict people of sin. So that they will either respond with deafness and inaction, which will gain them punishment by God. Or respond with repentance, which will gain them acceptance with God.
How does today’s text inform my thinking about our building project? From the sermon on discernment, I recall Guideline #5: “Use the mind that God gave you.”
I see what’s at the heart of the three current events I mentioned earlier. In Malaysia, non-Malays and non-Muslims are likely to face persecution. The history of the USA and Palestine shows us that when Christians are persecuted, they often emigrate.
I see that some parents in our church have enrolled their children in international schools. I see that some children who went to study abroad plan to settle as immigrants in their host countries.
I see that over the last ten years our congregation has moved from being “resisting Lutherans” whose saints are activists like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Dorothy Day, to “adapting Lutherans” who cherish purveyors of health, wealth, longevity, and opportunities to supply the material needs of others.
I see that the conversion stories we tell are not about parents, spouses, siblings and close friends we persistently pray for, but are about refugees.
I see that next to the maxim “use your mind,” I must place “do not be blind and deaf,” “the random Sower,” and “the different soils.”
I see that if I wish to build for God, I must ask what kind of soil I am or what kind of soil I hope to serve. Must ask how to identify fruit. Must ask where fruit can be expected. Must ask what has been or will be yielded. Thirty-fold? Sixty-fold? Hundred-fold? Must ask what I am willing to sacrifice to make it so.
I see that we struggle to find nominees to fill leadership positions in our church. I see that for seven years we haven’t had a preaching pastor.[7] I see that once we were known as “a social action congregation,” but now we have no distinguishing marks.
I see that we have no established ministries – like kindergartens or Boys Brigade troops or feeding centres – which are often the fields from which people enter churches as members.
I see that God’s plan could be for us to serve as a collection and distribution point for money to support the work of others. But we’re not doing that either. Because we’ve accumulated a large sum of money which we’ve placed as interest-earning, fixed deposits in banks.
Where is God sowing his seed? Where is the good soil? Can we prepare good soil? How can we be God’s co-workers to harvest the crop and to make disciples?
I’ve shared some of what I discern. I invite you to do the same.[8]
Peace be with you.
[1] Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus, the Christ.
[2] Another bleak Christmas in Bethlehem as Christian families quit West Bank, Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh, Reuters, 2 December 20247. 2024https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/another-bleak-christmas-bethlehem-christian-families-quit-west-bank-2024-12-01/.
[3] See for example, Faith of Our Forefathers: Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9805/religion.html.
[4] Dr Francis Loh, at a seminar I attended.
[5] Ageing Phenomenon: Malaysia Towards 2030, Malaysia Population Research Hub, 31 December 2017, https://mprh.lppkn.gov.my/ageing-phenomenon-malaysia-towards-2030/.
[6] I discussed this in recent columns. See for example, Matthew 10: Seriously? Jesus Promised Us the Reward of the Prophets? https://bangsarlutheran.org/matthew-10-seriously-jesus-promised-us-the-reward-of-the-prophets/.
[7] One who zealously uses the pulpit Sunday-by-Sunday to send out the word to shape and to arrest decay in the congregation.
[8] Deacon Sherman, Guideline #6: Ask for help from mature Christians.
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