On Seeds, Hoaxes, Covid and Values. (Matthew 13. 1-8, 18-23)
I’m going to let you in on a little secret, something that only priests know. Now this is serious, hidden, deep secret knowledge. Promise to keep it to yourself?
Sometimes people are difficult. I know right? I bet you’re really surprised to hear that.
People are also complicated, which is why they’re sometimes difficult. We’re all a mixture of our past, our present. Our memories make us who we are. We are a bundle of experiences wrapped up in a case. Our experience of life, our values are often all that we have.
When something scary comes along that challenges our values, our experience, most of us shut down. Try as we might, when something is deeply challenging, we can often just go, nope, that’s not true, because that’s not my experience. It’s the mental equivalent of putting our fingers in our ears and going la la la la. I can’t hear you.
I wonder how many of us have done this? When we come across something challenging? I know I have.
That’s not my view, it isn’t true, it’s not my experience.
That’s not my Jesus, that’s not my God, that’s not who I am.
The kingdom is accepted by those who listen. Who receive it. That’s one of the things our parable this morning is about.
The kingdom is now, and it comes when we accept it. When we become the good soil. But what do I mean?
I know we’re all sick of hearing it, but Covid right?
I know, I know but bear with me. The fact that Covid is a thing cannot be denied. To borrow words from our American cousins, it’s a truth self-evident. Everyone who knows anything about public health has said, this is real, it’s a threat, we need to be careful. It’s killed over 40,000 in the UK alone.
Yet if you’ve been in the city recently what have we seen? Spray painted on our streets and buildings ‘Covid is a hoax.’
I had a long chat with someone a couple of weeks ago who said; “nobody I know has got it, I don’t think it’s true, the govt is making a fuss about nothing just to put me out of business.”
Another person on the beach in an interview said; “well I don’t know anyone who’s got it, so I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
Even though 40,000 people have died. This is not my experience, it’s not my view, it isn’t true.
This is scary, so I’m going to pretend like I know best. I have no interest in listening to what people are telling me because I’m scared. This threatens my worldview.
Jesus spent his ministry threatening people’s worldview. From how the Pharisees interpreted the law, to what we should do with our money. What a blessed life is. I wonder how the crowd reacted to Jesus’ teaching at times?
“He didn’t really heal that woman, it’s all a hoax.”
“What does he mean blessed are the meek, this isn’t the messiah we’ve been waiting for, when is he going to beat up the Romans?”
“Give away all my money, are you mad?”
Through what he did, and who he is, it was self-evident that Jesus is the messiah. But the people, well, they weren’t convinced. It didn’t matter how many healings he did, or the abundance of miracles, he wasn’t who they were expecting.
The Kingdom is accepted by those who listen. Who want to understand. Jesus gives of himself, he teaches them, but the crowd don’t have ears to listen. They don’t want to be challenged.
It’s a shame that the lectionary misses out the middle bit of our passage this morning because It’s actually quite important. Jesus quotes Isaiah;
“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.”
It’s not that they’re unable to understand, but that they refuse to do so. They become defensive.
Jesus isn’t some kind of fluffy, Aryan, apolitical tool. He was a dark skinned rabble rouser, who hung around with unrespectable dirty people, and respectable ones alike.
He came to give us fullness of life, abundant and overflowing life. Saving us from ourselves and giving us the tools to begin His work of the Kingdom.
Jesus constantly challenges us to demand abundant life, for everyone. To examine ourselves. To examine who we are, and why we are reacting the way we do.
It’s hard for us accept things that go beyond our personal experience. I’ve often found myself consumed with defensiveness when someone has challenged me.
“When 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.”
Jesus isn’t talking here about reading the Bible and getting confused. Thank goodness, because if he was I’ve definitely been snatched by the evil one, multiple times.
Jesus is talking about our own inner struggles to accept what is beyond our experience and understanding. Our defensiveness when challenged.
When the crowd hears but refuses to understand what he’s saying about the Kingdom. When we hear but continue on our own path. When we refuse to challenge ourselves, to tackle injustice and live up to the challenges of the Kingdom.
The path is where we find ourselves when we don’t do the inner heart stuff. When we don’t want to listen to the challenge Jesus gives us.
The rocky ground is where we find ourselves when we love God, but don’t go deeper. When we don’t think about our faith, or pray during the week. When we’re not willing to go the distance for God.
The thorns are where we find ourselves when we’re too pre-occupied with other things. Distracted by the things that don’t bring us life. When we’re more interested in the church building than the community in it.
When we’re busy chasing after goals that are not part of the kingdom of God. When we’re pre occupied with statues being defaced, rather than why they’re being defaced.
But the good soil, aaah, that’s where we find ourselves when we’re open to what the Spirit is saying to us.
When our hearts and hands are open to what Jesus challenges us to do. To be a healing presence, to care for others, to proclaim God’s hope and love to everyone through who we are and what we do. To listen.
We might be the seeds, but the soil is our hearts. When we accept and hear the words of the Kingdom.
We are living through a time of great change, and we face a choice.
Either we can stand with our fingers in our ears. Go back to business as usual. Be defensive. We can continue exploiting one another and our world.
Or, we can engage, help craft a better world, a world with kingdom values of justice, peace and hope.
We are a hope filled people, we are people of the resurrection, and we should believe that things can get better.
But that comes with a responsibility. We must listen to the voices who are different from ours if they are espousing kingdom values.
Notice how the sower distributes the seed even on rocky ground. The sower is always generous, always gives the seed a chance.
People are difficult, but defensiveness is not the answer.
We have something to say, but we’ve also got lots of listening to do. To God, to each other and our world. So that our seeds grow into fruit, that bring about the kingdom and changes the world.
The question is, are we willing to do that?
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