In the synoptic gospels, which are Matthew, Mark and Luke, called that because they have the same synopses of Jesus’ life, there are around 30 parables. There are none found in John. And I say there are around 30, because there is great debate around what a parable is and isn’t. We tend to have a much narrower view of parables now than how they were understood in the first century, when they included not just the stories we are sort of familiar in thinking of being parables, but also included narratives, proverbs and other sayings or teachings that have a deeper religious significance then just a straightforward meaning. But, of the 30 or so parables, five to eight are found in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and while we might argue about significance, the parable we heard this morning, which has come to be known as the parable of the sower, might be the most important of those that we have multiple times. This is especially true for the gospel of Mark and for its understanding and overall story telling.
Indeed, in her book, Sowing the Gospel, which can give you some indication of where this is going, New Testament scholar Mary Ann Tolbert says that the parable of the sower in particular, and matched with the parable of the wicked tenants found in chapter 12 of Mark, as well as also in Matthew and Luke, “present in concise, summary form the Gospel’s view of Jesus: He is the sower of the word and the heir of the vineyard. The first emphasizes his task and the second his identity; together they make up the gospel’s basic narrative.” (122) That is to say that these two parables orient us to not only what the gospel is about, and what Jesus’ message is about, but about how to identify the characters in the story and what is to be expected if we truly understand and follow Jesus’ message, although she argues that the Parable of the Sower is the more important of the two.
Now as I said earlier, Mark tends to group stories together
by type, and so we had a series of healing stories in chapter one, and then a
series of conflict stories, although they were bracketed by stories that were
both conflict and healing stories, and then the parable of the sower begins a
series of four parable teachings, although Mark says that others were also
given, but not recorded. And of these four, two others also include stories
about seeds, including about the mustard seed being the smallest of seeds,
although it’s not, but growing to the greatest of all shrubs. But more
importantly, what Jesus says about these other seeds is that they are about the
Kingdom of God, and part of the most controversial, or at least difficult
portion of today’s passage also involved the Kingdom of God. and so we’re going
to skip past the actual parable for the moment, and go into that moment when
Jesus begins to explain the parable, because it appears that Jesus is saying
that some people are excluded from the Kingdom of God intentionally. That maybe
even, perhaps, that there is an explanation and justification for the idea of
predestination, a Calvinist idea, that some people are preordained to be saved,
and others, well, not so much. I mean Jesus says, according to Mark, that he
talks in parables “in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive, and
may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be
forgiven.” But, we as Wesleyan believe in universal salvation, that Christ
died for all people, so what gives here?
Well I’m glad you asked, and the first thing to clarify is
that there is every indication that Jesus did in fact give private instruction
to the disciples when they were away from the crowds. Perhaps it did involve
interpretation of parables or other teachings, or perhaps it was something else
entirely, like greater explication about the Kingdom of God. It has been
theorized that perhaps what Judas betrays about Jesus to the religious leaders
is part of this teaching, and that makes some sense to me. But, in this case
it’s not just the disciples who are there, it’s also a larger group of people,
although it’s not clear who they are. And even more importantly is that Jesus
is talking about insiders and outsiders, of those who know, or should know, and
those who don’t. That plays a crucial role not just for the Mark, but for understanding
this passage. Because if there is anyone who should understand what Jesus is
saying, shouldn’t it be the disciples? If there is anyone who is the ultimate
insider, shouldn’t it be the disciples? And yet what happens? They increasingly
don’t understand what Jesus is saying or what Jesus is doing. Jesus even says
to them as he begins to explain the parable of the sower, which is not a common
occurrence, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand
all the parables?” That is the disciples don’t get it, which we’ll come back to
in just a moment.
But the other piece of this is that sense that there is some
information that is being hidden so that some people won’t know and won’t find
salvation. But, if we had read just a little further beyond verse 20 today, after
telling the disciples that they don’t put their lamps under beds of bushels,
but instead on lamp stands so the light can be seen, he says in verse 22 “For
there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except
to come to light.” And then says, once again, just as he did in the parable of
the sower, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” at the beginning and the end
of the parable he gives the instruction to listen, so that seems pretty
important. And what Jesus is quoting in this section is from the 6th chapter of
the prophet Isaiah, which is part of Isaiah’s call story and that after Isaiah
famously says “Here I am, send me,” to the question “whom shall I send,” the
first prophecy is about not comprehending and not turning and being healed. But
that prophecy is not because that is what God wants, but because that is what
the people have chosen to do. In chapter 5, in the song of the unfruitful
vineyard, which is a parallel to the parable of the wicked tenants, with a
significant difference, it is the people who turned their backs on God. They
choose not to follow.
And so what we are getting here is Mark is the same thing.
Jesus is saying that the people, including those who should know, like the
scribes and the Pharisees as we saw in the story of the healing of the
paralytic man two weeks ago, can reject what Jesus has to offer. So it’s not
God denying them, it’s them denying God. It’s the hardening of their hearts, of
their soil, not to receive the word. And again from a theological perspective,
as Wesleyans, while we believe in universal grace, that God’s grace and
forgiveness is extended to everyone, we also believe that you can choose to
refuse it. God’s grace is resistible, and God won’t force it upon you because
we have free will, which then leads to the types of soil that Jesus makes
reference to.
The first soil is that of a hard packed path in which the
seed cannot take root, and so the birds come and eat the seed. In his
interpretation Jesus says this soil is the ones who hear the word, but Satan
immediately comes and takes away the word. Now as we think of the gospels, who
might it be that Jesus encounters who represent this type of soil? According to
Mary Anne Tolbert, this is represented by the scribes and Pharisees, of whom
Jesus says about them, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, “This people honors me
with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” That is, it’s not people
who have openly rejected God, but even those who talk and the talk, they can
quote scripture with the best of them, but they are not in fact followers of
the way, because their hearts are not in alignment with what they say they
proclaim. And yet, it’s bigger than that, or different than that, because next
week we will hear Jesus rebuke Peter and tell him “get behind me Satan.” And so
we have a direct connection to this type of soil, and Peter, at least so it
appears.
The second type of soil is that of rocky ground, where the
seeds begin to grow, but because they don’t have enough ground to fully take
root, when the sun comes up it withers away. Jesus says these are people who
initially receive the word with joy, but as soon as they face trouble or
persecution, they fall away. Just like the first type of soil which could
represent Peter, this type of soil is also represented by the disciples
themselves who jump in literally with both feet, follow everything, but as soon
as the going gets tough, what happens? They run away, again a theme we will
come back to. The disciples look like they are firmly rooted, but when push
comes to shove, it turns out they can’t. Now we should note that doubt and
questioning is not a revealing of shallow roots, as is often said, because even
Jesus asks God to take the cup from him. But, the difference is, when it truly
matters, their faith and trust are not there.
The third soil is ground that is full of thorns which then
grow up and choke out the growth from the seed. Jesus says this is the ones who
hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the
desire for other things choke out the word. In Mark, this is best represented
by the rich man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and
Jesus basically says obey the commandments, and the man says he has done all
these things his whole life, and then Jesus, looking at him with love, which is
so important for the answer says, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own
and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come
follow me.” And we are told that the man went away grieving, because he had
many possessions. As Jesus is later to say, and something we should all be
paying attention to in these days, especially the church, “For what will it
profit you if you gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” What are the
things that keep us from focusing on and being centered in God? And yet this
too is the disciples. In a few weeks we will hear James and John come to Jesus
and ask him to allow them to sit at his right and left hand, which is basically
them asking Jesus for power. They’ve been doing all this stuff for Jesus, they’ve
given up so much, and so the question is, “what’s in it for me?” They want some
tangible worldly stuff for everything they are doing. Faith choked out by
thorns.
Now, I’m guessing that when we hear this parable, we don’t
really think about these soils being represented by the disciples do we? We
like to think that surely if anyone represents the good soil, it must be them,
and yet when we dig into it and the story Mark presents, we actually find a
different interpretation. In their faith, the disciples represent the three
types of soil that we normally think of being as bad soil, which then leads to
the last type of soil. The good soil. Not only does the seed take root, but it
brings forth a fantastic harvest of 30, 60 and even a hundredfold, and these
are the ones, Jesus says who accept the seed and truly bear the fruit, and it
is seen in all aspects of their lives.
In the healing stories that take place in Mark, the healings
happen because of the faith of the people who are being healed. Even if they
might have difficulty understanding, as does the man who asks Jesus if he is
able to heal his son who has epilepsy, and Jesus says, “All things can be done
for the one who believes,” and the man responds, “I believe, help my unbelief.”
And there is the woman with the issue of blood who thinks that if she just
touches Jesus’ cloak that she will be healed, or the Syrophoenician woman who
begs for her daughter to be healed, all of them, we are told are healed because
of their faith. The seed has taken root in their souls and they believe in the
good news and that it is for them, and even if they express doubt, that’s more
powerful than if they had said they believed but secretly didn’t, or weren’t
willing to admit that they doubted, I believe, help my unbelief. And in this we
see the disciples too. Later they will tell Jesus about the sacrifices they
have made and Jesus will tell them that those who sacrifice for the Kingdom
will receive back 100-fold of what they gave? Sound familiar?
But, for me, when we focus only on the soil, we miss a huge
part of this parable, which is not called the parable of the soil, but instead
the parable of the sower. We have to pay attention to the sower and what the
sower does and what that means for us and the Kingdom. In the passage from the
55th chapter Isaiah, it says “For as the rain and the snow come down from
heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it
bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so
shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for
which I sent it.” I should also note that the chapter begins with Isaiah saying
“Ho,” which really means listen. The word of God goes out into the world and it
shall not return empty. It is like the rain that waters the seed and brings
forth the harvest. It purposes and succeeds in what God calls for it.
And so anyone who has ever planted a garden, or seed for
grass, or really anything. Where do you scatter the seed? You only put it where
you want it to grow. But, where does the sower scatter the seed? It goes
everywhere, in hard soil and rocky soil, in thorny soil and good soil. That’s not
how you plant, certainly not if you want a good harvest. Now some have
hypothesized that maybe in 1st century Palestine, they put the seed out and
then plowed, and so they may have scattered in rocky and thorny soil. But even
if that was true, why would you scatter it on the path where you have no
intention of plowing? The truth is you wouldn’t. And it’s not like they could
just go down to Metzger’s to buy more seed. It was a precious commodity, and
Jesus’ is talking to poor peasant farmers, on whose very existence depends upon
a successful crop, and so they are going to do everything they can to make sure
that every seed has a shot of bringing forth a bountiful harvest. But that is
not what the sower does. The sower is profligate in throwing the seed around,
not caring where it lands, but scattering generously knowing that some won’t
make it, but that some will. And honestly we know the power of seed that can
not only come up in the hardest and rockiest and thorniest soil, but that can
even come up through concrete. Seed is a powerful thing, but the word of God,
the Kingdom of God is even more powerful.
Ultimately, I think that while we certainly want to be good soil, the truth is, just like the disciples, we are all of these soils. Maybe for some things we are that greatly prepared and cultivated soil, and the word of God takes firm root. We hear of God’s love and it’s producing a harvest in our lives, but perhaps we really struggle with that whole pray for and love your enemies thing, and for us that is hard or rocky or thorny soil. It just isn’t taking root. Or maybe we don’t think that God really, truly can forgive, and so our soil is trying to bounce that seed right back off. But God doesn’t give up. The Spirit doesn’t give up. The seed doesn’t give up. And maybe we don’t see any results for a long time, but the seed is there, and God is watering it and waiting for it to come forth, for God’s word doesn’t return empty and will do what God purposes it to do, and sometimes the greatest harvest comes in those who don’t think they are worthy, it comes from those on the outside, it comes from those who feel lost in the wilderness, it comes from those for whom we think the seed has not and cannot take root, sometimes it comes from us, just like it came from the disciples. Because we are all the types of soils, and God doesn’t care. God scatters the seed into our lives knowing that life will triumph and God’s word will triumph in the end. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
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