Luke 8, Sower

I'd like to do two things today. First, I'd like

to speak to our younger parishioners, the kids.

So kids, if you don't mind, would you come up

here and sit close to me? Yeah, all you guys.

All y 'all. And secondly, I have a short word.

to offer to the rest of us. Let me ask you something.

If I put this seed, let's say, on the pathway

going to the parish hall, would it grow? No.

Why? There's nothing to hold it. If I put this

seed on the grass next to the pathway, would

it grow? No, it wouldn't, because the guy with

the mower comes, and he's got a leaf blower,

and he's got a weed whacker, and then we stomp

all over it. It wouldn't grow. If I, like, threw

it into the parking lot, it wouldn't grow. But

if I took that seed and I put it over there where

the tomatoes are when they used to be red, summertime,

took care of it, and I took out all the rocks,

and I took out the weeds, well, I shouldn't be

talking. My wife knows that I don't do any gardening

at all. If she took out all the weeds and then

she watered it, She put fertilizer on it. That's

food for plants. It would start to grow. Now,

when I put a seed in the ground in the right

place and it grows, let's say I put an apple

seed. Does an apple grow out of the ground? What

grows out of the ground? A tree. If I take a

grape seed and I put it in there, is a grape

going to grow? No. What grows? A vine. Whatever

that we put in there that we take care of, not

just one thing comes out, but a tree with a lot

of fruit. And that's very important to remember

because today you heard a story. It's called

a parable that Jesus told. It says in the Gospel

of St. Luke. If your parents ask you, what chapter

of St. Luke did it come from? Remember, it's

chapter 8. 8. Like the figure 8? That's easier

to remember. It says here that Jesus was walking

from village and town to town. And many, many,

many people, huge crowds were following him.

They wanted to hear him speak. Because he told

incredible stories. But he healed people too.

People that were blind. People that were paralyzed.

People that couldn't speak. People that were

sick. People that had all kinds of diseases.

He healed them. And so all these people kept

following him. And so he says this story. It's

a parable. A parable is a story, but it's really

about something else. He says in this story,

this parable, there's a farmer. I'm going to

tell you in my own words. There's a farmer and

he is going to throw seeds out to grow things.

And he's not careful about where it goes because

he wants the seeds to go everywhere. Everywhere.

So he's walking on the path. The seeds are going

on the path. He's walking on the rocky, like

the parking lot. He doesn't care. He's throwing

the seeds out. He's going to where there's thorns

and bushes and weeds, throws that out there.

And he even goes to the ground that's the good

ground that has been taken care of, where all

this stuff has been taken out, like the old cans

and bottles and rocks and all the toys that get

left behind on Sunday. The coffee cups that get

left out. I know you guys don't. It must be the

adults that do that. Probably, yeah. Anyway,

so this farmer, he's taking care of all that.

It's all cleared out. See what I did parents

there? And he's throwing seed. And he says, he

who has ears to hear, let him hear. In other

words, Jesus says, do you know what I'm saying

there? And the apostles come up to him. They

say, we don't understand what the story's about.

We don't get it. And he says to them, the story.

He says this. The parable means this. The seed

is the word of God. What is the word of God?

Word of God is what you hear when we're singing

the Psalms. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise

the Lord, O my soul. Holy God, holy mighty, holy

immortal. The word of God is what you hear when

the deacon comes to the middle of the church

and he reads to you from the gospel. The word

of God is when you go home and you say your prayers.

And the word of God is in your heart. So the

seed, in this case, is not... Like an apple seed

or a grape seed. But it's something you hear.

And something that we become the ground. What

kind of ground are you? That's the question Jesus

is saying. So, the seed is the word of God. Those

who are on the pathway, he says, they hear. They

hear. But then the devil, like a bird, picks

up the seed. Because it's just out there in the

open. And it's gone. And those people, although

they heard, they simply don't get it. Then he

says, there's the ones on the rocks, rocky ground

like the parking lot. And Jesus says, when they

hear. So they're hearing it. And when they hear

it, they're like, oh, this is great. This is

great. They have joy. They're really happy they

found the church. They're happy they found Jesus

Christ in their life and that God is truly God

and above all things. But he became man. He even

became a child. And they're happy. But it's on

the rock. The seed, their heart is like the rock

and it doesn't stay there because if I put the

seed in the parking lot, will it grow? No. And

then Jesus says, now the ones, the seeds that

fell among thorns, imagine thorns. You know the

blackberry bushes out there in the vineyard?

Lots of blackberries. Those are thorn. You can't

walk, if you touch them, you get scraped up.

The ones among the thorns are those who, when

they have heard. So the first hear, the second,

when they hear, and this Jesus says, when they

have heard. Go out, and their life is too busy.

Too busy for God. They can't remember. They forget.

They think of God as, well, there's the man upstairs,

like I told the catechumen yesterday, or the

big guy. And God is somewhere, but he's not with

them. And when you sing at Christmastime, God

is with us. Understand, all ye nations. We remember

that God became man. He is with us. Jesus says,

where two or three are gathered in my name. That

is, who live like Jesus has commanded and asked

us. And we gather together. There he is in the

middle. And that's what's happening today. When

you heard the gospel, when you heard deacon,

proto -deacon, you know what proto means? It

means first. So he has a special award. Proto

-deacon Jeremiah read the gospel. You heard Jesus

talking to you. That's why we had the censor

to welcome him first with all that sweet smoke.

When they have heard, they're choked. They're

too busy. They have too many cares. Maybe it's

their job. Or maybe they're just having too much

fun. And they'll think, I'll pay attention to

God later when I'm older. I will take care. Once,

there was a man a long time ago. I asked him

why he never ever came to confession or communion.

He had Orthodox since he was a child. And he

says, oh, I can't do that now. I have too many

things. I'll do it later. I'm thinking, what

if you don't live till later? Besides all your

bad habits, they will only get worse unless you

do something. So those people that... have a

heart that are like thorns they're too busy but

then Jesus says the seed that fell on the good

ground are those who having heard the word with

a good and noble heart why because the heart

is where our soul is we listen with our ears

But we let the Word of God in church, the prayers,

go to our heart. We have to work on that. This

is the challenge for this week for you. When

you say your prayers at home, and I want everybody

here, you kids, to memorize a prayer this week.

The prayer is, O Heavenly King, the Comforter,

the Spirit of... It's in your prayer book. It's

easy. We do it all the time. And when you say

that prayer, I want you to hear the words you're

saying. And I want the word to go into your ears

and then into your heart so that you say the

prayer with your heart. Now, how does that work?

You try it. You will see. Anyone here can be

the hard ground, the hard path. Anyone here can

be the thorny path. Anyone here could be the

rocky path. Brothers and sisters, the Lord gives

us every single tool to cultivate the heart so

it becomes the good ground so we receive it with

a good and noble heart. And fruit, like a tree,

when you put the seed in the ground, you don't

get one apple, you get many apples. And what

is the fruit? The fruit is the love of God. It's

a special kind of love. Now I'm going to say

something to your parents. This was a short letter

that was written by a priest of our diocese,

two other priests, and Archbishop Benjamin loved

it so much, he asked that we consider it. And

this is what he said. This is dear fathers, but

I'll say dear brothers and sisters and children.

The increase in armed conflict and human suffering

grieves my soul and my heart. Ongoing wars were

more than enough. Then Ukraine, now the state

of Israel. Tomorrow? At the Holy Altar this past

Sunday, during the consecration of the bread

and the wine, praying for the whole world, I

felt such a heavy and great weight upon me as

a priest, lifting up his people to him in prayer.

It was very palpable. In that time, at that moment,

I thought, How unimaginable the weight of the

sins of the whole world must have felt on the

shoulders of the crucified Lord. Brothers and

sisters, we know that God absolutely loves each

and every person, not more than any other. He

hates no one, not one. He does not desire the

death or the suffering of anyone. not one. He

desires to draw all people to himself that they

might be saved. We, the priests, the people,

with a priestly vocation to pray and offer and

sacrifice of the most high God, must absolutely

be instruments of his peace. That's one of the

fruits of the word of God in a good and noble

heart. Individually, we cannot hate any person

or any group of people. We cannot speak badly

or even poorly about a single person. We absolutely

must see the image of God in every single human

being, each one. Every war begins with me, with

me, myself. Each war starts with an unkind thought,

an unkind glance, an ugly word. We know this,

brothers and sisters. We absolutely know this.

I beseech all of us, let us eradicate any uncaring

thought or word or action from ourselves. Let

us teach and beseech each other to do likewise.

The alternative is only more hatred, more death,

more murder, more warfare. Let us not grieve

the Lord God any further, That he brings upon

the earth. He says. I came to light a fire. And

would it be kindled. What is that fire? It's

the fire of love. From one person to another.

The light of Christ. Which illumines all. Amen.