Sower and the Seed

Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to Christ. The gospel

is called Good News, and you've just heard the

best of Good News. Jesus, in this incredible

prayer with his Father, and we can speak about

that all day. We have this insight. into this

relationship with Jesus and the Father in that

passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 17,

John 17 · chapter mention

that is very touching and encouraging, especially

at the end when he says that he has come and

he has given the words that we might have his

joy. Such good news. So, let us hear. Let us

hear a little bit more now of this gospel, the

first one we read from Luke chapter 8, the parable

Luke 8 · chapter mention

of the soul. Each October we hear this parable.

It happens to be during harvest season. Perhaps

that's when Jesus offered his words to the crowd

of people that were around him. Perhaps it was

harvest season then. We have to remind ourselves

that for those who were listening to Jesus on

that day, sowing seed and harvesting crops was

the life or death matter. They had to survive

on the food, the plants they planted and the

food they would reap from that harvest. This

isn't just a story that Jesus kind of pulls out

of his hat that kind of sounds good to everybody.

It really hits home for them. We don't have that

kind of relationship with the earth. We run up

to Trader Joe's or Costco or wherever we're going

to go, and we're not worried about the harvest

except how much the prices have gone up. And

also, those listening to Jesus, Hearing this

parable about a sower that just goes everywhere,

throwing his seed, even on the path, probably

thought this was a crazy man, this sower. Why

would he waste his seed? But it's funny, in the

epistle of St. Paul, the passage you heard today

says, he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly.

So this seed is everywhere. The word of God is

the seed. The word of God is Jesus Christ. It's

not some idea. It's Christ's presence in the

heart of every single person. And he's sowing

everywhere. And there's an expectation then in

this parable by Jesus Christ that we do something

with that seed. with that that's been put in

our heart, his word, which he has so graciously

and extravagantly spread everywhere. In a way,

this parable, which the Lord himself has explained,

because the apostles just didn't get what he

said, it's similar to the parable of the talents.

It's about accountability before God. The gift

of salvation. accountability, which means judgment

also for us. From what we have received, what

do we do with what we've been given in the church?

What do we do with not just the spiritual blessings

that we've received, but the material blessings

that we've received? This is St. Paul's message

to the Corinthians there. If you give a lot,

You will reap a lot. Christ is trying and tries

with all that he has, then and now, to bring

us into that joy that he said, to bring us to

the kingdom, to remind us of the good news of

the resurrection. The gospel readings, pretty

much every week, are challenging us, asking us.

What is our response today to that news? You

hear the parable of the talents. You hear stories

of a rich young man who walks away from Jesus.

He can't respond, or he responds in a negative

way, I should say. You hear the message of the

cross and St. Peter's rejection of that. You

hear about the denial of the Lord by St. Peter

on the night of the Passion. The gospel's telling

us over and over there are a lot of good reasons

to water down the message of the cross, the message

of the gospel. A lot of good reasons to back

away from Jesus Christ. The reasons are not true.

A sower went out to sow his seed, Jesus starts.

As he sowed, some fell by the wayside. It was

trampled down. The birds of the air devoured

it. As I said, the Lord, the sower, puts into

the heart of every single person some kind of

knowledge of the glory of God. The heavens are

telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims

His handiwork. Day by day, the words go forth

into all the universe. It's looking at nature,

even, that we can see that there's something

in us that calls us to higher and higher and

greater spiritual life. His presence is everywhere

as we sing. Everywhere present and fillest all

things. Notice in the Gospel, now to just bring

it to a simple understanding, the seeds of faith

that fell on the good ground, Jesus said, are

those who having heard the word with a noble

and good heart. Keep it and bear fruit with patience.

Once again, Jesus is speaking to us about the

heart. The heart. This is encouraging to me.

Because we come together and the heart becomes

a mother. more receptive here at the Divine Liturgy

when we are together. But there's something that

worries me deeply about this parable, also about

the heart. What worries me is this. Jesus points

out in the parable that those by the wayside,

the heart at work, they represent those who are

given the seed of faith. They hear, he says.

Then, The devil comes and takes away the word

out of their hearts, lest they should believe

and should be saved. It scares me. It worries

me deeply to think that the devil has some kind

of access to my heart. This is deeply disturbing.

We need protection. The Holy Spirit gives us

that. But over and over again, we see how our

heart can be invaded by thoughts, by judgment,

by criticisms, by anger, by fear, by lack of

faith, by accusations, by disappointments. It

worries me also, deeply, that when Jesus tells

us what happens with the second kind of sorrow,

one receives the word of God, the gospel message,

the light of Christ with joy, but there's no

root. And when a time of testing or temptation,

in the gospel, it's the same word that Jesus

uses for in the Lord's Prayer. Lead us not into

temptation. Lead us not into the time of testing.

When a time of testing comes, one walks away.

It was joyful for a while. The Christian faith

was zealous. And then it became dry. But that's

the path we go when we hit the desert. And the

manna is there. And the repentance is there.

And we survive that time of testing. We have

to be watchful for this time of temptation when

we can either mature in the faith, be faithful

in what we do, or be afraid and resentful and

angered about that time and fall away. And it

worries me deeply also when the Savior says that

there are those of us, and I include myself,

in which Christ's presence, the Word of God,

is choked. It's choked. How? Not by testing.

Not by the devil. But by a self -inflicted, a

pile -up in the mind and in the heart. of cares

and worries and he says pleasures of this life

he doesn't mean that the pleasures of this life

are bad in themselves no we give thanks to god

for the material blessings we receive but for

the pursuit pursuit of pleasure for the contemplation

of pleasure which turns us away from christ this

is a self -inflicted wound shown by cares Let's

be honest. By affluence. The Lord calls us back

sometimes with hardship and sickness. All that

is my own fault when it's choked. It's not from

God. I have to be careful. We have to be careful

not to neglect the care of our soul. Not to be

offended. To be watchful for that time when God

is testing us. like gold in the fire to be purified.

St. Basil says, and when a soul is purified,

it's like crystal, and the sun hits that crystal

and becomes even more beautiful, sending out

warmth and rays in every direction. That's what

we're supposed to be like. But we have too many

distractions. Turn off your cell phones when

you come to church. Today, no cell phone has

gone off during the homily. This is a minor miracle.

Turn them off when you come in. You only need

to eat your mind on the Lord, not on those cares.

Maybe we should add a line to the true became.

Lay aside all earthly cares and turn off the

cell phone. And you will in that case. Brothers

and sisters in Christ, let me summarize what

the remedy is. Four remedies. The scriptures,

confession, divine liturgy, and receiving Holy

Communion. These remedies are not obligations.

They're not things that we've come up with. They're

not things that we must do. Not requirements.

These are gifts. Four gifts from God. The liturgy,

the scriptures, confession, communion are not

about what we do, but gifts from God that he

gives to us. And we can receive them and make

ourselves capable of receiving them. Because

that's the participation in the kingdom of God.

That is when the word, the seed of faith grows

in the mind. That is when we have Christ's joy

fulfilled in ourselves. Amen.