On a few other occasions I’ve mentioned my eighth-grade teacher, Sister Francis Jane. Well, that last comment by Jesus in our Gospel passage was an expression she’d occasionally use in the classroom. Of course, back in 1957 her version was from an older translation: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” And whenever she used it, we all knew that what she had to say was particularly important, that we were likely to encounter it again, probably on a test.
I believe that’s exactly why Jesus used it: “Hey, disciples, listen up! To help me with my work, you’re going to need to understand this.” Remember, it was only to the disciples that Jesus explained his parables, opening them up for their understanding. Jesus, you see, didn’t intend to evangelize the world Himself. No, He first had some redemptive work to do on the Cross. He intended to evangelize the world through His disciples – through Peter and John and Paul and Andrew and Mark and all the rest – and also through you and through me.
And so let’s look at this Parable of the Sower from a slightly different angle, and see how it can help us grow in discipleship. We’ve all heard this first and greatest of Jesus’ parables many times, perhaps so many times that it loses its freshness, that we’ve failed to plumb the depths of what Jesus is telling us. Usually, we focus on the soil because it represents those who hear God’s Word and how they receive it. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but as Christians you and I have already heard and received God’s Word, and presumably we have accepted it. As Christians we should already be "good soil". Perhaps it’s time for us to focus on the sowing.
Later in this same chapter of Matthew, when Jesus explains the parable to the disciples, He doesn’t specifically identify the sower. But we assume it represents Jesus Himself who has brought the Word of the Kingdom into the world. Sowing the seed, spreading the Word is certainly God’s work, but it’s also work you and I are called on to do in Jesus’ name. How did that command go?
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you…” [Mt 28:19-20]So, it would seem that we’re being told to join Jesus in His sowing of God’s Word, and what the sower in the parable discovered is the same thing we’ll discover. It didn’t take him long to learn that a lot of that seed didn’t bear fruit.
When you talk about the Good News to some folks, they’re simply unable to understand it. They’re just too much in the grip of Satan. Others seem to receive the Word and understand it, but their enthusiasm is short-lived. And when things get a little tough, they drift away. Then there are those who are just too attached to the world and its material attractions. Their minds and hearts are monopolized by these things, leaving no room for God’s Word.
But this doesn’t mean we stop sowing, that we cease to evangelize. No, God wants us to keep sowing His Word just as His sower did, because some of that seed will fall on good ground.
We must also remember that Jesus is the sower, not us. We’re sort of his farm hands, his day laborers. Jesus will handle all the pathways, the rocky ground, and the thorns. He may do it through us, asking us to return time after time throwing that seed…or the next time around He just might use someone else.
For you and me, sowing God’s Word among all those rocks and thorns can be pretty discouraging, but only if we think of it as our work. But it’s not our work. It’s God’s work. And with or without us, God will have a bountiful harvest. As we’re told in Isaiah:
“So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” [Is 55:11]Even if you and I are total failures as evangelists, God’s word will still accomplish its purpose. You see, brothers and sisters, as much as we’d like to believe it, it’s not totally up to us. Oh, yes, we have to help, but in this, as in everything, it’s God’s will be done…not yours, not mine.
Praised be Jesus Christ…now and forever.
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