Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 13:1-23
I HAD A MEDICAL STUDENT WHO DID A ROTATION WITH ME SEVERAL YEARS AGO. I DID WHAT I ALWAYS DO; I CORRECTED, INSTRUCTED, ENCOURAGED -- ALL THE THINGS I'VE DONE WITH MEDICAL STUDENTS SINCE I STARTED TEACHING. AND AT THE END OF THE ROTATION WE SAID GOODBYE AND I NEVER EXPECTED I'D HEAR FROM THAT PERSON AGAIN. ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO I WAS AT A MEDICAL MEETING AND THE STUDENT, NOW A SPECIALIST AND A CONSULTANT, CAME UP TO ME. I WASN'T SURE OF HIS NAME RIGHT AWAY. HE REMINDED ME OF HIS EXPERIENCE SO MANY YEARS AGO, AND TOLD ME THAT BECAUSE OF IT, HE HAD DECIDED TO GO INTO CANCER MEDICINE, MY OWN SPECIALTY. WE TALKED FOR A WHILE, AND I LEFT WITH A GOOD FEELING; I HAD MADE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE'S LIFE, BUT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT AT THE TIME.
IF YOU WERE TO VISIT A FARM IN PALESTINE DURING THE TIME OF JESUS, IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM FARMS AROUND HERE. THE SOIL IS POOR; THERE ARE AREAS WHERE THERE IS ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF DIRT LYING ABOVE THE ROCK. AND THE PALESTINIAN FARMER DIDN'T HAVE THE MODERN CHEMICALS THAT CAN KEEP DOWN WEEDS, AND MOST HAD TO DO THEIR PLOWING BY HAND; IF YOU WERE RICH, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO HAVE AN ANIMAL TO PULL A PLOW, BUT THE AVERAGE FARMER USED A HOE TO CHURN UP THE GROUND A BIT. IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE GOOD SOIL, THE FARMER WOULD KEEP TO THE SAME PATH WHENEVER HE WENT OUT INTO HIS FIELD; THE PATHWAY WAS TRAMPLED DOWN AND NOT MUCH GOOD FOR ANYTHING. AND IT WAS EXHAUSTING, AND THE SEED WAS EXPENSIVE, USUALLY SAVED FROM THE LAST YEAR'S CROP. AND THESE FARMERS BARELY RAISED ENOUGH TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES AND EXCHANGE A LITTLE OF THEIR PRODUCE FOR THINGS THEY COULDN'T PRODUCE THEMSELVES. TO THE PEOPLE OF JESUS' TIME, THE PARABLE YOU JUST HEARD WOULD BE VERY RADICAL. BECAUSE A PALESTINIAN FARMER WOULD NEVER THROW SEED INTO A PATCH OF THORNS, WOULD NEVER WASTE SEED ON A TRAMPLED PATH; AND WOULD CERTAINLY NOT SIT BACK AND WATCH BIRDS PICK UP SEED AND CARRY IT AWAY.
A COMMON INTERPRETATION OF THIS PARABLE IS THAT WE SHOULD STRIVE TO BE LIKE THE GOOD SOIL – WE SHOULD PREPARE OURSELVES SO THAT THE WORD HAS A CHANCE TO DO IT'S THING IN US. AND WE COULD THEN GO HOME FEELING THAT AT LEAST WE'RE NOT LIKE SOME OF THE SOIL MENTIONED IN THE PARABLE; AT LEAST WE CAME TO CHURCH, RIGHT? AND WE ARE TRYING, AFTER ALL, SO WE MIGHT NOT YIELD 100 FOLD, BUT MAYBE 30, OR TEN, OR FIVE? IT'S TOO BAD PEOPLE WHO NEED TO HEAR THIS MESSAGE AREN'T HERE, RIGHT?
BUT THIS PARABLE IS NOT ABOUT YOU AND ME AND WHAT TO DO. THIS PARABLE IS ABOUT GOD THE FATHER, WHO IS THE SOWER, AND GOD THE SON, WHO IS THE WORD, THE SEED. AND GOD THE FATHER SCATTERS THE WORD EVERYWHERE; HE DOESN'T PAY ATTENTION TO THE SOIL. IF YOU WENT TO TIBET, YOU WOULD FIND THAT THE WORD HAS ALREADY BEATEN YOU THERE; SOME OF THOSE BUDDHIST MONKS COULD PUT YOU AND I TO SHAME IN THEIR ACTUAL PRACTICE OF CHARITY AND BROTHERLY LOVE. AND THE WORD HAS BEEN EVERYWHERE, LONG BEFORE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES EVER SHOWED UP. AND I WOULD DARE SAY THAT THIS PARABLE IS ALSO ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT, AS WELL, WHO IS, AFTER ALL, THE ONE WHO PREPARES THE SOIL, FOR HOW THE WORD IS RECEIVED. IF I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE WORD SEWN IN MY HEART, WHY IS THAT? OR, IF I BEAR FRUIT 100 FOLD, WHY IS THAT? PAUL SAID THAT “EVERY GOOD THING COMES FROM GOD”. SO WHETHER WE BEAR FRUIT OR NOT, IT DOESN'T HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH YOU AND I, IT WOULD SEEM.
JESUS SEEMS TO BE IMPLYING THAT THE RESPONSE TO THE WORD IS NOT REALLY IN OUR HANDS. HE QUOTES FROM ISAIAH, “YOU SHALL INDEED HEAR BUT NOT UNDERSTAND, YOU SHALL LOOK BUT NEVER SEE.” AND JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES, “KNOWLEDGE OF THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM HAS BEEN GRANTED TO YOU”. NOTICE, THIS KNOWLEDGE HAS NOT BEEN LEARNED, IT HAS BEEN GIVEN AS A GIFT. AND JESUS GOES ON TO SAY THAT IT ISN'T EVEN A DESERVED GIFT BECAUSE “MANY PROPHETS AND RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE LONGED TO SEE WHAT YOU SEE … AND HEAR WHAT YOU HEAR...”
JESUS' MESSAGE IS PRETTY OBVIOUS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH FINDS ITS COMPLETION AND SUMMIT IN JESUS HIMSELF, IS THERE FOR EVERYONE. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH THE LIFE OF HIS SON, BUT ESPECIALLY THROUGH HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. SOME ARE INDIFFERENT, AND DON'T REACT AT ALL. SOME REACT BY HOSTILITY, OR MOCKERY; GOD'S WORD HAS AFFECTED THEM, BUT IN A BAD WAY. THE CROSS IS A SIGN OF CONTRADICTION. SOME REACT WITH ENTHUSIASM, BUT THAT BURST OF ENERGY DIES OUT. AND SOME DO BEAR FRUIT. BUT GOD SPEAKS HIS WORD TO EVERY PERSON.
SO I TAKE AWAY THREE THINGS FROM THIS PARABLE; FIRST, I SEE THE FATHER CASTING HIS WORD EVERYWHERE; HE IS NOT DISAPPOINTED WHEN THE SEED DOES NOT BEAR FRUIT, BUT HE IS JOYFUL WHEN IT DOES; I SEE JESUS AS THE SEED, ALWAYS RETURNING TO THE FATHER HAVING DONE HIS WORK, AS OUR FIRST READING SAYS. AND I SEE THE HOLY SPIRIT, PREPARING THE GROUND, FOR HIS OWN MYSTERIOUS REASONS CHOOSING THIS ONE AND NOT THAT ONE TO BEAR FRUIT. SECOND, I SEE JESUS TELLING US, HIS FOLLOWERS, THAT WE ARE GIVEN THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING THIS PARABLE. WE ARE GIVEN THAT GIFT THROUGH OUR BAPTISMS, THROUGH OUR RECEPTION OF THE SACRAMENTS. OUR REACTION SHOULD NOT BE THAT WE ARE BETTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T GIVEN THE GIFT, BUT THAT WE HAVE BEEN SINGLED OUT THROUGH NO FAULT OF OUR OWN, THROUGH NO VIRTUE OF OUR OWN, TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING OF GOD'S NATURE AND PLAN. THIRD, AND THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT, BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND, WE ARE TO PARTICIPATE IN SPREADING THE WORD; AS WE SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS IN IMITATION OF OUR FATHER, WE NEED TO IMITATE HIS ATTITUDE AS WELL – OUR JOB IS NOT TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE WORD THAT WE SPREAD, BUT SIMPLY TO DO IT, SIMPLY TO BE FAITHFUL; SIMPLY TO BE GENEROUS IN SHARING WHAT WE KNOW TO BE THE TRUTH.
SAINT PAUL SAID, “I PLANTED, APOLLOS WATERED, BUT IT WAS GOD WHO GAVE GROWTH”. IT IS AFTER ALL GOD WHO WILL BRING ABOUT WHAT HE WANTS FROM OUR EFFORTS; AND IN HIS OWN TIME. ALL WE KNOW IS THAT HIS WORD DOES NOT RETURN TO HIM UNTIL IT ACHIEVES THE END FOR WHICH HE SENT IT.