Of Seed and Soil

by The Most Rev. Margo Wilson

Today’s scripture in Matthew 13:1-9 is a very familiar story about a gardener who sows seeds in various types of soil. This gardener or farmer went out to his field with the intent to raise up a crop. As every gardener knows, there are two basic ways to sow seed into the soil. When I purchase seeds each year, they cost very little in comparison to what my harvest will bring. Each seed is placed carefully into little holes in the soil at just the right depth and distance so that I can get the most produce. That is one way to plant.

Another way to plant, which I do also, is to buy partially grown plants and put them into good soil in containers. This is the way that I grow herbs, tomatoes and peppers. I don’t have too worry about whether the seeds are alive and/or if they will grow in the soil that has been prepared with care.

God is a broadcast sower. This means that the Word of God is sown in the fashion of simply throwing the seeds into air and allowing the breeze and the soil to do the rest. The seeds of God’s Word are rich and wonderful, bountiful and full of life. The preacher or messenger scatters these seeds into the air and the breeze of the Holy Spirit carries them into the soil of God’s children’s hearts and souls.
In Holy Words, the Sacraments, songs, thoughts, prayers from our lips, the Holy Spirit takes these seeds of life and plants them into the hearts of the people listening. Every seed carries the potential of salvation, hope, joy, healing and eternal life in it.

Good ground is hard to come by. Jesus delivers the message that the soil of the human heart can be rocky, bad, weedy, or sour. He says that the questions of life can choke out His Words or bitterness and a lack of love can stand between us and His joy. Still the seeds of His love are thrown our way. We have to accept them.

Consider this – there is no other real joy in life except for the love of Jesus in our lives. We were made to receive Him. If we miss that, we have missed the point of life – to grow into His likeness, as His children. St. Paul said that he considered every other concern in life nothing more than trash that got in the way, like a cluttered closet where we can’t find what we need anymore. Do you need to get rid of stones, weeds, thorns, etc. in order to get back to Him in the basics?

Even good soil requires care and maintenance. The good news is that we have a Good Gardener, the one who works patiently with us, building us up to that rich soil, that we may produce good fruit. May you trust in Him and be fruitful!