Isaiah 55:10-13 Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14
Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
To be human is to be interested in causation. Why do things happen? Why are certain things successful? Why do certain things fail?
Farmers and gardeners are interested in causation. What makes for a very good crop? Drum roll....wait for the answer. The conditions have to be right. Well, duh. That answer is too vague to be satisfying.
A modern agribusiness farmer wants to control as many factors as possible. If it doesn't rain, then irrigate. Use good seed, hybrid seed, prepare the soil environment with good soil analysis, pin point your seed planting, protect from pests and weeds and hope that some major flooding or other uncontrollable disaster will not hinder a good crop.
The early members of the Jesus Movement were wondering about the success of the Gospel Mission. Why do some people receive the message and some do not? Why are some Christians sixty day wonders and then peter out and go back to their pre-Christian habits and life styles?
The leaders of the Jesus Movement found the Gospel irresistible and lasting. They wondered why everybody did not find the Gospel irresistible. And so, we have the parable of the sower. And the answer given for Gospel success and failure in the parable is not that satisfactory in its precision. Why is the Gospel successful? It depends upon the conditions. Well, duh. I wanted a precise answer Jesus. Not just a vague reference to mystery.
The sower in the parable is a pre-Jethro Tull sower, not the Rock Band but the inventor of the seed drill, for controlled placement of seeds. The sower in the parable just tossed the seeds to the wind and let them fall where they may. Why isn't God a precision planter? Why is God so indiscriminate in how the seed is sown?
The greatest mystery in life is the mystery of Freedom and the free conditions of life. And all of the mixtures caused by the free conditions of life. Free conditions in life mean that differences of all sort prevail, not only in farming and gardening, but more complex in the the social and psychological conditions of the people in the world. Not everyone is in the same place in their psychological development, their social situation, their age, their family, their personal histories, their personality and lots of of other individual and social conditions of life. If one is relatively happy with one's life and sees no need for a change, then a change which is offered may not even be received. If one has to suffer too much for a commitment, then one may not commit.
I like the parable of the sower, precisely because it honors the free conditions of life. It does not seek to explain away the mystery involved in how each person arrives at the right conditions to make a creative advance in one's intellectual and spiritual life.
That is why we are not involved in the science of evangelism. We are involved in the art of evangelism as we seek to bring good news to people, in the appropriate ways tailored to the conditions in people's life.
The seeming indiscriminate sowing habit of the sower in the parable speaks to the universal availability of the Gospel, even though the conditions of its reception may not always be ideal.
The success of the Gospel for people is a matter of good timing. The conditions of freedom in the hearts and minds and the communities of people in our world, mean that we are involved in a discerning art rather than a strictly rational scientific method of evangelism.
Let us enjoy the parable of the sower today as an insight about free availability of God love to everyone even in the diverse free conditions of the hearts and minds of people.
And we do not have to be fatalistic about this in the way things are; we in our freedom can develop the call we have to be in the discerning art of evangelism. This is art of empathy, of knowing how and when to share our good news, as we discern the conditions of receptions in the people who are brought into our lives.
The condition of reception for many people today need our discernment about Black Lives Matter, hungry lives matter, poor lives matter, Covid-19 suffering lives matter, LatinX lives matter, stressed lives matter, despondent lives matter, LBGTQ lives matter, unemployed persons lives matter, everyone's life matters. The art of evangelism involves discerning exactly how people's lives matter and demonstrating how the active love of Christ proves the dignity of people's lives.
May God grant us the right conditions for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and may we keep learning the discerning art of evangelism for the success of letting all people know how much their lives matter to God and to us. Amen.
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