This weekend we hear a gospel from Matthew which is broken into three basic parts: the parable of the sower…Jesus’s reasoning for using parables… and then lastly, the explanation Jesus gave his 1st century followers of what this parable was all about. But there is something so obvious to see in this story that even Jesus omitted it from his explanation. What did Jesus leave out of his elucidation of this gospel? And how can that missing piece of the puzzle change your life? Click and read how the answer to these questions is found….in the soil.

1. 1 Deacon Jim Knipper
13 July 2014 15th
Sunday in Ordinary Time Princeton, NJ
This morning we hear a gospel from Matthew which is broken into three basic parts: the parable of the
sower…Jesus’s reasoning for using parables… and then lastly, the explanation Jesus gave his 1st century
followers of what this parable was all about. But there is something so obvious to see in this story that
even Jesus omitted it from his explanation. And to bring that to light, let me focus on just one aspect of
this parable – and that is the soil.
Why the soil? Because it is where the story of all humanity begins. For if we take a look at the creation
story in the second chapter of Genesis we are told that God took dust from the ground and breathed in
the breath of life and created a living being. God created Adam from Adamah translated means: human
from the humus or soil. And then God planted a garden and creation came forth from the ground.
Soil and gardens are themes mentioned often in the bible since farming would have been one of the
largest occupations. So it is no surprise that Jesus would often use agrarian references relating to
vineyards, seeds, gardens and soil. It was a way he connected with his followers. Soil was a source of
income for many and provided nourishment for all. Thus soil was something sacred in its own way.
In his recent book, Soil and Sacrament, author Fred Bahnson tells the story of how people of faith all over
America are re-rooting themselves by connecting with the land and the soil. He explores the connections
between spiritual nourishment and the way we feed and nourish our bodies and our souls. Bahnson
started a faith-based community garden in rural North Carolina to help its members grow real food and at
the same time feed their own spiritual hunger. Their daily mantra is the prayer of the early Christian
monks: “We beg you, make us truly alive.”
So in today’s parable of the Sower and the Seed Jesus speaks of the different ground that we can be
standing on and the impact it has on our ability to hear God’s word. If the sower’s seed falls on hard path
– it provides a lack of understanding or…dropped on rocky terrain, it hinders proper rooting or…cast into
thorny trails, and it is filled with anxiety or… ideally, if the seed falls on fertile ground, the word of God can
take root and be multiplied.
So my question to you today is: What ground do you stand on? Where are you rooted?
Just as gardeners, before they plant, need to test and know the quality of their soil, so too, we need to
pause and be aware of where we are, where we stand and the quality of the soil under our feet. It is a
hard, impervious path? Perhaps it is a bit rocky. Or maybe filled with some thorns? Or is your life perfect
and the land you stand on is always fertile, rich and loamy?
If you are like me, I would bet that you have a bit of all of those soils in your life. Sure there are many
days where things are going well and we feel like we are multipliers of God’s words and deeds. But no
doubt there are those times where our paths are not as clear, where our legs are getting stuck with
thorns…where we are unsteady, tripping on rocks.

2. 2 Deacon Jim Knipper
You may even find times in your life where it feels that the ground has just completely fallen out from
under you. Where you feel you are in a free fall, losing all bearing, without any grounding, just grasping
onto whatever you can hold onto. And it those times where it is hardest to see that it is with dying that
newness is reborn. Thousands of years ago the Greeks realized that plants grew better in mountain
landslides. For the newly turned and disrupted soil was loose and crumbly, allowing the roots easy
access to nutrients. Out of disruption, comes life as the roots below the soil flourish.
It is exactly those disruptive times in our lives where we lack awareness…or as Jesus tells us that we look
and do not see…that we hear but do not listen. We may be like those monks who pray, “We beg you,
make us truly alive,” and yet we feel dead.
But like the landslides, out of turmoil comes life. Sure we would all love to have that perfect fertile
ground, smooth and rich and filled with growth – but it would seem that for newness of life, there needs to
be some form of dying to oneself. Franciscan Richard Rohr in the Preface of his newly released book,
Eager To Love, writes, “Francis of Assisi was a master of making room for the new and letting go of that
which was tired or empty. Much of Francis’s genius was that he was ready for absolute “newness” from
God and therefore could also trust fresh and new attitudes in himself.” Rohr ends his Preface stating that
Francis had nothing to prove or defend but looked for opportunities to have fresh and honest experiences
which are most often found on the edges of our lives.
You see, my sisters and brothers, in order to gain the ideal fertile soil one needs to have experienced the
baked hard clay. In order to see the newness of life, one has to walk on the broken stony paths and for
one to listen to God’s call, one has to be scratched by the thorns that line the way. And this leads me to
the twist in this parable, often missed, because it is in plain view.
Did you take notice of where God, the sower, is casting the seeds? Jesus goes out of his way to tell us
that God leaves his seeds, his love, his grace on ALL the different soils. God does not only pay attention
to the fertile soil, but is recklessly reaching out to all people, no matter where you are standing. Christ tells
this parable to let us know that we are all being called to this newness of God – but in turn we need to
take notice on where we are standing and to be open to make a change.
N.T. Wright in his book, Simply Jesus, reminds us that Jesus was trying to make it clear to his followers
that something powerful, dramatic, different and new was going on. That if all Christ was going to do was
encourage people to feel better about themselves and not actually transform their real lives, there would
have been no sign of anything new. For what Jesus was doing was promoting change and
transformation.
You see, God cares little on what ground we are particularly standing on today. And God does not care
how often we look at our lives and begin to start a new. Because as we tend to our soil and pick out the
thorns, break up the hard clay and remove the stones wedged in our path we are walking towards God -
doing our best to change, to transform, to accept God’s seed, God’s word and God’s love. It’s work –
daily work, but as we heard last week, God gives rest to those who labor and are burdened.
So as we continue through these summer months let us be more aware of looking and listening for
opportunities to assess where we stand and the direction we are going...and to be aware of the soil
beneath our feet with the hope of renewal and transformation as we beg our good and gracious God to
make us more truly alive.