Sow What?

July 10, 2011

by John Partridge Scripture: Genesis 25:19-34 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

A generation or two ago, when my father was a boy, he lived on my grandfathers farm. Now I might be guessing, but chances are good that like most people, my family would save some of the seeds from the fall harvest, often the best looking seeds or the seeds from the largest and most productive plants, so that these seeds might be used for planting the following spring. Not surprisingly, this has always been a practice of many home gardeners as well. These saved seeds are known as heirloom seeds but today this is not always a good idea. Today many of the seeds that we buy are hybrid seeds which have been specially bred to produce a good crop for one generation and one generation only. If the seeds from these hybrid plants are saved and replanted, the resulting crop often looks nothing like the original crop, is often tasteless, tastes plain bad, or is sterile and wont grow at all. Today we also have seeds that have been genetically manipulated and while these seeds often have the same problems as hybrids, the companies that developed them own the DNA and consider it illegal for anyone to save seeds and try to replant them. Two thousand years ago farmers only had one option. They only had heirloom seeds and they were compelled to save seed from one year to the next. Even so, they could still find themselves planting the wrong seed. In the process of saving the seeds from the harvest, sometimes weed seeds that looked similar would be mixed in with the good seed. Likewise, sometimes other seeds would be blown by the wind while the farmer was collecting his seed or similar looking sacks of seeds would be confused. However it happened, in the spring the farmer would find that he had expended his effort to till the soil and to plant the seed and only later discover that he had planted the wrong seed. Even the occasional backyard gardener knows that even before you worry about adequate sunlight and rain and fertilizer it matters what you plant. In Genesis 25:19-34, we hear the account of Isaac and his brother Esau. Both of these men had issues with the kind of things that they planted
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This is the account of the family line of Abrahams son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the LORD.
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The LORD said to her,

Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; 1

one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esaus heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, Quick, let me have some of that red stew! Im famished! (That is why he was also called Edom.)
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Jacob replied, First sell me your birthright. Look, I am about to die, Esau said. What good is the birthright to me? But Jacob said, Swear to me first. So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

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So Esau despised his birthright. Esau loved to be out in nature. He liked being out hunting and living off the land. His birthright would give him two-thirds of his fathers estate as his inheritance but it would also give him the responsibility to manage it and to care for his mother and any children or dependents. Perhaps Esau saw this responsibility and thought that the extra money wasnt worth the hassle. Perhaps he didnt like the idea of being tied down by the responsibility. Whatever it was, he traded his birthright to his brother for a bowl of soup. Isaac was, honestly, a conniving weasel. He figured out a way to steal his brothers birthright. Maybe it wasnt technically stealing but he knew that he was making a deal that was good for him and a total rip-off for his brother, he knew that what he was doing was perhaps legal, but completely unethical and he did it anyway. Years later, we are told, Esau is furious with his brother for ripping off his birthright in exchange for a bowl of soup, but it was his own impatience that allowed it to happen. Likewise, many years later, Isaac and his family must cross lands that are owned by Esau, a man who has become both wealthy and powerful, and Isaac is very afraid that Esau hates him and still wants to kill him (and weasel that he is, he sends all the women and children first). Both men grew exactly the sort of crop that they had planted. Esaus seeds of impatience and carelessness grew into a crop that robbed him what was rightfully his. Isaacs seeds of greed and insensitivity grew into both fear and hatred. You reap what you sow. 2

It matters what you plant. In modern times we often hear about young men who graduate from high school, leave home and go out into the world to sow their wild oats. Often they return praying for crop failure. It matters what you plant. In Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Jesus tells us a parable about what happens when we plant seeds
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That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a cropa hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear. The disciples had trouble understanding and so they asked Jesus what this meant. Jesus said Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. In this parable, Jesus tells us that not only does it matter what you plant, it matters that you plant. Every farmer and every caretaker of land is expected to be about the business of going out and scattering seed. Jesus says that he knows that not every seed will grow and not every plant that grows will produce a crop but even so, we are called to go out and plant seeds. When Patti and I bought our house in 1993, we had two fenced pastures but inside of each of them were large bare spots where the previous owner had scalped off the topsoil and sold it. These spots were filled with sand and stones and clay and wouldnt support any sort of green and growing thing. Over the years that we lived there we hauled piles of leaves to those spots to rot over the winter and whenever I cleaned the barn stalls I dumped manure there. After years of care, even these stony and sandy bare spots began to show life and to produce grass that fed the animals that grazed there. If we think about our faith in this way we hear a consistent message. Jesus says that it is our business, it is our mission, to go out into the world around us and scatter seeds. We are not just to live lives of holiness and faith in and among the people of our community, Jesus says we are to speak to them and tell them about the message of the kingdom of God. Telling others about Jesus and his kingdom, about faith and grace and mercy is what Jesus means by scattering seed. I would argue that other things that we do scatter seed as well. When we are rude, or cut people off in traffic, when we gossip about our neighbors or ignore the suffering of the poor 3
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then we scatter the seeds of the very thorns and weeds that Jesus says will choke out the word and the plants that are growing from good seed. You reap what you sow. It matters what you plant. The interesting and exciting thing about this parable is that Jesus isnt just commanding us to go out and tell others the Good News of the kingdom of God. Telling others is key and Jesus is very clear about our need to do it, but in this parable he also encourages us by being very clear about something. Seed doesnt always grow. Every seed is not a success. Everything that we try is not going to work. So far, this is not very encouraging but then comes the good news some things will work. Some seeds will grow and produce fruit. The encouragement of Jesus is that we should not be afraid to plant seeds, we should not be afraid to tell others the news of the Kingdom of God; we should not get discouraged when everything that we try isnt successful. The message of Jesus is that we must plant seeds but that we need to keep on planting, to keep on trying, to keep on fertilizing and caring for the land and then watch to see what grows. Not every project is going to work. Not every friend is going to believe in Jesus and join the church but some will. The message of Jesus is to not be afraid to try. The message of Jesus is that we should not be afraid to keep on trying. Keep telling others about Jesus and about the kingdom of God. Keep inviting people to church. Stay on mission. Keep on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, being a friend to the hurting and helping the helpless. Dont quit. Never give up. Keep on doing the things that Jesus taught us to do. If we want our church to grow, if we want to grow the kingdom of God, we just need to be faithful and keep on scattering seed, keep on trying new things, and then trust God as we watch to see what grows. Every day, through our words and through our actions we plant seeds in the lives of others. Let us remember two things. 1) It matters what you plant. 2) It matters that you plant. Keep on planting. Keep on scattering seed. Keep on tending and caring and nurturing. Never give up. Keep watching to see what God will do.

You have been reading a message presented at Barnesville First United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of Barnesville First. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Barnesville First UMC at 123 W. Church St., Barnesville, OH 43713. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@barnesvillefirst.com. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.