Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - video and sermon text
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 8:12-17
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
The theme of today’s lectionary is the Word of God and what the Word does. The Word of God is active. The Word moves outward. The Word is beneficial to those who receive it. The Word of God grows within us and changes us for the better.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the prophet Isaiah connects the life-giving benefits of water and snow upon the earth with the benefits of the Word. Water and snow bring the necessary moisture so that seed can grow and the fields and pastures flourish. The Word of God goes forth with purpose. The Word accomplishes that which it is supposed to accomplish.
As I reflected on the movement that Isaiah describes, in particular, downward and outward, I cannot help think of all the different ways in which we may encounter the Word of God these days. Before the printing press, people encountered the Word through a public reading, a sermon, or Bible stories being told in family settings. The major festivals of Jews and Christians are founded upon events in the Bible. These are stories that are told over and over again.
After the printing press began producing mass amounts of reading material, the Word could be encountered outside of a family or church setting. A relationship with a house of worship or with other people was no longer required. Bibles may be found in libraries, bookstores, church pews, and homes. We sometimes encounter God’s Word in public places. I have seen Bibles that are clearly left for others on buses, trains, airplanes, and in hotels. With the development of radio, TV, and Internet, the Word can be received anytime, anywhere. No longer tied to a particular place or even a real page. All of this is astonishing and marvelous.
I have the pleasure of traveling by car to lots of places. When I stop for gas, I tend to also fill up with coffee. There too, one may have an encounter with the word. A while back I was in a Casey’s and as I was reaching for the creamer, my eye caught a card that was about the size of a business card with a picture of a modern-day asphalt road with a yellow stripe in the middle of it. The words, The Romans Road, was in large print over the image. So, I picked it up and looked on the other side, just like the designers of the card intended. I immediately had an encounter with the Word of God that was independent of any person, group, or even, sound. This was a visual encounter.
At the top of the card is the question: What is the Romans Road? Simply put, the Romans Road describes the only way to Heaven. Study it, learn it, and follow it! That sounds a lot like the Collect of the Day: read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.
Then follows 6 points. Each point has a supporting Bible passage from Paul’s epistle to the church in Rome.
1. Everyone needs salvation: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
2. Jesus died for our salvation: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
3. Salvation is a Gift: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
4. We are saved by grace: “And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6)
5. Salvation comes through faith: “The one who…trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)
6. God saves all who call upon Him: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
This is a great encounter. The message is compact, concise, gets right to the point. Scripture is used. This is a modern-day example of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. The Holy Spirit will work through this encounter with the Word to create faith or at least lay the seed upon the mind and heart of the reader and hopefully begin a process of reflection, examination, and inquiry. This little card could very well lead to a life altering encounter with God. A wrong direction may very well be righted.
But there is a big problem with this card. There is nothing to connect the reader to a church organization. This information is completely anonymous. It displays no one’s name, no phone number, no website, no church name with address and time of worship. No additional information. Not even a sinner’s prayer.
The maker and distributer of this very useful seed presumes that the reader will have a basic working knowledge of the Christian faith: Heaven, Salvation, Grace, Faith, Sin. What’s that? Even the word Romans. We all know that Romans is an epistle in the New Testament, but there are enormous swaths of people who do not have a basic working knowledge of the Christian faith. The presumption of the well-intentioned people who are casting this seed are in error. Our culture is now post-Christian. No one should assume anyone picking up a card like this has any useful knowledge of the Christian faith.
If folks have an impression the church at all, it is most likely negative because: They hear about some kind of scandal in the news. Or, they experience harsh words of judgment due to their lifestyle or beliefs. Or, they have heard folks complain about the aggressive fund raising tactics of their church leaders and they get the impression that the church is only concerned about money. The list can go on. In addition to a negative impression, folks do not know the full story of God in the Old and New Testaments. Folks do not have a clue. If you don’t go to church, you are not taught. If you buy a Bible, no one should assume that it is read from beginning to end or understood correctly. Then, there are others who are honestly befuddled about why there is a concern about heaven or hell.
When Jesus explained the Parable of the Sower, he warned the church about the challenges of the Word of God going forth as the rain and the snow. The Word is beneficial always. However, in order for the Word to sink in and grow and reach fruition, the conditions of its reception have to be just so.
As Jesus explains the challenges facing the Seed that is cast, He is also describing the important and necessary work of the Church.
For the seeds falling on the path, Jesus explains, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” The church must take its ministry of teaching seriously. Every baptized, catechized, confirmed member of the church ought to be able to speak intelligently of their faith in order to explain it to others. Doctrine means the “teaching of the church.” We need to be clear about our doctrine. We ought to be able to explain the keys words in the Romans road.
For the seeds that fall on the rocky ground, Jesus says, “this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately falls away.” Jesus is talking about support, Christian support. He is talking about the support that friends give to each other. We listen. We encourage. We talk with and pray with one another. We can bear just about anything when we have our Christian family with us.
For the seeds that fall among thorns, Jesus explains, “this is the one who has the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” The ministry of the church not only involves teaching and support, but also encouragement to repent, to change one’s mind about what is most valuable, what life is about, where the believer’s true treasures lie. The life that God envisions for us is far more than material wealth and goods. The church needs to be candid about repentance and the struggles that we all go through in keeping our eyes focused on the cross of Jesus Christ.
For the seeds falling on good ground, this is when the Church is at her best. Individuals and families are enfolded in a church that is rooted and grounded in the promises of Christ’s cross and resurrection. The church is clear about its identity in the cross and values and lives by the doctrine that God gives her. The good soil shows visible support of one another. The good soil is a church that is clear about her sinful nature who are living examples of placing their sins at the foot of the cross and receiving Christ’s forgiveness through faith.
The teaching, support, and repentance of the good soil encourages those who receive the word to join and grow together.
God’s Word comes downward and goes outward. Where is lands it accomplishes its purpose. The readings this day encourage us to be the good soil that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit envision for us, the church.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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