Seed on offer to all, but taking root only in some

This is my homily for Sunday July 12th, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.  The readings for Sunday are here.  I didn't preach at the mass which was recorded for the website, so no video this time.

If you’ve been following attentively, you may have noticed that we skipped a chapter.  Last Sunday’s Gospel reading, that beautiful passage in which Jesus beckons to us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest”, is the end of Chapter 11 in the Gospel of Matthew.  

Today, we’ve jumped ahead to the beginning of Chapter 13, which is this vivid parable of the sower and the seeds which you just heard.  We’ve leaped right over Chapter 12.  So here’s a quick recap of what we skipped:

First, Jesus gets into a dispute with the Pharisees because his disciples were hungry and picked grain on the Sabbath, which his enemies considered a violation of the Mosaic law.  Next, Jesus goes into a synagogue, where the Pharisees present him with a man with a withered hand, daring him to cure the man on a Sabbath – which Jesus does.  As a result, the Pharisees “went out and took counsel against him to put him to death.”  Undeterred, Jesus leaves and continues to cure others who were ill.  The Pharisees bring him a man possessed by a devil.  Jesus cures the man, whereupon Jesus’s enemies accuse him of being in league with Beelzebul the prince of demons.  More arguments ensue.  It’s clear that a band of Pharisees is following Jesus around, harassing him and his disciples.  Jesus, apparently losing his temper, tells them pointedly that rotten trees bear rotten fruit, calls them a brood of vipers, and tells them that by their own words they will be condemned.  The Pharisees continue to bait him, demanding that he provide them with a sign; Jesus flatly refuses, telling them that they and their generation are the worst ever.  Finally, Jesus’s own mother and brothers appear; but Jesus says, “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

In short, Chapter 12 is a chapter filled with conflict, in which Jesus is continually harassed and gives as good or better than he gets, so much so that his enemies plot his destruction.  In the course of it, he seemingly sets himself apart from his own community, his religious tradition and even his blood relations.  The disquieting conclusion is that many people, even those who are closest to Jesus, have rejected him.

I share this synopsis of a chapter which doesn’t appear in this cycle of Sunday readings because immediately following Chapter 12 comes today’s Gospel reading.  Today, we’re given this memorable allegory in which we learn that much of God’s word seemingly bears no fruit; only some of the seed which God sows will land in rich soil and bear good fruit.  Well, in light of all the conflict in the skipped-over Chapter 12, that’s hardly surprising: it seems that the seed of the word of God has not taken hold among a good part of Jesus’s own countrymen, and even among some of his own family.

We’re left pondering, perhaps uncomfortably, the reality – the mystery - that not everyone who hears the word of God accepts it.  God’s saving word is on offer to all of us; but it will be well-planted and bear good fruit only in a portion of us.  This can be an upsetting thing; at least it is upsetting to me.  Probably all of us have family members, friends and loved ones who were baptized, who were reared to be followers of Jesus, but who seemingly have fallen away.  This can be a great source of anxiety for us.  It can also be a cause of conflict and division in our families.

I consider this situation a mystery because there is no simple solution that I’m aware of.  It is a problem which has vexed Christianity for two millennia.  We can be sure that Matthew, whoever the person was who compiled this Gospel, included this parable in his compilation because it spoke to the experience of his faith community, just a few years after Jesus’s death, resurrection and ascension.  These early disciples witnessed with their own eyes that many to whom the Good News was proclaimed simply didn’t accept it.  And they witnessed that some disciples fell away when confronted with persecutions and troubles. And they witnessed that some disciples’ faith was choked off by worldly pursuits and distractions: lust, money and the other temptations which lure us off the path of discipleship.  Witnessing these things surely broke the hearts of these first disciples, just as much as our hearts are broken today when a family member stops going to church or announces that he or she doesn’t believe anymore.

As I say, I don’t have a ready solution to this problem. But I do have some suggestions.  The first is not to despair.  Not everyone walks a straight road from here to heaven.  Remember that the Prodigal Son was welcomed back with open arms by his father, even after walking away from his family obligations and squandering his share of the inheritance.  And remember that the good thief repented even as he hung upon the cross, at the very hour of his death.  We can follow the example of St. Monica, who prayed fervently and with many tears for her son Augustine.  I really do believe that prayers and holy tears are one way that we can cooperate with God’s plan.

My second suggestion is not to give in to spiritual pride.  For all we know, other people are watching us with worry, too.  Any or all of us are susceptible to temptation to fall away from the faith.  It can happen to any of us at any time.  St. Peter in his first letter assures us that the devil is prowling like a roaring lion, waiting to devour us.  There are evil forces at work in the world, and they are looking to make us fall.  Let us not assume that our own soil is so deep and rich that we are impervious to temptation.  Sin is all around us, looking to trip us up, trying to coil itself around us and choke off the abundant life with which God has blessed us.  Let us pray to God constantly to keep our own eyes open  that we may continue to see him, to keep our own ears open that we may continue to hear him, to keep our own hearts open that we may continue to love him.

I have family members who seemingly have fallen away.  And I have other loved ones who live in a sort of ambiguous, amorphous situation, not having firmly rejected belief in Jesus, yet not actively practicing discipleship, either.  Christian faith was part of their upbringing, and it is still a part of them in some way.  It’s quite possible that the word of God is a seed sitting dormant in their hearts, waiting to sprout, perhaps at an unexpected time, or perhaps because of a crisis in their lives.

In the face of this mystery of the word being offered to all but it taking root only in some, what we can do is to pray for these people whom we love, and to be open to opportunities to invite them to engage with Jesus.  And we can be watchful for our own sakes, lest we trip and fall.  And always, we should offer humble thanks that, so far, God has blessed us by being in our lives, despite our not being worthy of it, and we should offer humble prayer that he continue to be present in us, that his seed continue to bear fruit in us.