[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermons Resources for July 10 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Proper 10: 
   Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23   - "The Sower and the Seed"
   Matthew 13:1-9, 8-23 - "The Parable of the Soil" by Leonard Sweet
 
Matthew 13, the sermon titled "The Sower and the Seed"  
 
The Kingdom of God was the main emphasis of Jesus’ ministry and this is accepted by most. But defining precisely what the Kingdom was is a bit more difficult. Indeed, even Jesus himself was often illusive about it. He did not speak in absolutes; rather, he spoke in parables. Such is our scripture text for this morning. Jesus compared the Kingdom to a sower going out and spreading seed. Some of it falls upon hard ground and is unable to take root. Some of it falls on shallow ground, and although it initially sprouts it later withers away. But some seed falls upon good earth and comes to fruition and produces a harvest.

We are to understand, of course, that the sower is God, the seed is the Kingdom, and the various types of soil represent us--you and me. On the surface of it, of course, it doesn’t sound as though God is a very frugal farmer. After all, most of the seed that is strewn about never takes root. But this is not really a story about the sower or the seed. It is a story about different types of soil, or to put it another way, the responses of different types of people to the Kingdom.

The question is really, what is the state of our hearts when the seeds are sown with us? With that in mind, let us examine the various conditions of the heart mentioned in this story.

I. The Hardened Heart
II. The Distracted Heart
III. The Defeated Heart
IV. The Hopeful (and Joyful!) Heart
 
The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining http://www.sermons.com/signup
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Matthew 13, the sermon titled "The Parable of the Soil" by Leonard Sweet 
 
Almost all denominations, or what I call “tribes,” used to be able to boast an extensive farm system for growing the next generation of leaders. The past two decades have seen a gradual dismantling of that farm system. But you can still see features of it. Starting with the cradle roll and ending with the theological seminary, the church built for its future just like sports teams built for their future in a farm system.
 
One of the most important vestiges in the church’s farm system is summer camp. How many of you here this morning ever went to church camp? [At this point, you might walk down and draw out stories of what church camps they attended and where? Anyone marry their church camp sweetheart? Etc. But most importantly for this sermon, get nominations of their favorite church camp songs.]
 
My favorite church camp song? “Deep and Wide.” But almost any “camp song” you pick is a motion song. In other words, it comes with all sorts of hand and body motions. You “sing out,” but you also “act out” in gestures and movements, what the song is all about. Whether it is “Michael Row the Boat Ashore,” “Deep and Wide,” or “Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu-jah . . . Praise Ye The Lord,” the motions give more meaning to the words. The motions give life to the words.
 
Outside of campfire songs, back in the after-camp, back-to-work world, that is not always the case. In fact, too often we find that our lives have become more about “going through the motions” and “making motions” than they are about living out our lives. 
 
How many mornings does the alarm go off and you click into “autopilot.” You get up. Shower. Dress. Eat. Go to work/school. Do what is required/expected of you at your job/school. Home. Do stuff with the mail. Do stuff with food prep. Do stuff like laundry. Do stuff like drive kids all over. Go to the store and buy stuff. But instead of engaging and enjoying and embracing the life you are have been given as a gift from God, you are just getting through the day. You are just “doing stuff” and “buying stuff.” 
 
God doesn’t want us just “doing stuff.” God doesn’t want us to “go through the motions.” God wants us to live every moment to the fullest. “What is the chief end of man?” the Westminster Catechism (1643) begins: “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”…

www.Sermons.com
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The Wrong Question: What Does It Mean?
For a moment, let's put this story to one side and hear another story. It concerns a young anthropologist named Connie who works among aboriginal people in Australia. The community where she lives has a rich tradition of storytelling. Everyone gathers at night, a story is told, and then another, and another. Connie feels extraordinarily privileged when she is asked to join in this activity.

The first story told that evening is about the animal ancestor of this community and its adventures at the beginning of time. The story overflows with detail, action, imagery.

At the end of the story, Connie is delighted. "May I ask a question?" she says. "What does it mean?"

All eyes are upon her. The elder looks at her gravely and says, "That is the one question you cannot ask." A long time passes before she is invited again. She has asked the wrong question.

"What does it mean?" was the wrong question for Connie to ask about the aboriginal myth. It may also be the wrong question for us to ask about the story of the sower, or any of the stories told by Jesus. "What does it mean?" is the wrong question if we think that by having an answer, we can somehow get a handle on this story, domesticate it, make it safe. The stories Jesus tells are not subject to our control. He tells these stories so that we can be transformed. He tells these stories, not so that we can ask questions about them, but so that the stories can ask questions of us.

Charles Hoffacker, What Kind of Soil Are You, What Kind of Sower? 
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Sowing the Seed
 
One of William Barclay's friends tells this story. In the church where he worshiped there was a lonely old man, old Thomas. He had outlived all his friends and hardly anyone knew him. When Thomas died, this friend had the feeling that there would be no one to go to the funeral so he decided to go, so that there might be someone to follow the old man to his last resting-place.

There was no one else, and it was a miserable wet day. The funeral reached the cemetery, and at the gate there was a soldier waiting. An officer, but on his raincoat there were no rank badges. He came to the grave side for the ceremony, then when it was over, he stepped forward and before the open grave swept his hand to a salute that might have been given to a king. The friend walked away with this soldier, and as they walked, the wind blew the soldier's raincoat open to reveal the shoulder badges of a brigadier general.

The general said, "You will perhaps be wondering what I am doing here. Years ago Thomas was my Sunday School teacher; I was a wild lad and a sore trial to him. He never knew what he did for me, but I owe everything I am or will be to old Thomas, and today I had to come to salute him at the end." Thomas did not know what he was doing.

No preacher or teacher ever does. Keep sowing the seed. We can leave the rest to God, including keeping the fire going. And that is GOOD news for all us tenant farmers.
 
David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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The Life Is in the Seed
 
Doug Murren, in Churches That Heal (1999), retells that old Native American tale of an opossum watching a seed grow.
 
One day an opossum visited his good friend, a raccoon, at his home near the river. The opossum marveled at his friend's lush garden and asked if he could grow one like it. The raccoon assured the opossum he could do so, although he cautioned him, "It is hard work."
 
The opossum eagerly vowed to do the hard work necessary, then asked for and received some seeds. He rushed home with his treasure, buried them amid much laughter and song, went inside to clean up, ate, and went to bed. The next morning he leapt from bed to see his new garden.
Nothing. The ground looked no different than it had the day before!
 
Furious with anger and frustration, the opossum shouted at his buried seeds, "Grow, seeds, grow!" He pounded the ground and stomped his feet. But nothing happened. Soon a large crowd of forest animals gathered to see who was making all the commotion and why. The raccoon came to investigate with all the others.
 
"What are you doing, Opossum?" he asked. "Your racket has awakened the whole forest."
The opossum railed about having no garden, then turned to each seed, and commanded it to grow. When the animals began to mock the opossum for his silly actions, he only screamed louder. At last the raccoon spoke up once more.
 
"Wait a minute, Possum," he said. "You can't make the seeds grow. You can only make sure they get sun and water, then watch them do their work. The life is in the seed, not in you."
As the truth sank in, the opossum ceased his yelling and began to care for the seeds as the raccoon instructed, watering them regularly and getting rid of any weeds that invaded his garden. (On some days, though, when no one was watching, he still shouted a bit.)
 
Then one glorious morning the opossum wandered outside to see that multitudes of beautiful green sprouts dotted his garden. Just a few days later, gorgeous flowers began to bloom. With uncontrollable excitement and pride, the opossum ran to his friend, the raccoon, and asked him to witness the miracle. The raccoon took one long look at the thriving garden and said, "You see, Opossum, all you had to do was let the seeds do the work while you watched."
 
"Yes," smiled the opossum, finally remembering the wise words of his friend many days before, "but it's a hard job watching a seed work."
 
Doug Murren concludes: "There's a lesson there for all of us. Sometimes, as Christians and church leaders, we work too hard and take ourselves too seriously instead of simply planting people in the proper environment and letting them grow." (Doug Murren, in Churches That Heal: Becoming a Church That Mends Broken Hearts and Restores Shattered Lives [West Monroe, La: Howard Publishing, 1999], 13-14, 15.)
 
Adapted by Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com
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