Proper 10 (A) We Never Know
Proper 10 (A) We Never KnowJuly 14, 2002By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell
What I am holding in my hand, I learned as a young boy to call a “lucky stone.” It was one of the many
special rewards of some serious beachcombing on the shores of Lake Michigan in Winnetka, Illinois. I still think they’re pretty neat. Not long ago Margaret and I found this one on the Oregon coast.
I see it as one of Mother Nature’s works of art. The result of many years, decades, centuries (who knows how long) of the eroding effects of the friction of sand and water. I offer it today as a symbol; not of luck, but of perseverance.
Action: Put the red ribbon through the hole of the stone—then hang it around my neck.
If there is any luck in this “lucky stone” it would be the luck of finding it in time to use it as a sermon illustration. The way I see it, my chances of good fortune were about the same as anyone else walking the beach. Admittedly, I may have a more practiced eye.
I’ve never had much faith in luck. The lottery is not my game. I once took my Breck School wrestling team to watch a University of Minnesota wrestling match. I was shocked (in fact I was in total disbelief) to read a sign on the far wall that said in large letters, “I BELIEVE IN LUCK.” I did not want any one of our team to read that sign and think it was true! After the match I had a chance to take a closer look at that sign and was relieved to discover that under the words I BELIEVE IN LUCK, and in much smaller letters, it said, “And the harder I work, the luckier I get.” That is a sentiment that I could honor! I am personally more inclined to go with the guy who said, “Chance favors a prepared mind.”
In today’s Gospel I believe that Jesus is trying to prepare His disciples to deal with the reality of sharing their new faith in God’s love. Teaching is an enterprise, much like farming, that requires persistent hard work in the face of frustrating (and at times), maddening obstacles.
Matthew 13:1-9
Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A Sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”
Teachers know that when a student is not ready, or does not want to learn, no learning takes place. I would compare that student to the path where the seed was thrown and the birds came and ate it up.
Example) Mr. McCorkle (a wonderful biology teacher I know) shared with me that once a student of his, upon hearing that the subject for the day’s lesson would be metamorphosis, said, “Why don’t we just talk about nothing?” How would you like to be a teacher in that moment?
The student who doesn’t take the time to really understand the basics of any given subject I would compare to the seeds that fell on rocky ground. The student who gets so involved in “everything else” that study time evaporates.
Example) Our son Dave discovered that at university there was a party going on every night of the week. Then he realized that he was using his class time to catch up on his sleep. There was no time for anything to take root until he discovered he needed to change his focus.
I believe that Jesus is saying to His disciples, in the face of all these challenges and frustrations…. HANG IN THERE!
What do you do if you’re the teacher? First and foremost, you don’t give up teaching. Keep sowing! Why? Because there are other students that are wide awake and eager to learn. Don’t quit! Think of Our Lord’s frustrations with His own Apostles. Think of God’s frustration with us!
Teaching is like trying to strike fire with flint and steel. Everyone who has tried starting fire that way learns that success comes by repeated efforts (you can work up a sweat) and…. often at the instant when we despair…. a spark hits the tinder and you can gently blow the spark into a flame.
Example) I loved this Peanuts cartoon. Think in frames as I describe….
• Charlie Brown is looking for a lost baseball in tall grass.
• He says, “No one can find a ball in this tall grass.”
• “You couldn’t find a battleship in this tall grass.”
• Last Frame: Holding up the ball…. “Found it!”
Never despair, but if you do, keep looking – keep teaching.
The Sower in today’s parable knows that some of the precious seeds he is casting out will not take hold. He also knows that at harvest time some will produce 30 – 60 even 100-fold. The farmer’s job is not to despair over the seeds that don’t produce…. his job is to sow seeds.
If people are not ready to listen…. move on…. keep sowing. Don’t fret over it. “Shake off the dust.” Others will reap where you have sown.
As parents we embrace the arduous task of teaching our children civilized manners, proper grammar and good hygiene habits (along with many other basic life skills). Would you all agree that it is more than a one-year course? I remember saying at our dinner table, more than once, “We love you, but if you eat spaghetti like that…. when you are a guest at another family’s house, what will they think?”
The payoff for all the life-skills lessons is that when someone stops you on the street to tell you what wonderful children you have raised. Margaret and I always found it hard to believe that they were talking about our kids.
Example) Our daughter Kathy sent us an email from a trip to Japan where she was serving as a chaperone for a group of high school students. She wrote, “We met with the Mayor of Hamamatsu today. Thank you for all the lessons in manners! Dad, I even got the chance to share your story of planting seeds, but never getting to see the harvest with one of the Japanese teachers. The story brought tears to his eyes.”
How far can you cast a seed? First into your family. Then… into the world.
A quote by George Eliot:
“I’m proof against that word failure. I’ve seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.”
Here is the mystery both farmers and teachers must live with. We never know. We never know when some good and Godly purpose we represent with our lives will take root. We never know when God’s Spirit has been working on someone’s heart that will cause something we say or do to germinate in another person’s life. We all make the world nobler or more degraded, freer or more enslaved, and no one can be immunized against us.
This is what we do know.
From today’s reading from Isaiah:
“So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
On that positive note what choice do we have but to keep sowing with perseverance.
• Words of a true fisherman: “It’s good that we didn’t catch any fish today. Why? Because they will all be here for us tomorrow.”
Nature took a long time to make this hole in this “lucky stone.” Our job, starting here, starting now, and for no matter how long it takes, is to make the world…. Holy.
Our mission is the sow sanctification of the whole world.
Keep sowing!
Resources for further study:
Lectionary: Readings assigned for this Sunday
| Track 1 | or | Track 2 |
| Genesis 25:19-34 Psalm 119:105-112 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 | Isaiah 55:10-13 Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 |
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