Eighth Pentecost, Proper 10, 2005

The young man returned home weeping forlornly.  He had gone to propose to his girl friend.  The Dad and Mom met him at the front door.  “So, what happened, son?” the Dad asked.  “Apparently, she turned you down.”

“She sure did, Dad.  I asked her just like you had told me to and she smacked me and told me to get out of her house.”

“Did you start out like I told you?  Did you repeat the words that I said to your mother when she accepted my proposal?  Did you say, ‘Dear, time stands still when I look in your eyes.’  Did you say that?”

“Well, I said pretty much the same thing.  I said, ‘My dear, your face would stop a clock.’”

We are sometimes confused about the meaning of things.  We hear a lot of talk about the Kingdom of God.  We believe it is a part of God’s grand design and a reality for people of faith.  We very often think of the Kingdom as something beyond this world, a concept that finds its fulfillment at the end of time.

The Parable of the Sower is Jesus’ attempt to give his hearers some better idea of the way the Kingdom of God will come.  The basic meaning is that the Kingdom is that time when the entire world will accept the will of God and when God’s will is done as perfectly on earth as it is in heaven.  We will recite that petition again in a few minutes when we join in saying the Lord’s Prayer.  The Kingdom is to come on earth, we are to be a part of it, and we are to proclaim it to others.

The Parable of the Sower points to some great truths about that Kingdom.  First, it points out the helplessness of human beings.  We sow good seeds.  We do not fully understand how it grows.  We do not cause the growth.  The secret of life and growth is contained in the seed itself.  We do not possess the secret of life.  We have never created something out of nothing.  We may discover things, we may develop things, but we cannot create without using some preexisting material.

We do not, cannot create the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom is God’s.  Yes, we may through our hardness of heart and narrowness of mind, hinder and frustrate our own awareness of the Kingdom.  Not having a spirit of love in our life may well lead others to assume that Christian people may talk a good game, but they don’t always match what they say with what they do.  Some folks work hard to see that others are not given a glimpse of the Kingdom.

On the other hand, we may work to help create an atmosphere where the Kingdom is given the opportunity to come more fully in the world.  But, behind it all and under it all is the fact hat the Kingdom is God’s and it will come, ready or not.  Now please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  We are to sow the seeds that are of the Kingdom and we are to be the soil into which the good seed may fall.  But, it is God’s Kingdom in which we are privileged to participate.

That leads to the second thing about this parable that Jesus told to his disciples, then and now.  The Kingdom is coming.  It is surprising how few Christian folk really believe that God’s Kingdom is on the way.  We sometimes commit mass perjury every time we pray, “Thy Kingdom come…”  Pay particular attention to your thoughts today as you pray that petition.  Be challenged to pray earnestly that God’s Kingdom may come more fully this day.

Just as nature’s growth is imperceptible, so is the coming of the Kingdom.  If we only compare today with yesterday we may not see any growth.  But if we compare today with a hundred years ago, we can notice some positive growth of God’s Kingdom breaking in upon us.  It is terribly sad when the voices from the left and the right announce with voices pitched at hysterical levels about how terrible things are and the other side caused it.  No doubt, we have terrific problems to address.  We have major social problems to solve, but look at the progress we have made because some people have sown the word and others have been the good soil ready to hear and bear good fruit.  Today it is no longer lawful for people to own other people in this land.  That slavery remains a problem in other places and is illegally imported into this country by the perverted remains a challenge for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and those who would be his followers.  We must be the sowers and the soil into which that redeeming word finds root.  It is no longer lawful for men to physically abuse their wives and beat their children.  Discipline, yes; physical abuse, no.  That physical abuse remains an issue in our culture and around the world and that women remain objects instead of fully legitimate human beings is a challenge for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We must be sowers and the soil into which that redeeming word takes root.

Thirdly, growth is inevitable.  As someone once observed, “There are two ways to get on top of an oak tree.  One may climb limb by limb or one may sit on an acorn.”  As a seed can burst forth in growth and split concrete and pavement, so the Kingdom bursts forth and will come.  We cannot stop it.  In spite of our rebellion and disobedience, God’s work goes on and, as we sing in our hymn, “God is working his purpose out, as year succeeds to year.”  Nothing can stop the eternal purposes of God.  There will come a harvest time.  In the meantime, we are to be patient, we are to be hopeful, and most importantly, we are to be prepared.  Sow the seeds of the Kingdom.  Prepare the soil to receive the good word.  Never forget the influence you have on others.  And remember that God has not given any person the right to look down their noses at others.  Those who assume they have that right always loose.

Many years ago the President of Harvard University made the mistake of prejudging a couple who stopped by his office.  A woman in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly into the president’s outer office.  They did not have an appointment.  The president’s secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard.  She frowned.

     “We would like to see the president,” the man said softly.

     “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary said, coldly.

     “We’ll wait,” the woman said.

For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping they would finally become discouraged and go away.  They didn’t.  The secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do.

“Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told the president.  He sighed in exasperation and nodded.  Someone of his stature and importance obviously didn’t have time to spend with them, but he didn’t want people in gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office all day.

The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple, not bothering to offer a handshake or to ask their names.  The woman told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year.  He loved it here.  He was very happy here.  But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed.  And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t as much touched as he was shocked. 

“Madam,” he said gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died.  If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the woman explained quickly, “we don’t want to erect a statue.  We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes.  He glanced at the gingham dress and the homespun suit, and then said, “A building!  Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs?  We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard.”  (Remember, this was many years ago.  It’s in the billions now).

For a moment the man and woman were silent.  The president was pleased.  He could get rid of them now.  After the moment of silence, the woman turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a University?  Why don’t we start our own?”

Her husband nodded.  The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment.

And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling out to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard was too important to care about.  Shirley’s Uncle Hap Ireson taught at that University for many years.

Never give up.  Just look up.  It is simply our task to sow the seed, prepare our hearts to be the soil in which the good word can take root and grow.  We leave the rest to God.  Amen.