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Sermon
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NOURISHING THE SOIL “There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let it run out of his mouth. His son and his son's wife were disgusted at this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and not even enough of it. And he used to look towards the table with his eyes full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a few half-pence, out of which he had to eat. They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years old began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. ‘What are you doing there?’ asked the father. ‘I am making a little trough,’ answered the child, ‘for father and mother to eat out of when I am big.’ …” I needn’t finish because the succeeding change in the parents' behaviour is obvious. This story is one of the many German folk tales set down by the brothers Grimm 150 years ago. It is fascinating to read these stories today because only a few, like this one, really grab hold of the modern reader. When we reach this point in the story, we suddenly receive a real jolt that this is not simply an insightful family story; it is, in fact, two stories in one. There is the narrative about that family’s story and there is another one that relates to our own ‘story’. Two stories in one and our insight demands we compare them. This is a parable. This story is complete, ours is not. The more we examine the parallels, the more meaning we can find. I Jesus used the parable frequently in his teaching. These simple, memorable stories were one of the favourite techniques used by the teachers (rabbis) to engage student discussion and participation. “Here is a story, what does it mean?” Today’s Gospel reading is known as the ‘Parable of the Sower’. Jesus tells the story of the man who was sowing seed and some fell on the path and was eaten by birds. Some fell on rocky ground where there was little soil and after they grew up they had no roots and died. Some fell among thorns which choked them when they grew up. But those that fell on the rich soil grew up to produce more seeds many times over.Now this parable of Jesus comes with a ready-made interpretation. It uses allegory – a common technique in the rabbinical tradition but most uncharacteristic of Jesus. Each object in the story has its counterpart in the underlying comparison. In this case, the seed is the word and the various events that happen to the seed are characterized by those who do not understand; those who welcome the word but cannot survive hardship; those who hear the word but are lured away by worldly worries or riches. But those who hear and truly understand are those who will yield a bountiful harvest. The interpretation of parables is how we understand them and it is perfectly natural for the writer of the Gospel to add an interpretation for the members of the early Church. This interpretation has led some preachers to list the types of people and challenge the congregation with “and which category do you fall into?” Let us rethink this by shifting the interpretation into our world. A University student signs up for a subject and the teacher says this on the first day. “There are some among you who will find the course tough and will drop out. There are some among you who will find that life is too much fun to apply yourself to your studies. There are some among you who will find that other subjects or your job will affect your work in this subject. But, those who really understand and work hard will succeed.” What effect will this have on the students? I would suggest that the answer is probably very little – after all these statements are self-evident facts. But if we change the context to this. A teacher walks into a class of prospective teachers and says, “In your classes you will have students who will find the course tough, or who will find that life outside is more fun, or who will have difficulties juggling job and study. How are you, the teachers, going to change what you do to help these people succeed?” Now, that is a very different proposition. The Sower is not the implied Jesus but the disciples! Surely the key idea in Jesus’ parable is the quality of the soil. This is what every gardener knows. If you want a good harvest, then you must care for the plants. And the point of the story for us? If we would be his disciples, then we, as a church, must look to providing a rich soil so that all who seek to hear what Jesus is saying may have the best possible opportunity of carrying on his work. I think there are three things that make the soil of a faith community rich: the quality of the relationships between its members; a living, growing faith and an understanding of and interaction with the world. When people care about each other, a group is turned into a community. The strong faith community will exhibit an abundance of God’s gifts – love, hope, joy, faith and peace. A living faith will never cease to explore the many ways of knowing and understanding God. The community will be open to new ways of worship and experiencing the transcendent. And there will be a continual effort to understand God’s relationship with humanity. Scripture is our greatest single resource for doing this. If we are to come to grips with its meaning then we must be prepared to use every tool at our disposal. But we must be prepared to discard the accretions of the past if they fail the tests of science or scholarship. Communications technology has made our world a very different place. To live in our world is to know about it and that means we must understand it. We must be able to give it meaning. This is a difficult task because it is not possible to solve complex problems by simple solutions. We cannot invoke precepts that were conceived thousands of years ago to solve all the problems of today. This is where a faith community is so important. A community that strives to reflect the love of God in all its thinking and doing is far better able to construct meaning in the world than are self-serving philosophies or pat phrases. II So we, at St Aidan's, can provide a rich soil. But what about reaping the harvest? If we have such good soil let us make it available to others. Our excellent study series and evening talks continue to grow in popularity. We publish our sermons in hard copy and on the Internet. People around the world download about 500 sermons each month. This extends what we do in a way that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. The casual observer or visitor to our website might label us a ‘teaching’ church. While this expression certainly reflects what we do, a far better description would be to say that we are an open ‘learning’ church.We all know the low statistics for church attendance in Australia and we also know that three-quarters of Australians believe in a God or a spirit, a higher power or life-force. There are many of these people who were Christians but feel that they have discarded the Church or that the Church has discarded them. I am convinced that the major reason for people leaving the Church is one of belief structures. Somewhere in their history they have been told what to believe and the words to use to express it. But their understanding has not developed past that stage. I have heard people say, “I cannot believe that” or “that does not match up with my experience or with my understanding of the world”. Frequently the problem is one of being stuck on the words – of reading the words literally – and not understanding the meaning behind the words. Some of you will remember the late Rev Dr John Alexander who founded the ‘Augustine Centre’ in Hawthorn. I remember his telling me this story when he was Vice Master of Ormond College. It concerns a very devout student who complained that many other students kept giving him a ‘hard time’ and arguing with him about his faith. He wanted to know, “Why are they always trying to take my faith away from me?” John replied, “It is not that they are trying to take your faith away from you; it is that they are trying to get it for themselves.” This story is not quite what it seems. When I first heard this story, I identified with the student and nodded inwardly to myself with a good deal of self-satisfaction. “Yes, I’ve known people like that.” Then it suddenly hit me. I could also identify with the seekers. I had often demanded answers to the mysteries of faith from others but I did not understand the language they used. In matters of faith we are all seekers because we are all on a journey. And just when something crystallizes for us, there is something new that needs our attention. Our change of direction can happen in the most wonderful and unexpected ways (as in the Grimm folk tale). But if we set our beliefs in concrete we limit the opportunities available. When beliefs become dogma, a journey is interrupted. And so we would say to Christian seekers who are no longer attached to a church or to those who have no faith, “you are welcome to journey with us. We do not pretend to have all the answers but we do try very hard to know and understand God. We would like to share our understandings with you. And we would like you to share the understandings of your spiritual journey with us.” We say to those of other faiths, “We deeply respect your faith and value it.” I know of a young Muslim who was asked by his non-Muslim friend, “Do you use the Bible?” “No,” was the reply, “we have the Koran. You should read it. It contains much wisdom.” We can all learn from that young man. When asked by a seeker about his faith, he offered to share his understanding – because that’s what friends do. When seekers ask us about our faith, rather than express it in the language of belief, we might share with them the wisdom of Jesus. This, after all, was the way Jesus showed us the love of God. To do this is to follow in his footsteps. So what can you do? You can be a sower, too. Distribute the sermons to those you know who may be interested. Publicise the website and the programs of the church. Take part yourself in what we do. But above all, share with others the wisdom of Jesus in word and deed. ___________________________________________________ A sermon presented by Robert Sanderson at St Aidan's
Uniting Church North Balwyn, on 10th
July, 2005. IT MAY BE
REPRODUCED WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT. |
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Page updated 10/07/05
