Br. Josép Martinez-Cubero, OHC
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 10 A - July 12,.2020
It is hard for us U.S. Americans to grasp how much suffering there really is in so much of the rest of the world. Oh yes, many of us are good people. We feel pity; we feel badly; we are sympathetic; we are concerned; and we pray for them. But the suffering in many parts of the world is very far removed from us. It is simply not part of our every day experience. It has taken a pandemic, the isolation from loved ones, the current blatant corruption of our government, the heartbreaking or infuriating systemic racism inequality and violence that now finds new license to act out defiantly in our country for us to have a little taste of the brokenness of this world that so many outside the U.S. experience on a daily basis.
It is at times like this that the ancient wisdom of the scriptures reminds us that corruption, oppression, and suffering have existed throughout history since the beginning of time- the slavery of the ancient Israelites in Egypt, the Babylonian exile, the times of Jesus when the Judeans lived in an occupied territory, the time of the writer of Matthew’s Gospel when it was a hard time to be a Christian and huge numbers of people had to migrate to other regions due to poverty and persecution. All of these events have repeated themselves in renewed ways from generation to generation throughout history.
So this week’s lectionary challenges us to let go and let God, even when our soul is full of heaviness and disquieted. We are to put our trust in God who is the help of our countenance and our God. The lectionary this week reminds us that as Christians we are to look at the brokenness of the world with new eyes. Thus, all the scripture texts today are full of hope and abundance and joy! And I don’t know about you but I need to be reminded that in Christ there is always hope. I need to be reminded to embrace abundance and be grateful. I need some joy!
In our first reading from Isaiah, the prophet promises: “For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” In psalm 65, which is the appointed psalm for today, and here in the monastery we chant every two weeks at Vespers on Saturday, the psalmist conjures paths overflowing with plenty, fields of the wilderness rich for grazing, hills clothed with joy, meadows covered with flocks, valleys cloaked with grain; all of them shouting for joy and singing. Paul tells the Romans that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Talk about a hard thing to fathom! And then we have Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel telling a parable about a sower flinging seeds all over the place in joyful abandon, and those seeds “brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” That’s right! “Let anyone with ears listen!”
Isaiah describes a God who pours rain and snow, watering everything on earth so that what needs to grow will grow: “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.” Prophets, among many things, are to speak a life-giving word of hope when all seems to point to the contrary. So the imagery of rain and snow watering everything on earth would have been quite a powerful metaphor to a people accustomed to arid conditions. The prophet's audience would surely have understood the importance of rain and snow to transform dry land into conditions able to sustain the vegetation. Rain and snow ensured food. Precipitation meant the difference between life and death. In the same way God's word has a transformative effect on the lives of the exiles who have seen their beloved city destroyed, families torn apart, houses demolished, and their country lost.
So sure is the prophet of what he is saying that he describes a world where the mountains and the hills break out in song and the trees of the fields clap their hands in accompaniment. What awesome imagery! Instead of the thorn and brier that had been used by the prophet as symbols of judgment, shall come up the cypress and myrtle, a powerful symbol for the new life that lies ahead for the exiles after the devastation brought about by the Babylonian exile.
In the text from Matthew’s Gospel, the sower’s seeds fall on the hard path and the birds eat them. Other seeds fall on rocky ground, where they spring up quickly but wither because the sun burns their shallow roots. Other seeds fall among thorns and are choked. Still other seeds fall on good soil, and bring forth abundant grain. These are the various landscapes of the human heart. Jesus is describing our inner geography.
I can tell you (and some of you know well) that there are days when my soil is hardened, and there are other days when my soil is quite rocky! And then there are those days when I am full of thorns, and yes, there are other days when my soil is really, really good! So I am thankful that this parable is about the nature and character of the Divine Sower, who is clearly not dependant on the quality of my soil on any given day. This parable is about the Divine Sower whose generosity is extravagant when it comes to us, the beloved creation. This parable is about the Divine Sower who is confident that what needs to flourish will flourish, maybe not everywhere and maybe not all at the same time, and that’s okay. This parable is about the Divine Sower who is unconcerned about where the seed falls because there is always enough seed. In a society so addicted to competition, comparison, and judgment, it is hard to comprehend that nothing is wasted in God’s economy. Every kind of soil can benefit from God’s seed. The Divine Sower keeps sowing generously and abundantly, even in the least promising places of our life.
God’s word goes out from God’s mouth and accomplishes God’s purpose, no matter where it lands. God’s word can soften hard ground, clear away rocks, and cut through the most stubborn of thorns to make way for the harvest. And why? Because all terrain is God’s terrain and is sustained by God’s love. We have absolutely no business telling the Creator of all that is what “good soil” looks like? We have absolutely no business deciding who is worthy and who is not worthy of the sower’s generosity? As Paul tells the Romans and us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ because to be in Christ is to be part of something far larger than us. It is not about what we do, but what God does for and through us because the Spirit of God dwells in us.
May we, like the Divine Sower who dwells in us, scatter seeds with generosity. May abundant seeds of love and mercy fall from us on all the brokenness of this world until all its hardened, rocky and sun-scorched corners burst into joyful song and clap their hands! ¡Que así sea en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo! ~Amen+
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