“The Parable of the Sower” 
Cass Poulos
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
July 16, 2017
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

(Ms. Poulos preaches from notes rather than a written sermon … these are the notes from which she preached on July 16th.)

Corn field next to our house: Mother-in-law with dementia looks at the corn each morning and multiple times throughout the day: “look how much the corn has grown.” And “the corn really is growing. Isn’t that wonderful.” Many times, throughout the day we talk about the growing corn.

Parables: Sometimes they seem to be difficult to understand. Ever wonder why Jesus tells us parables?

1. Story and Riddle must pay attention to it if we want to understand it.
2. Stories To make a point, stories put a face and action to all the words it would take to explain the point.
3. Stories use common experiences so they give us a picture and action that we can always come back to.
4. Parable as a riddle, hides as much as it reveals about Godlike a kaleidoscope or hanging crystal, they give us many perspectives of the same image. The image and point become clearer, but never fully clear. We cannot have full understanding!
5. Seeing from a different perspective is like seeing something for the first time. It is new and full of mystery. It engages us in a fresh way.

The Sower; the soil; and the harvest

The Sower

1. Unlimited supply of seed

1. farmer today tends to soil 1^st nourish it and prepare way for seed
2. Jesus’ time seed first and then turn soil

2. Sower is extravagant tossing seed everywhere, even in places where they are not likely to sprout and grow
3. Sower is wasteful, even foolish for wasting good seed could be used by someone else
4. Might shake our head at the sower action does not make sense to us.
5. The Soil:

1. 4 types the path which isn’t really soil; rocky soil; soil infested with thorns and weeds; and good s
2. Jesus says: The soil is the landing place for “the message about the Kingdom of God” …and the message is “sown…in [our] hearts” (Matt 13.19).
3. Soil is a metaphor for heart

I

5. Heart in BibleBrokenhearted; hard hearted; faint hearted; heart ache; heartless; kindhearted; stouthearted; wholehearted; heart’s desire; heart’s delight; heart’s prayer to God hearts that turn back to God; that are given to God; that are loyal to God; that are fully committed to God

1. Today (Greek understanding):

1. Mind and will are centered in our heads (“I think therefore I am” Rene Descartes)
2. Mind, ability to think and reason is ultimate
3. heart is the center of our “total personality…intuition, feeling, and emotion” (Dictionary.com).

2. Jesus’ time: heart essence of who we are

1. encompassed intuition, feeling, emotion as well as our mind and will.
2. To have an open heart, all components would need to be centered and equally developedneed an open heart to be a disciple to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength and love our neighbor as self

6. The Seed in Mathew

1. Working in Substance Abuse Treatment and Planting the Seed
2. Grace of God establishing the Kingdom of God
3. Opposition to Kingdom of Godsame as a hard heart
4. The Extravagant, Super-Abundance of God’s Grace Seeds flung everywhere is the arena for God’s love and redemptive activity
5. The outcaste; the poor; widows and children; all who were unclean and unwanted; tax collectors; and prostitutes Sometimes the wealthy and powerful anyone who could listen and hear the message about the Kingdom of God not possible to be open always, but even a little is enough

7. Seeds that come to fruition

1. Folks who get clean and sober
2. Rooted, sprouting and growing seeds call for a response from us otherwise the seed has not come to fruition
3. Carry the message Be a disciple Open heart to someone not like you, someone you don’t like, an acquaintance
4. This is what God’ Grace is doing for me

8. The Abundance of the Harvest 7X good harvest10X True abundance30X feed a village for a year100X retire very wealthy

1. My Mother-in-laws attention to the corn field Like God’s attention to us
2. God has an Open Heart No matter what, God never stops trying to get our attention
3. Never limits to God’s Grace