SUNDAY JULY 12, 2020.
Opening Prayer (based on Matthew 13:1-9)
Almighty God,
We gather in Your presence with expectation, hungry for an encounter with You, eager to hear Your Word.
Open our eyes and ears to the presence of Your Holy Spirit.
May the seeds of Your Word have scattered among us this morning fall in good soil.
May they take root in our hearts and lives, and produce an abundant harvest of good words and deeds.
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our teacher and our Lord. Amen.
Gospel Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23 The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 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. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
SERMON: Lord, let our hearts be good soil.
Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter, who lived a short-troubled life and sadly took his own life at the age of 37, - did give us some of the most beautiful, vibrant, and remarkable paintings in art history. He was manic at times, and in just over a decade, he created about 2000 artworks, including 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. He was not commercially successful, and his suicide came after years of mental illness, depression, and poverty. Even if he by our standards was unsuccessful during his lifetime and was considered a madman and a failure, and only sold one paintings to his beloved brother Theo while he was alive, - his paintings are now among the most expensive to have ever sold when on auction, and most of them you can find on Museums as the beautiful Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
I have always loved his paintings, and have felt his pain and his joy and love through his art. His Yellow beaming Sunflowers, his heart wrenching self-portraits, his little house and his bed and chair, his Starry Starry nights, and his flowing landscapes.
Being a pastor’s son and a searching soul, Vincent Van Gogh was familiar with the Bible and all the beautiful parables of Jesus. Vincent Van Gogh painted “The Sower with Setting Sun.” The painting was created in year of 1888, while Van Gogh was staying in Arles, France. The farmer, the field, the sun, the sowing, the reaping, and peasant imageries alike, was something that Van Gogh turned to numerous times throughout his life. The sower in this painting is a symbol of the eternal cycle of farming and nature, - but furthermore a reflection on the parable of Jesus about the Sower.
Look at the sower. Look at the field. Look at the sun. The sun is central, and it shines with an almost unearthly luminescence. From that great orb of light, the seeds are sown, life is lived, nature is eternally evolving.
The Parable of the Sower inspired van Gogh and many other painters. The Parable of the Sower hopeful creates images and association in our mind and our faith when we listen to the words.
“Let anyone with ears listen!” – Jesus exclaimed at the end of the parable. This is still a call to us, to listen, to be open, to let the words of God, the seed, be planted in our soul to grow, to sprout, to bear fruit.
As the old Proverb says, “No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen.”
Jesus calls this the parable of the sower. But we could have called it the parable of the good soil.
The seed, God’s word, is spread with a generous hand and intention. The seed, God’s word, is sown in all kinds of soil and rocky grounds, that can stifle growth and harvest. When we listen to the parable of Jesus, we know he talks about us and our lives. We know it is about us. We know it is about how we receive the word of God. We know it is about how we listen, grow and act. We know that Jesus’ parables are about us and our lives.
“Let anyone with ears listen!”
We know that God gave us two ears and 1 mouth, but even more that God gave us a mouth that can be closed, and two ears that don’t, - that must tell us something.
So how can we ensure that all the troubles of this world and our own personal problems do not stifle the growth? So how can we allow Gods word to take deep root in our lives, so change is possible both personally and in community?
How do we listen best? How do we let the words, the teachings, the commandments, and the faith take deep root?
Perhaps good soil only requires 3 things:
1. Humility enough to hear,
2. Imagination and creativity enough to dream and
3. Courage enough to act.
“Lord, let my heart be good soil… open to the seed of your word….”
We conclude every Sunday service with these words. In the short and beloved hymn about letting our hearts be good soil, where love can grow, and peace may be understood.
Lord, let our hearts be good open soil, we sing…. When our hearts are hard, let the words break the stone away, when our hearts are cold, let the words warm it, and when our hearts are lost, let your words lead us on our way.
Lord, let our hearts be good soil.
It makes perfectly sense to conclude our services with these words and this prayer. As we are to leave the safety of the pew and the sanctuary of the church, to embark into real life again: where we will show if we truly listened with humility, if we truly can imagine change and transformation, - and if we truly can live our faith in our actions.
To be good soil, we must have the imagination and creativity to dare to dream, to have visions, hopes and faith. To be good soil we must have the conviction to act. The will to act. The courage to act.
While the hearing and the dreaming may happen internally, - within our own hearts and among fellow believers in church – the third piece is the outpouring of what God is doing within us for the world, our response to what we have learned, heard and received.
That might be the most important part of being good soil, and oftentimes it is the hardest part. As the old saying says: It is easier to preach 10 sermons than to live one! Living what we believe, acting on our convictions, our visions, hopes, and dreams is not for fainthearted. It is for the good hearted, strong willed, courageous, and faithful souls.
“An artist needn't be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men” This quote is by Vincent van Gogh. “A warm heart for his fellow men…”
Up until he was 27 years old, the Christian faith played a major role in Vincent’s life. His father was a Protestant minister and the Van Gogh children were brought up with religion.
For a while, Vincent entertained the idea of following in his father’s footsteps but abandoned his theology studies. He also embarked on missionary work in the Borinage, a poor mining region in Belgium.
As the years passed, Vincent became increasingly detached from the traditional Christian faith. The church and the bible no longer ruled his life, but religion continued to play a role – also in his art.
Vincent discovered his faith outside, in nature. He wrote in a letter to Theo:
‘That does not stop me having a tremendous need for, shall I say the word — for religion — so I go outside at night to paint the stars […]’.
Vincent Van Gogh hear better and was more attuned to God under the starry skies, looking at blooming sunflowers, watching the drifting clouds, or breathing the air.
How do we listen best? How are we good soil for the word of God? Do we listen best here in church? Or do we listen best out in nature? Do we listen best when we are alone or when we are together?
We humbly listen here in church, and we hopefully carry this vision, this hope, and this faith with us as we leave. And then we listen to the calling of the world, of our neighbors, of our world and humanity. And then our listening becomes acts.
In the parable of the 4 Soils, Jesus teaches us that what makes the real difference in a person’s life is how we listen, how we are open and what kind of heart we hear the Word of God with.
If it is a hard heart, God’s Word will not even penetrate. It will just bounce right off.
If we have a shallow heart, we will receive God’s Word, but we will fall away whenever a trial or temptation comes our way.
If we have a divided or undecided heart, we will not ever bear fruit, because our love for the world preoccupies our time and attention.
But, if we have a good heart, we will be able to listen, keep the word in our hearts and bear fruit.
And what the world seems to need more than ever, in this time and through these struggles, is much more listening, much more listening and far less speaking, discussing or arguing.
Lord, let my heart be good soil,
open to the seed of your word.
Lord, let my heart be good soil,
where love can grow, and peace is understood.
When my heart is hard, break the stone away.
When my heart is cold, warm it with the day.
When my heart is lost, lead me on your way.
Lord, let my heart be good soil. Amen.