Sixth Sunday after Trinity
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ”
Summary
It’s always all about us! We so often read the Bible, especially the parables to tell us something about us, who we are and how we should behave. Today’s readings can certainly be read in that light but actually they are all about God and what God is like. If we start with God, in whose image and likeness we are made, who we are will become clear. Isaiah 55:10-13 comes as a relief after long passages about how God’s people have made a mess a things; it promises that whatever we do, God’s purposes will still be accomplished. God’s creative Word will not return empty but, once spoken, will achieve God’s purposes. In Matthew, 13:1-9, 18-23, there is an interpretation of the parable of the sower which focuses on the kind of soil in which God’s word can take root and flourish. Yet the more important and astonishing point of the parable is that the farmer sows his seed, not just on the good soil, but everywhere: rocky, thorny, dry, the farmer doesn’t care. This God offers everyone the opportunity to thrive; this God is generous and profligate with God’s gifts. Whether the soil is rocky or thorny or good, the harvest will come and it will be a bumper crop. Our task then, is to work with God, mirroring God’s generosity and impartiality, knowing that the fruits of the harvest are in God’s hands not ours.
FIRST READING
Isaiah 55:10-13
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
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.
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 shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
GOSPEL
Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23
‘That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 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. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’‘
Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty
