Then Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”- Matthew 13:3-9

Many of us have known this parable since we were little children. I remember my Sunday school teacher asking me what kind of soil am I? Now, that I am older, I realized that she shouldn’t asked a ten year old boy such difficult question. It did not traumatize me. I just did not have the maturity to answer the question. I was a child. My mind was still trying to figure many things. I did not even know the dynamics of the gardening. As I grew older, I read this parable and hoped that I was the soil that bore good fruit like everyone reading this. All of us want to be fruitful. All of us wants to be the best soil to receive the seed of the Word of God.

This is how we would interpret this parable as individuals. It is good way to reflect on this parable in our personal devotional time. However, we are here today as one body of Christ. We are tasked to understand this text as a community. Therefore, we need to listen to this parable the way the first hearers of this parable heard this. They would have interpreted the soil as a type of community. In those times, the individual is no one without the community. This is why, in the past, being exiled was a dreadful punishment, even comparable to death. Socrates, the famous Greek Philosopher whom almost everyone knows without much effort, refused to choose exile when he was unjustly convicted at a trial. He would rather risk death than to be exiled. Being without a community means losing your individuality. It was a fate worse than death.

The importance of being part of a community is not a cultural thing. It is a human thing. As human beings, we are social animals. It is the way God created us to be. We need the presence and influence of the other to grow as individuals. It is God’s design. When Jesus came into this world, He came to start a new community or as St Paul stated,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

The parable of the sower is about the New Creation. It was scandalous for the first hearers, especially to the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders. Jesus used the idea of the sower not because they lived in agricultural society. The language is rooted in the Prophetic tradition in the Old Testament. The idea of sowing and reaping was always associated with the hope of those who wanted to return to the promised land, the Land where they believed that God has prepared for them. The people of Israel believed that God especially handpicked them. They were the people who were entrusted with Holy Word of God. However, Jesus tells us in this parable that the Word of God was sowed generously and indiscriminately. God’s word of Life and Hope was not given to just one nation but to every people. Unfortunately, not everyone is interested. Some people or communities were interested but they lacked the depth. Some tried to have the best of both worlds and ended up losing everything. Like Jesus said,

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Mark 8:36

The Sower sows the seed generously. People gathered together might receive the word or reject it or not even value it. However, the generosity of God is bestowed upon all peoples. It doesn’t matter if they are in the church or outside the church. Some might think this is a scandalous thing to say. However, God’s word is not present exclusively in the church. The Pharisees thought that they were the exclusive custodians of the Word. However, God is not limited in His grace. He generously plants His Kingdom in all peoples.

This parable is scandalous. It is proposing a new mindset. It is introducing a new world vision.

God sows generously in hearts and minds of all people!

There is no such thing as a favored nation or people or individual. The word of Life is sowed freely. However, there are different qualities of soils. All of us want to be the good soil. Unfortunately, we don’t determine the quality. Soil cannot make itself good. In order for the soil to be perfect for bearing fruits, it needs a Gardener. Who else can be our Gardener except the Father Himself?

The gospel of John is the last gospel to be written. He fills the lacuna in the other gospels. He states it explicitly through the mouth of Jesus,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1

We cannot make ourselves the good soil as community. We need the gardener. He is not just helping us. We need more than help. We need to be transformed.

We are, in reality, hopeless without the action of the Divine Gardener. Perhaps this is the most scandalous thing for the Pharisees to hear. They believed that they were preparing for the coming of the Messiah. They believed that their actions and politically maneuvering could open the door for the Kingdom of God. All they did was allow the ways of the world to contaminate their faith and blind them from the true presence of the Christ. In the same way, we find communities which received the word of God with joy only to slowly turn into toxic communities which go against the very person of Jesus.

The soil that becomes fruitful is a community who waits for the divine Gardener to prepare the soil to bear good fruits.

Waiting is not doing nothing. Waiting means opening ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. It means acknowledging that the Work of God in our midst is real and active. This is not make believe. The Kingdom of God is here. The New Creation is real. However, we are not its creators. We are part of the New Creation. We are part of the Body. We are not the whole Body of Christ. We are just part of the body and the body can only act in accordance with the Head who is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Waiting means our hearts and minds are open to God. It means we are willing to become His instruments. We do this through prayer. Prayer is not passive. True and biblical prayer is a prelude to action. A poor imitation of prayer is one which negates action. We pray to ask God to use us as an instrument of His grace. Prayer also helps us endure painful moments in our community. It gives the wisdom to know that sometimes pain and suffering is a necessary process in the growth of a community in order to bear fruits. As the prophet Jeremiah prophesied,

Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Jeremiah 4:3

We break the fallow ground so that we can become a community that allows the seed of the Kingdom to grow deep into our lives. Removing the thorns which stifle and contaminate our growth can be a painful process. We cannot do this on our own because we are not loving and generous like God. Only God can remove all that hinders our growth without destroying anyone’s life in the process. Only God is Loving enough to be our gardener.

God wants to create a new creation. It doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen through adopting special biblical programs and strategies. It happens when we open hearts and minds to receive the presence of Jesus in our midst. Wherever Jesus is present, there is transformation. Whenever we gathered together with expectation to see Jesus act, we will see His actions. It is not enough for us to gather together. Everyone does this. We gather together with expectation to see Jesus. Then we allow His actions to dominate the actions of our lives. Only when we do this, we will see the Holy Spirit transforming our community into a community which bears the fruits of the New Creation.

In closing, this is the essence of our ministry in the streets. Everyday we go to the streets and wait for the person of Jesus to bring all the people whose hearts and minds are open to Him. He draws us together. Then He breaks the fallow ground in our hearts and remove all the thorns so that we will bear fruits of the New Creation. His New Creation is present everywhere. We just need to wait for the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to perceive it.