Biblical Text: Matthew 13v1-9, 18-23

A couple of years ago, while we were still living in Durham, I joined a thousand or so others, and ran a 5k through the city. If you’d been near the finish, you might have caught a glimpse of me, trying to stay upright as I careened down the hill from the cathedral towards the finish line. I was going as fast as my little legs would carry me, trying to overtake the runner in front. I failed. As I crossed the finish line, red faced and catching my breath, I looked across to see the runner I had tried to catch…and they’d hardly broken a sweat! They looked like they’d just finished a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Turns out, many people that enter these races belong to running clubs. And while my idea of training is simply pulling my shoes on whenever I find a spare half hour, others invest a lot more time and energy. They run up hills, on purpose. They run intervals. They watch what they eat and drink. And they do all this in a community of other runners who can encourage them and spur them on. 

Me? Well, I’m not completely ignorant. I read my monthly running magazine and I can tell you plenty about what to do to get faster in theory, but others actually put those things into practice. It’s shocking I know, but those are the runners that really excel.

Jesus’s parable today is a warning to anyone who might be treating his message like I treat my running, and an encouragement that there is another way. This parable is quite unique in the Bible, because Jesus explains what it means. We have a sower, going out into the field, and sowing the seed – he’s speaking the word of God, telling people about God’s kingdom. But the results vary wildly depending on who hears the message:

– Some people hear the message, but they don’t understand it. So they never grow. It’s as though the seed has fallen on the path and never taken root.

– Others hear, get excited, but quit when trouble arrives. The seed has sprung up quickly, but withered because it‘s roots don’t go deep enough.

– Still others hear, but soon get distracted by worries and wealth. The seed has been choked by weeds and thorns.

– But some hear the message of God’s kingdom, they understand it, and they respond to the invitation. Jesus tells us they are like good soil, which produces a real harvest. 

So what is this message? What do we need to hear and understand? It’s simple. ‘For God so loved the world that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in him should not die but have eternal life’ (John 3v16). You may have heard it before. But if we understand that message we can’t stop there. It’s a message that invites us to respond. Jesus said he had come that we may have life, and life to the full (John 10v10). Eternal life starts now. And how? When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus responded, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself.’ That’s not a minor response. It’s going to require change.

I find this parable challenging every time I read it. I wonder where you’d put yourself in Jesus’ parable? What sort of soil are you?

You see, it’s one thing to know what you should do, but true understanding and true wisdom is shown in taking action. I can read all the running magazines I can find, but unless I act on their advice, I’m not going to get any faster. If God loves us, we are called to respond. 1 John 4v19 says that we love because he first loved us. We are called to love him and to love our neighbour. And that requires action.

So, let me tell you the good news today. God loves you, Christ died for you, and you are invited and called to live a changed life. And there’s more good news, you don’t have to do it alone. God promises the Holy Spirit to give us strength and endurance, and he gives us the church to stand with us and support us. So don’t just hear the gospel, act on it. Let’s be doers of the word, not just hearers (James 1v22).

Amen.