Proper 10A A Crazy Sower

From Johnny Appleseed,

"Oh, and every seed I sow,

Will grow into a tree.

And someday there'll be apples there,

For everyone in the world to share.

Oh, the Lord is good to me,

Oh, the Lord is good to me,

And so I thank the Lord,

For giving me the things I need;

The sun and the rain and the apple seed.

The Lord is good to me."

Franklin lies on the wandering path of the American legend Johnny Appleseed, otherwise known as John Chapman, born in Massachusetts in the late 1700's. He kept journals as he walked across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois. He planted apple cider orchards (not the juicy apples we normally eat). But the apple cider was helpful for the settlers who followed him later in order to have something to drink instead of unsanitary water. Even during his lifetime, legends began to spring up about this interesting and pioneering man.

In every regard, Johnny Appleseed was a carefree and generous sower. He planted in places where there was no one even living yet; he would start the process, but then he would leave and let things grow as they may.

I mention Johnny Appleseed as a generous sower, because I do want to focus on the Sower in the parable from Matthew today. We do call it the Parable of the Sower, after all, not the parable of the soil. When preachers look at the Parable of the Sower, we tend to focus on the soil. We see the Sower as God, we see the seeds as God's Word, and us as the soil, in which the seed is planted and something might grow. This is the way that the author of the Gospel of Matthew sees this parable and how he offers his commentary on it. However, when you look at just the parable, there are other ways of seeing it as well. That is one of the many joys of a parable, a story. You can be any and all of the parts of it and there are lessons to be learned in all areas.

When it comes to this Sower, well, this sower is very different than any other farmer in the world. Most farmers treat their good seed like precious jewels. They don't just throw them all over the place. Early in the spring, the farmer starts going out into the fields to prepare the fields for the seed. They turn and plow and soften and water, making sure the soil is ready to go. Then they carefully plant the seeds in the good soil. At the edges of the fields, they stop sowing seeds. They don't waste their good seed by throwing it into the weeds or on the roads. They take great care because good seed is for good soil and a precious commodity, not something to throw around. Even in the ancient world, the farmers were very careful with their seed and their soil. They knew where their fields ended and they knew not to waste the seed.

This is where Jesus's sower is completely different and would be a shock to every farmer or gardener. Jesus' sower almost seems completely careless, or perhaps carefree. He throws the seed this way and that, willy nilly, all over the place. He throws it on the good soil, in the weeds, on the rocks, on the path. Effectively not only does he plant seeds in good soil, he also feeds the birds and the thorns. He helps erosion by having plants grow around rocks and create new soil. Actually, this way, it sounds more like the sower is generous not careless. What looks like carelessness is actually generosity and an holistic approach to the whole ecosystem. This sower is tending to the health of the birds and the soil while planting crops. He doesn't just care about his own crops and making a profit for himself. He cares about all creation. He is abundant and generous. 

Jesus was pointing out the parable of the sower as a teaching, and boy can we learn lots of things from this parable.  Jesus has been teaching his disciples how they are supposed to act in the world as disciples. He has been calling his followers to new life in him, new thoughts and actions and behaviors. We are also called to act as the sower did, abundantly generously, even beyond the profits to ourselves. When we see ourselves as the Sower, wandering through the fields of our lives throwing seeds; we see our calling to spread the Good News in a new light. We aren't just to be spreading that Good News in well prepared places, we also are to be generous and spreading the Good News in rough places, trusting in God for the rain and the sun for the seeds to grow.

In many ways, it is easier to understand our real mission in spreading the Good News when we look at this parable as the parable of the sower. Our mission is to spread the Good News like the sower spreads the seeds: generously, all over the place. In the rocks and on the path and in the thorns. We already know some of us are rocky and thorny, we know other humans are rocky and thorny too, but that shouldn't stop us from throwing the seed, from spreading the Good News. It shouldn't stop us from caring about them. Generosity is one of the marks of a disciple of Christ. God gives us such abundant gifts and we are called to share them generously. 

When it comes to legendary people like John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed,

part of what makes them legendary is that they can be seen as crazy. Johnny Appleseed was considered legendary because of his outdoor ability and his overwhelming generosity in planting apple orchards for people who weren't there yet and whom he would never meet.  A few years ago, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry wrote a whole book about how we should be "crazy Christians," known for our generosity and our caring for people, even people we don't like or haven't even met yet. 

May we all become crazy Christians, spreading the Good News of God's great love generously. 

"Oh, and every seed I sow,

Will grow into a tree.

And someday there'll be apples there,

For everyone in the world to share.

Oh, the Lord is good to me,

Oh, the Lord is good to me,

And so I thank the Lord,

For giving me the things I need;

The sun and the rain and the apple seed.

The Lord is good to me."

Amen.