The other evening my husband and I were searching for something to watch on TV. We settled on what turned out to be a disturbing documentary about the dust bowl, an environmental catastrophe which started in the 1930’s and lasted for about a decade. A number of factors created the dust bowl. Rising wheat prices in the 1910s and 20s and increased demand for wheat from Europe during WW 1 encouraged farmers to plow up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat, corn and other row crops. But as the United States entered the Great Depression, wheat prices plummeted. Farmers tore up even more grassland in an attempt to harvest a bumper crop and break even. A drought in 1931 caused crops to fail, and the bare, over-plowed farmland was exposed. Without deep-rooted prairie grasses to hold the soil in place, it began to blow away.
This eroding soil led to massive dust storms and economic devastation—especially in the Southern Plains. Depression was rampant as people lost their livelihoods, their homes and their livestock. Animals suffocated and there was a horrible disruption in the food chain. The dust accumulated on every indoor surface. Housewives were known to commit suicide, as well as children who felt they were a financial burden to their parents.
It was a terrible time and there were painful lessons to learn. The combination of severe drought and bad farming procedures caused the soil to lose its richness. As every farmer and gardener knows, without good soil, seeds cannot flourish and nothing will grow. This truth is a central point in this morning’s gospel reading – the parable of the sower.
This parable talks about three different types of soil. Seed that lands on soil that has become hardened from being repeatedly walked on, simply sits on the surface, becoming food for the birds. The seed that falls on rocky soil has difficulty taking root. The seed that falls on soil that is covered in thorns must compete with already well-established plants and stands little chance. But the seed that falls on the soil that has been prepared, turned over and loosened until it is fine, thrives.
At first look, the parable of the sower appears to be about the quality of the soil. But I think it is mainly about the sower, the one who takes the care to plant the seeds. This means that the important characters in this parable, are us. We are the sowers, the ones to whom God has entrusted the mission of spreading the word of God. Without the sower, without us, there is no chance of a seed taking root and producing growth, no chance of the good news of the gospel being spread.
The types of soil in this parable refer to the different types of people who hear the word of God. People, like soil, are shaped by their environment. If soil is walked on over and over again, beaten down so that it becomes packed hard, it is no longer fit for the planting of seeds. People who have been walked on over and over again often develop a hardened exterior to protect themselves. The rocky soil describes those people who lack the staying power to deal with difficulty, retreating when the going gets rough. And finally, the soil filled with thorns easily translates into our overcrowded lives; there is no room in an already over-planted plot for anything more. And the good soil? Good soil takes years to cultivate. It must be fed and nurtured by the remains of plants that have come and gone. It must be worked and reworked and replenished.
In Matthew’s gospel, it is Jesus who first sows the “word of the king
dom” and it is the disciples who will next become sowers of the word. In this parable, Jesus is telling the disciples what to expect as they go about their mission. He is warning them that not all people will be receptive to their message. He is preparing them for obstacles along the way as they labor to sow the seeds of the gospel and bring about the Kingdom of God on earth.
Today’s reading is an invitation to us to be sowers of God’s word. What are we doing to plant the seeds of God’s Kingdom? What rocky, hard, overgrown places does God need us to sow a seed of hope, a seed of promise, a seed of compassion and encouragement? God knows there are so many desolate places and so many hurting people who just need one sower to plant one seed in order for growth and new life to take root.
William Weaver was one of those people. In 1964, William was a High School sophomore. That fall he and 13 other black students integrated the all-white west HS in Knoxville TN. As he recalled his first day he said, “As soon as we got into the school, the principal was calling the role and he said, “Bill Weaver,” and I said, “My name is William.” And he said, “Oh, you’re a smart ‘n’ word.”
“I had been in the school maybe 30 minutes. And he suspended me. I don’t remember a day that a teacher didn’t tell me that I didn’t belong. We’d have a test and they’d stand over me and then just snatch my paper under me and say, “Times up.” The first report card I got all F’s including Phys Ed. So I’ve gone from being a good student to starting to think, ‘Well maybe I don’t belong. Maybe I am dumb.’”
“I was home one evening wondering what I’m going to do and there was a knock on the door, and it was my 7th grade science teacher, from the black school, Mr. Hill. He said, “I understand you’re having some trouble.” I said, “Yeah, Mr. Hill, I think they’re trying to run me away.” And he said, “What I need you to do is come back to the Junior High School after school every day and Sat. mornings. Can you do that?” And I said, “Yes sir.” And so every day waiting for me would be Mr. Hill with assorted other teachers, the English teacher, the math teacher, and they tutored me. And once I got past those F’s I stopped doubting myself. But learning became almost a spiteful activity to prove the teachers at the HS wrong. And no matter what I did academically or athletically, I was never recognized at that school.”
“I never had a conversation with the counselor about going to college but during my senior year I got a letter saying you’ve been awarded a scholarship, so I ended up going to Howard university. And 37 years later after I left High School, I’m at my older brother’s funeral talking to Mr. Hill and I said, “You know, Mr. Hill, if I had not gotten that scholarship I don’t know what would have happened to me. And I don’t know how I got the scholarship because I never even applied for it. And he said, “I know, because I filled in the application and sent it off for you.”
“So Mr. Hill stepped in and I believe saved my life. And at the time I did not realize how much I was being helped. And that is the ignorance of youth. And the wisdom of age when you look back on it and say how did I get here, how did I make it. Because people helped you whether you knew it or not.” Dr. William Weaver is now Chief of Surgery at the Fayetteville, North Carolina VA Medical Center.
God has given us seeds of the gospel to sow. We are the sowers of this seed that need just a bit of light and water to grow, just a bit of opportunity. There are many people who need our help, our seeds of kindness and love, patience and recognition, people that have been stepped on so much that you would think they are beyond hope, unable to receive any gesture of grace, but they are not. It is amazing how transformative just one seed can be when we stop and notice and recognize the need and the potential of a fellow human being. So go ahead. Be generous with your kindness. Look a little more closely at those around you. Notice who needs help. Tend to the soil that has become hardened and rocky. Sow those seeds freely, scattering them widely. And then may God look upon us and see all the new life that has occurred because we cared and took the time to be sowers of the gospel, growing and expanding seed by seed, person by person, the very Kingdom of God.