Sermon - Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

<p>Have you ever had the experience of reading a book or seeing a movie in which the story was so powerful that it stuck with you for a while and kept you thinking about it for the next several days?  This frequently happens to me.  For example, when I saw the movie <em>A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood</em>, the movie about Mr. Rogers, its themes of forgiveness and redemption were on my mind for several days afterwards. Jesus’ parables, those rich stories he shares, are designed to work that way in our minds and hearts.  In fact, theologian, John Dominic Crossan, suggests they are designed to be like time bombs that tick away in our heads as we continue to think about them, and then eventually they explode and their meaning takes us to new places in understanding God’s relationship with us. </p> <p>It is also important to remember that, by nature, Jesus’ parables can be interpreted in multiple ways.  In fact, as you hear each of his stories, you can insert yourself into any one of the various characters and then, by doing so, discern different and deeper understandings of what Jesus is saying. </p> <p>Today, we hear Jesus telling the crowd a parable about a farmer who has gone out to sow seed.  And, I have to say, this farmer seems quite irresponsible in the way he goes about planting his field.  He has a very unusual process for planting, something that makes no sense to our 21st century way of thinking.  Truthfully, he seems reckless and careless as he arbitrarily, indiscriminately, even <strong>wastefully</strong> throws seed everywhere.  In fact, he throws seed in the most unlikely of places and it appears that he does not know what he is doing.  When we think about planting, we know that farmers and gardeners ordinarily put an emphasis on <strong>planning</strong> <strong>before</strong> they plant.  First, they plow the field and prepare the soil, because they want the ground to have just the right pH balance.  Then, they inject the seed, irrigate the soil, and fertilize.  They do <strong>not</strong> ju