The Sower Comes Back Around

A sermon for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 10
July 12, 2026, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

Readings: Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

“Listen! A sower went out to sow.” Jesus tells a great crowd a story they could have related to. Historians have noted that at the time of Jesus, upwards of 90% of the Judean population was engaged in agriculture. It was not a successful enterprise. The people listening to Jesus would have known what it was like to scatter seed, care for the seed, baby the sprout, pray over the sapling, work day in and day out in the hot sun, and lose everything in the end. Times were hard; malnutrition was rampant. It was hard to be a farmer, and they would have always been on their guard. But Jesus today tells a story about a different kind of farmer, one who sows seed indiscriminately, who throws the seed on the path, on the rocks, in the thorns, and in the good soil. He sows abundantly, and things take their natural course. Birds come. The sun scorches. Thorns crowd. But sometimes a miracle happens. Sometimes the unexpected comes. And the good soil yields, not a meager crop, but more than they could ask or imagine. 

I just love parables, and this may be one of the most familiar ones. The Hebrew word for parable can be translated a couple of ways. It can also be translated as mystery or riddle. Parables are marvelous, and mysterious, things. One New Testament scholar notes that if we walk away from parables feeling comfortable, we may have missed the point. Parables can disturb. They can rouse us to greater faithfulness. They can convict us of falling short. And over and over and over again, parables are about God, about God’s goodness, about God’s faithfulness, about God’s promises that we can take for granted or forget. 

Today’s parable is easier to interpret. Jesus gives us the interpretation. The Word of God is sown in our lives. God is the one who does the sowing. Sometimes it takes; sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it yields; sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes there are complications; but sometimes there are miracles. Regardless of the outcome, the sower keeps coming back around. Regardless of the outcome, God keeps on casting the gospel into our lives. Regardless of the outcome, the Word of God seeks to take root. 

This is good news for those low on hope, a lot like the people in our reading from Isaiah. This portion of Isaiah is written during the Babylonian Exile. It is a prophetic word to those far from home, to those who think God does not see, that God has forgotten. God says through Isaiah, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” And its purpose is to renew the face of the earth: mountains burst into song, trees clap their hands, thorns are surplanted by cyprus, briers by myrtles. All that stands in the way of God’s Word taking root, of God’s promise coming true, is changed, converted, made new. The thorn doesn’t get the last word; there is hope. The brier doesn’t get to tell us the future; there is hope. Exile is not the end; there is hope that endures, sustains, calls us home. God keeps coming around; his Word and will take root; miracles happen, even today.

Listen! A sower went out to sow. For years now there has been a significant unhoused population in Hot Springs. Everyone knew it, and they wondered what to do. They cared for the homeless, they really did. But it’s such a big issue. There were conversations, city discussions, dreams. Seeds were being sown. But did they land on the path? God the Sower came back around.

Listen! A sower went out to sow. There was one cold winter, and those seeds had gone dormant. The homeless didn’t have a shelter. One of my predecessors shows up and sees a few men huddled in a stairway, trying to get out of the cold. “You can’t stay here,” he said. “Come inside.” And the warming shelter was born. Seeds were being sown. But did they land in rocky, shallow soil–would the good work last? God the Sower came back around.

Listen! A sower went out to sow. The shower ministry started; the snackpack ministry started; warming and cooling shelters outgrew us and became an ecumenical event; local restaurants provided food; citizens sent support. Seeds upon seeds upon seeds. But would the thorns choke them? God the Sower came back around.

Listen! A sower went out to sow. I was invited to go with a group to Ft. Smith to see an operation doing much of the work we dreamed of doing. A city official was meeting us. We toured; we asked questions; we wondered. The city official said something new: the city was in and would help with the director. Seeds were being sown. Is this good soil? God the Sower comes back around still.

It took over a decade, but we are seeing the harvest at the Community Resource Center. We are seeing a harvest not only there, but in every place where the vulnerable are cared for, places like CCMC, Project Hope Food Bank, Jackson House, and our own Aristocrat Manor ministry. We have engaged in this work, not because we are just extra good people or in pursuit of some political goal, but because Jesus said that however we treat the least among us is how we treat him. His word has been implanted and grown in our hearts. We have a gospel imperative, and we want to be among the sheep on Judgment Day. 

Some seeds have sprouted, but there are more seeds to sow, more prayers to pray, more dreams to dream. Lives have changed, and more will change. Hope has dawned, but God’s not done yet. God the Sower keeps coming around, and nothing will stop what he’s doing. Oh sure, birds come. The sun scorches. Thorns crowd. But sometimes a miracle happens. And the good soil yields, not a meager crop, but more than we could ever ask or imagine.