The fruitful Word goes forth

Matthew 13: 1 - 9

1.That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
2.And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach.
3.And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow.
4.And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
5.Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
6.but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away.
7.Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
8.Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9.He who has ears, let him hear."

St Martin-on-the-hill sermon

According to Matthew this is the first parable that Jesus told. As he sits in the boat teaching the people it is possible that he could see a sower sowing seed up the hill from the shore. Who is the sower in the parable? I suggest, Jesus himself. The seed are the words he is speaking and the soil the hearts and minds of his listeners.

The image of the eastern farmer sowing seed by scattering the seed around him as he walks up and down the land is used by the British and Foreign Bible Society (now known simply as 'The Bible Society') as the symbol of its work of printing and distributing the scriptures. Behind this work is the belief that if you scatter the word of God it will find its way into human hearts and produce fruit. A new printing press in China can turn out 12 million bibles a year - one every second - and it is currently printing scriptures to be distributed at the Olympic Games: 50,000 gospel booklets, 10,000 complete bible, and 30,000 new testaments. The distribution is sanctioned by the Chinese authorities and the Beijing Olympic committee is allowing its logo to be on these items.

All preachers are sowers of the word of God in the hearts and minds of their hearers. Where this work is done faithfully, and preaching is not mis-used for the propogation of personal opinion or worldly opinion the preacher can trust that the word will produce fruit for the glory of God.

Tmorrow, 14th July, is the 175th anniversary of the preaching of a sermon by John Keble in Oxford which sparked the Anglo-Catholic Revival (commonly called the Oxford Movement) in the Church of England. Its fruit was spiritually nourishing and has sustained the souls of Anglicans ever since. The history of this church and its Christian community has been richly blessed as a direct consequence of that sermon. So also have the lives of those in all parts of the Anglican Communion. Keble was an Anglican priest and the son of an Anglican priest. At the time of the sermon he was a brilliant scholar of Oriel College and the Professor of Poetry in Xford. His book of poems 'The Christian Year', based on nthe collects and readings of the Book of Common Prayer, provide the words of some of our most popular hymns. His Assize Sermon denounced the liberalism of his day and the reduction of the church to a branch of government. It championed gospel truth and reclaimed the church as a divine institution. Others took up and propogated these seeds. Afterwards Keble withdrew to his father's country parish, which in due course he inherited. There he quietly and faithfully worked as a humble parish priest until his death in 1866 at the age of 74. His life and his sermon are being commemorated tomorrow by an hour of silent thanksgiving and intercession in churches around the world, including here at St Saviour's and at Dulverton Hall. (Ask for details if you are interested). The witness of the catholic movement among Anglicans is still needed if gospel life and truth are to be preserves to continue producing fruit among us.

There is no point in praying the Lord of the harvest to send more laboureres into the harvest unless first the sower goes forth to sow his seed and produce a crop. The primary call of God to His Church today is for sowers who will sow good seed in the soil of men's hearts. Do you hear this call and, if so, how will you respond?