Isaiah 55:10-13 (and Romans 8:1-11) and Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
On
Monday night, I took my boys to the cinema to see Spider-Man: Homecoming. We had a good time. Spider-Man is an
interesting character, because he is the secret identity of a fifteen-year-old
high school student. And while most fifteen-year-olds haven’t been given
superhuman strength and agility, Peter Parker’s story allows us to recognise
and explore so much that is going on at that age. Here is a teenager, desperate
to be part of something bigger, to be included with the grown-ups, to be
mentored by someone he looks up to; while at the same time needing and guarding
privacy to grow into his identity without everyone looking on; navigating
friendship and a growing, vulnerable awareness of romantic attraction to
girls—alongside a boyish unawareness of girls liking him. He swings between
over-confidence and lack of self-belief, soaring high and crashing low. He
makes poor decisions, with damaging consequences. And around him, his mentor
Iron Man, his aunt May, his best friend Ned, and a host of other characters,
consciously and unconsciously help shape his world and his finding his place
within it.
It
is likely that several of ‘the Twelve’—the symbolic group at the core of Jesus’
disciples—were teenagers. Though not superheroes, Peter Parker’s story
resonates with theirs—and with ours as those who are trying to figure-out and
grow-into our identity as followers of Jesus.
In
our Gospel reading today we heard the parable of the sower. It will help to
know something of the context. The lake, around which so many of the stories of
Jesus are centred, is surrounded by hills. The population lived in small towns
and villages, in an agricultural peasant economy. On the edge of a settlement
would be a large field subdivided into strips belonging to each family, not
dissimilar to allotments. Each family lived on what they grew, to eat or to
trade, but would harvest communally. The fields had several common features the
crowd listening to Jesus would be familiar with:
Firstly,
there were paths between the plots, so that you could access your strip without
walking over your neighbours’. Good paths make for good neighbours.
Secondly,
because the land was not flat, it had to be terraced, in steps up the hillside.
The best places to build a retaining wall were where there was bedrock close to
the surface, providing a foundation.
Thirdly,
the edges of the fields were planted with thorns, to prevent animals from
getting in and eating the crop intended for humans.
If
you were fortunate, you had a plot that was not so constrained by path or rock
or thorns, maximising your good soil; but everybody had a shared investment in
these things.
But
what has any of this got to do with Spider-Man? And, more to the point, what
has it to do with us? I want to suggest that the different areas of the field
speak to us of different aspects of our lives, that shape our identity for good
or ill.
First,
the path. The path speaks to us of family, of connectedness within
community. Peter Parker can’t talk to aunt May about his new identity, and for
many of us it is hard to speak of Jesus or to follow Jesus when we are with
those who know us best or longest. There are times when we let opportunities
pass us by, because it is too hard. On the one hand, I think we need to
acknowledge that; and on the other hand, I don’t think we need to beat
ourselves up about it. Even if seeds don’t take root along the path, they do
take root alongside the path. Eventually, aunt May will have to get her head
around who her nephew is, and is involved with. Often with family members it is
wise to let them ask their own questions in their own time.
The
other thing to note about family and growing into our identity is the way in
which Peter Parker looks to Tony Stark—Iron Man—as a mentor. If we want to grow
into our new identity in Christ, we need mentors too. Who are you learning
from? Who is mentoring you? Or, who are you mentoring? (Is that the heart of
being a godparent?) A word of caution: if you are listening to too many mentors,
or involved in too many communities—if you are over-involved relationally—you
might multiply path upon path at the expense of good soil for growing.
Second,
the rocky ground. The rocky ground speaks to us of foundations. Like family,
the foundational things of our lives—where we grew up, our education, our
experience of gender, to list a few examples—set parameters around our ability
to receive the word God sows in our hearts. Foundational things are not
determinative, but they are significant. They tend to be built slowly, and they
tend to be moved slowly—though this is not always the case. I think of our
Iranian brothers and sisters who knew that, in the long term, it would be very
difficult for their faith in Jesus to flourish where they were, and who
therefore took the costly decision to relocate their lives.
The
other thing to note about foundations is their usefulness. Peter Parker wants
to quit high school and go off saving the world. His mentor wants him to engage
with his studies, and learn his trade: to be a friendly neighbourhood
Spider-Man. Working on the basic disciplines is indirect effort, enabling
something else. As those whose identity is in Christ, we cannot make ourselves
fruitful: but we can attend to the foundational things such as reading and
meditating on the Bible; and the daily conversation with God we call prayer;
and seeking to put love and forgiveness into practice.
Third,
the thorns. The thorns speak to us of fears, the things we try to protect
ourselves from, the defensive stance. Everyone fears something. Peter Parker
suffers from FOMO—Fear of Missing Out. It is one of the defining fears of our
age (ironically, the others are fear of suffering and of dying, which we try
hard to miss out on). The tragic irony is that our defences so often end up
imprisoning us. Fear is natural: but God’s perfect love drives out fear—and does
so in a way that expands our experience of life, rather than reducing it.
Fear
is never productive. Sometimes Fear of Missing Out drives us to so much
activity for God, or for the church, or for the community, that we burn out.
I’ve seen that happen many times. For others, fear of change—fear of the
unknown—causes us to hold on to the familiar long after it has served its good
purpose. Sometimes we need to face our fears directly, and act in faith—whether
that means taking a step forward, or taking a step back. And we won’t always
get it right: but the same love that drives out fear also covers a multitude of
sins, catches us when we fall short.
Fourth,
and finally, the good soil. The good soil speaks to us of fruitfulness. The first
thing to note in this parable, or story that reveals truth, is that we are the
field, not the seed or the sower. We cannot make our lives fruitful; but our
lives are designed by God to be fruitful, to be the context in which God’s good
intention for the world is expressed. This is true of every human life. The
second thing to note is that the seeds sown produce a harvest in varying
amounts. Fruitful life is a gift, given to all, not a competition. Peter Parker
is dealt a hand that enables him to be a superhero, to achieve great things;
but his geeky overweight friend Ned and his slightly stressed-out aunt May and
the owner of the corner bodega all have something unique and valuable to share
with the world too.
You
might be a hundred-fold person, or a sixty-fold person, or a thirty-fold
person. You might offer the world back a hundred-fold return on a small area of
good soil, or a sixty-fold return on a large field. The point is not a
comparison game. The point is that you are, inevitably, a person of
fruitfulness—and of paths and stones and thorny weeds.
Noting
all of this as true, what is
the word that Jesus has sown in you today? Perhaps it is a word that will set
you in a new family, God’s family? Or a word that says, God is the rock on
which you can stand, when everything else seems so uncertain? Perhaps it is a
whispered word of love, so amazing that it overwhelms your fear? Or a word of
fruitful purpose that makes your life a gift to others?
This is what the Lord says: ‘For as the rain and the snow
come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the
earth, making it
bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 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.’
Amen.
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