FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth
February 15, 2004
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15
Twelve years ago, our former interim pastor Dr. Davison Philips told a story to a group of Presbyterian women about four kinds of people whom he said were difficult to govern in the United Kingdom. Remember, before Dr. Philips was our interim pastor and long before he was president of Columbia Seminary, pastor of churches in Decatur and Thomasville, and assistant pastor here in the 1940’s – going all the way back to Scotland where he completed his graduate work in Theology – Dr. Philips began to develop some first-hand knowledge about the people in the United Kingdom, and this is what he said:
“The Scots keep the Sabbath and anything else they can get their hands on,
the Welsh pray to God and prey on their neighbors,
the Irish can’t make up their minds what they want but are willing to fight fiercely for it, and the English consider themselves self-made, thus relieving God of an awesome responsibility.”
That’s how Davison Philips described the four kinds of people in the United Kingdom.
Another church leader, writing to the Presbyterian magazine “Monday Morning,” had a different perspective on four kinds of people in the church. She said that “their names were Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Well, Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done”! (From “Monday Morning,” January 9, 1995, page 24)
Now, our sermon today isn’t about the United Kingdom but focuses instead on the Kingdom of God. And the four kinds of people in Jesus’ Parable aren’t Scottish, Welsh, Irish or English, neither are they named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
But with those few disclaimers, I do believe that we in the church can recognize the Four Kinds of People to whom our Lord referred. And if we listen ever so carefully to Jesus’ words today, I hope and pray that we can discover and discern the kind of people that He has called all of us to be and to become.
I.
The Parable of the Sower, the Seed and the Soil is recorded in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8, which are called the Synoptic gospels, meaning that they tell the story from a similar point of view. In fact, the words these three authors use to quote Jesus as He told the parable are almost identical, underscoring, I think, both the authenticity and the central importance and authority of this profound and familiar story about the Kingdom of God.
So imagine now, in your mind’s eye, how Jesus spoke to those crowds and set the scene before them of a farmer sowing seed as he walked along the road. Jesus said:
As he sowed, some (of the seed) fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it (Verses 4-5).
When the disciples asked for further explanation, the Lord offered this interpretation:
The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard, but then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved (verses 11-12).
It seems to me that this first category of people might be called “disinterested.” Jesus said that the seed was “trodden under foot,” indicating that these folks had places to go, people to meet and things to do as they traveled the road of life.
The late German theologian Helmut Thielicke described them as people walking “a busy street where they go rushing by hour after hour… where there is never a moment of rest, which will hardly provide the soil in which the seed (of the kingdom) can grow.” (“The Waiting Father: Sermons on the Parables of Jesus” by Helmut Thielicke, Harper and Brothers, 1959, page 54).
In ecclesiastical jargon, we might call them “church shoppers” – folks who are constantly in motion from one congregation to another, wanting to listen to a certain preacher here, to enjoy the music of a great choir there, or to absorb the wisdom of a dynamic Bible teacher somewhere else. Church shoppers.
You may have seen the article last December in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about a group akin to the church shoppers. They are called “faith hoppers,” and the article written by David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, begins this way:
“Faith hopping is an American curiosity. George W. Bush was born into an Episcopal family and raised as a Presbyterian, but he is now a Methodist. Howard Dean was baptized Catholic and raised as an Episcopalian. He left the church after it opposed a bike trail he was championing, and now he is a Congregationalist, though his kids consider themselves Jewish.
Wesley Clark’s father was Jewish. As a boy he was Methodist, then decided to become a Baptist. In adulthood he converted to Catholicism, but as he recently told Beliefnet.com, ‘I’m a Catholic, but I go to a Presbyterian church.’” (Faith-hopping An American Curiosity” by David Brooks, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 21, 2003)
On the surface of things, that may sound all right in our consumer-oriented culture. But when people continue to shop around and are not interested in putting any roots down, Jesus said that their spiritual lives would not, could not grow. Why? Because people who are constantly “in motion” are actually disinterested in the deeper dimensions of faith – and without that depth, said Jesus, the birds, symbolic of the evil one, will come to take the seed, the Word of God, away.
It was Martin Luther who once said, “We can’t stop the birds from flying over our heads, but we must take heed lest they build their nests in our hair” (Ibid, page 56). So if there are any “church shoppers” here this morning, worshiping with us in this sanctuary or by television and radio, I invite and encourage you to settle in and to make this your church home, so that the seed of God’s Word can take root and grow in your heart, your mind and your soul.
II.
Jesus went on in the parable to say that:
Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture (verse 6).
Both Matthew and Mark add to the story that the seed had no depth of soil in the rocky ground, and the sun rose and scorched it.
Now if the first kind of people can be described as “church shoppers” who are “disinterested” in God’s kingdom, then this second kind might be called “distracted church goers.” They are usually the folks who belong to a particular congregation, but do not come to worship or Sunday School on a regular basis, neither do they get involved in the ministry and mission of God’s kingdom. Cynics refer to them as “Christmas and Easter Christians.”
Gerald Kennedy used to tell the story about a man who planned to join a Methodist church in Los Angeles on a Sunday morning. He called the pastor on Friday and said, “I’m not going to be able to make it.” The next day, on Saturday, he called and said, “Guess what, I can come. I found out that the Rams are playing out of town.” And that’s the way it is for some people who are churchgoers but just don’t want to get involved.
What a contrast with the description given by Dr. Charles Osgood, a professor at Princeton University many years ago, who worshipped faithfully every Sunday at the Nassau Presbyterian Church where I once served as a youth ministry intern. Listen:
“Have you ever wandered into this church on a weekday, when it is empty and silent and you are alone? As you walked quietly about the aisles, or dropped into a pew and sat in silence, have you ever thought of all that has taken place under this roof? Of the uncounted thousands who, generation after generation, have gathered here for prayer and worship? Of the happy relations of family and neighbors and friends which have in this place been exalted and hallowed? Of the grand sum of thoughts and feelings, which here in this place have thrilled men and women to the depths of their souls and raised them higher than they ever dreamed possible? Of the burdens and doubts, the grief and pain of heart and body which nowhere else but here can be transformed into peace of mind?”
My friends, if you identify in any way with this second kind of people in the parable who are churchgoers but distracted and not really involved, then it could be that the time has come for you to resolve today to recommit yourself to the Lord and to let Him lead you toward a more fulfilling Christian life. What better time than now, what better place than here to open your heart and ask Him, invite Him to draw near to you?
III.
The third dimension of the Parable of the Sower, the Seed and the Soil focuses our attention on Jesus’ description of the seed that fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain (verse 7).
This third kind of people could be described as destructive to the kingdom, “church blockers” let’s call them, who belong to the community of faith but whose anger, resentment and desire for retaliation wreak havoc and discord within the congregation.
Some of you may remember the story which was told by Father Elias Chacour, a Palestinian priest, who lives in a place called Ibillin, and it’s a story about what happened in the congregation he served one Palm Sunday morning. Elias Chacour has spoken here at our church in the past.
“On Palm Sunday, every bench was packed. Nearly the entire congregation had come. I stood up raising my hands to signal the start of the service, but I was jolted by the stark and staring faces on both sides of the aisle representing two groups of people who were hostile toward each other and had been for a long, long time.
I rose and began the first hymn, certain that no one would be attracted by our pathetically dismal singing. People just stood there glowering at each other. Nervously I hoped that no one would notice the odd lump in the pocket beneath my robe. What followed was a surprise. The people did not expect what was coming.
At the close of the liturgy, everyone rose for the benediction. I lifted my hand, my stomach fluttering, and then I dropped my hand and strode toward the open doors at the back of the church and the narthex. Everyone watched me as I went and from my pocket I pulled a thick chain, laced it through the door handles and fastened it firmly with a padlock. And then I returned to the front.
I looked at them and I said, ‘Sitting in this building doesn’t make anyone a Christian. You are a divided people. You argue and you hate each other. You gossip and spread malicious lies. If you can’t love your brothers and sisters that you see, how can you say you love God who is invisible? You have allowed the body of Christ to be divided and disgraced.
For many months, I have tried to unite you and I have failed because I am only a man. But there is someone else who can bring you together in true unity. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the one who gives you power to forgive. So now I will be quiet and allow Him to give you that power. If you will not forgive,’ said Elias Chacour, ‘we are going to stay locked in here. You can kill each other and I’ll provide your funerals for free.’
It was silent, and then one man, Abu Mouhib, stood up on one side of the aisle and said ‘I’m sorry. I am the worst of all. I’ve hated the people on the other side of this aisle, hated them so much I wanted to kill them. More than anyone, I need forgiveness.’ And then he looked at me and said, ‘Abuna, can you forgive me too?’
I was amazed. I said, ‘Come here.’ We greeted one another and embraced, and I said, ‘Of course I forgive you. Now go and greet your brothers on the other side,’ and before he was halfway down the aisle, those men stood up and came toward him. In an instant, the church was a chaos of embracing and repentance. People who had not spoken to each other in years opened their hearts and lives again.
Chacour said, ‘Next Sunday is Easter. We are not going to wait to celebrate the resurrection. Let’s continue to celebrate it now. We were dead to each other, but today we have come alive.”
(“Blood Brothers,” by Elias Chacour, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1984, paraphrase of pages 169-172)
Perhaps the time has come, right here, right now, for each of us and all of us to decide and to declare that in this church and across the Presbyterian Church, USA, we will “Speak the truth in love” as the Apostle Paul exhorted us to do, and learn to live together as brothers and sisters in the faith.
It was Edward Markham who held that vision before all of us when he wrote:
“They drew a circle to shut me out,
a heretic, a rebel, someone to flout;
but love and I had the wit to win,
we drew a circle that drew them in.”
That’s the Spirit of Jesus Christ, a reconciling, peace-giving Spirit, and God knows we need it in the church and in our world today.
CONCLUSION
And that leads us to the last part of this parable where Jesus talked about the good soil. He said Some seed fell into good soil and it grew, and it yielded a hundred fold. And then by way of explanation He said, There are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bring forth fruit with patience. And that is where we want and need to be – good soil, open to God’s Word, connected to one another and in such a community the faith will grow. I’m talking now about people who are devoted to the Lord and dedicated to the work of His kingdom on earth.
Barbara Brown Taylor, a good friend of this congregation, reminds us that that the sower in this parable was flinging seed everywhere with holy abandon – feeding the birds, whistling at the rocks, picking his way through the thorns, shouting ‘hallelujah’ at the good soil as he just kept on sowing, confident that there was enough seed to go around. And when the harvest comes at last, it will fill every barn in the neighborhood to the rafters. (“The Seeds of Heaven,” Barbara Brown Taylor, Forward International Publishing, 1990, pages 11-12)
How does that happen? Well, as a friend of mine, a Bible teacher in this church, said to me just last week, it happens when we receive the seed, when we grow in faith and like a vineyard, the seed from the fruit begins to be spread everywhere. She said that’s the way the church began to grow at the very beginning and I believe that’s still our role still today - not only to be good soil but to help the sower spread the seed without deciding who’s going to listen, who’s going to reject, who’s in and who’s out - that’s not up to us.
Dr. Tom Tewell, in closing a sermon up at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, asked the congregation a question which I think is profound. He inquired “What’s the best time to plant a tree?” And he answered, “The best time to plant a tree was one hundred years ago, but the second best time to plant a tree is right now.”
I am convinced that is what God in Jesus Christ is calling us to do, right here and right now – to be good soil, to receive the seed and then to plant that seed and to scatter it wherever we go and in all that we say and in everything we do. That’s the way it’s supposed to be in the church, and that’s the way it works in the Kingdom of God on earth. And Jesus concluded, Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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