Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 7/12/2026
Lessons: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Good morning!
...and welcome to another exciting episode of Gardening Tips from Jesus.
Today we'll be discussing proper seed distribution, soil composition, moisture retention, and if time permits, composting.
Who knew the Son of God had such strong opinions about topsoil?
Of course, all of you veteran Bible scholars know Jesus wasn't trying to win "Farmer of the Year."
He wasn't giving agricultural advice.
He was telling a parable.
And parables are wonderfully strange things.
They aren't simply illustrations.
They aren't moral fables.
They're invitations.
Jesus even tells us the who and why.
He quotes the prophet Isaiah, saying there are people who "hear but do not understand."
Parables do two things at the same time:
They reveal truth to people willing to wrestle with it.
And they conceal truth from people who aren't interested enough to ask another question.
To one person it's just a story about a farmer.
To another, it's an entirely new way of seeing the world.
It's almost as though Jesus says,
"If you're willing to lean in...there's more here."
So...
Let's lean in.
Because I think Jesus is still scattering seed this morning.
Not just onto Galilean hillsides.
But onto us.
Onto people who are tired.
People who are anxious.
People carrying grief.
People trying to decide what comes next.
People wondering if God still has anything to say to them.
The question isn't whether God is scattering seed.
The question is...
Where does it land?------
Now, Jesus explains the four soils as four different ways people receive God's Word.
But I wonder if they're also four different landscapes inside every one of us.
Because every single one of us has different voices competing for the steering wheel.
Every day.
Every decision.
Every opportunity.
Every relationship.
Every invitation from God.
Some voice always speaks first.
And maybe Jesus is asking us...
Which voice gets the final word? ##
When Jesus is asked elsewhere,
"What is the greatest commandment?"
He does something remarkable.
He doesn't quote one of the 613 commandments in the Torah.
He summarizes them all.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart...
with all your soul...
with all your mind...
and with all your strength."
Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength.
Body. Emotions. Intellect. Spirit.
The whole person.
That's you.
That's me.
And I wonder if those four soils sound a little like those four parts of ourselves –
The four parts competing for the steering wheel –
The four parts that make us, us –
And with deference to the one voice that Jesus is asking us to amplify…
Let's begin with the body.
I remember the anti-drug campaign from the 1980s?
Some of you do. It was Nancy Reagan and:
"Just Say No."
Simple.
Direct.
Three words.
I was talking with a friend of mine back then who smoked marijuana almost every day.
He laughed at the slogan.
Then he asked one question:
"Just Say No? Why?"
Why should I?
It helps me relax.
It numbs the pain.
It makes me feel better.
His body had already answered the question before his Spirit ever got involved.
Our bodies are wonderful gifts from God.
They're also remarkably persuasive.
They crave comfort.
They avoid pain.
They love routine.
They're built for survival.
And when survival becomes our only lens...
every new possibility feels dangerous.
Forgiveness feels dangerous.
Generosity feels dangerous.
Serving feels exhausting.
Changing feels uncomfortable.
This is the hard path.
The seed never even gets beneath the surface because comfort has already declared,
"No thanks."##
Then there's the rocky soil.
The emotions.
This voice is enthusiastic.
Optimistic.
Impulsive.
It's the part of us that signs up for a gym membership on January first.
Orders new running shoes.
Buys matching water bottles.
Posts motivational quotes.
And by February...
the shoes are hanging in the garage…
The emotions love beginnings.
They're less excited about Tuesdays.
About perseverance.
About showing up after the excitement fades.
Ten years ago the online dating world changed forever.
One little invention.
The swipe.
Suddenly meeting another human being looked less like conversation...
…and more like pulling the lever on a slot machine.
Swipe. Swipe. Swipe.
Researchers discovered something fascinating.
The apps were intentionally designed around variable rewards.
Maybe the next swipe...
Maybe the next person...
Maybe this one...
Which meant people weren't simply looking for relationships anymore.
They were chasing dopamine.
Eventually many users reported exhaustion.
Burnout.
Feeling more lonely than when they began.
Because emotions are wonderful servants... but terrible leaders.
They flare brightly.
Then disappear.
Jesus says seeds on rocky soil spring up quickly...
…then wither.
How many of us have started something wonderful...
….only to let our enthusiasm expire before our faith had time to grow roots?
I’m glad I’m not the only one…##
Body… Emotions… Then we come to the thorns. The intellect.
This one surprised me.
Because the intellect is one of God's greatest gifts.
I love thinking.
Most of you know that, heck, you’re Episcopalians!
Books.
History.
Theology.
Ideas.
God gave us minds to use.
But intellect has a shadow side.
It can explain away anything.
In 1857, the Supreme Court issued its infamous Dred Scott decision.
7 of the 9 smartest legal minds in America concluded that enslaved people were property.
Not citizens.
Property.
Brilliant minds.
Terrible conclusion.
Intelligence doesn't automatically produce wisdom.
Sometimes it simply produces more sophisticated justifications.
Sometimes the intellect can become a prison.
It wants more information.
Another spreadsheet.
One more article.
One more podcast.
One more comparison.
One more analysis.
Until eventually...…nothing happens.
Jesus says the thorns choke the plant.
Notice...
they don't kill it immediately.
They slowly crowd out its life.
I've seen this happen as a pastor.
A man once came into my office with a decision to make.
He'd been offered a wonderful new job.
Better salary.
Excellent benefits.
Short commute.
Every box on the spreadsheet checked.
His intellect had already decided.
Except...
his spirit hadn't… which is why he was in my office.
Something about the company's culture troubled him.
Something about its values felt hollow.
He couldn't quite explain it.
There wasn't a logical reason.
Just an inner restlessness.
He eventually turned the offer down.
Months later he discovered the company was collapsing under a toxic culture and unethical leadership.
His spirit had noticed something long before his intellect could prove it.
Which brings us to the good soil.
The spirit. Your spirit.
Not because the spirit is the only voice that matters.
But because it's the only voice capable of putting the others in their proper place.
The body asks,
"What feels good?"
The emotions ask,
"What feels exciting?"
The intellect asks,
"What makes sense?"
The spirit asks,
"What leads me closer to God… the Light… the Love?"
They're not the same question.
Sometimes the Spirit will ask your body to become uncomfortable.
Sometimes the Spirit will ask your emotions to be patient.
Sometimes the Spirit will ask your intellect to admit,
"I don't know."
Because faith isn't irrational.
It's just larger than reason alone.
The spirit is the place where purpose begins.
It's where peace arrives before certainty.
It's where courage appears before evidence.
It's where grace quietly takes root.
Here's what strikes me most about this parable.
The sower is almost reckless.
He throws seed everywhere.
On paths.
On rocks.
Into weeds.
On good soil.
Any modern farmer would say,
"You're wasting seed."
But that's not how God works.
God’s seeds – the seeds of possibility, hope, ingenuity, newness, and wonder –
These are the seeds we need to make God’s world, this world.
These are the seeds that are needed to make, ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.’
And God keeps sowing these seeds.
Into stubborn hearts.
Into distracted hearts.
Into frightened hearts.
Into hopeful hearts.
Again. And again. And again.
Because God believes something about us that we often forget:
Soil can change.
Paths can be broken up.
Rocks can be removed.
Thorns can be pulled.
The point of this parable isn't that some people are doomed to be bad soil forever.
The point is that we already have that good soil within us!
And that God never stops cultivating…
God is Always tilling.
Always watering.
Always pruning.
Always planting.
Always believing that today's hard ground might become tomorrow's harvest.
Always asking us to reach for the higher, the better, the more virtuous.
So perhaps the question isn't,
"Which soil am I?"
Maybe the better question is,
"Which voice is loudest today?"
Is your body making every decision?
Your emotions?
Your intellect?
Or has your spirit been given room to speak?
Because the seeds are constantly being scattered.
In: a conversation.
An apology.
A chance to forgive.
A new calling.
An unexpected friendship.
A difficult truth.
A whisper from God.
The seed is in the air.
The only question is...
…where it lands.
My prayer this morning isn't that you'll silence your body.
Or your emotions.
Or your intellect.
God created every one of them.
My prayer is simply that your spirit becomes the loudest voice in the room.##
The tragedy is when the quietest voice never gets a chance to finish its sentence.
Because your body is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.
Your emotions are a beautiful gift, but they were never meant to steer your life.
Your intellect is one of God's greatest blessings, but it cannot answer every question worth asking.
Only your spirit can listen for the voice of the One who made you.
That's why Jesus tells this parable!
Not so we'll spend our lives trying to figure out which soil we are.
But so we'll learn which voice to trust.
Because every single day, God is scattering seeds.
A new opportunity.
A difficult truth.
A chance to love.
A chance to forgive.
A chance to become someone just a little more like Christ than you were yesterday.
Every day the seed comes.
The only question...
is which voice receives it.
So this week, before you make that decision...
Before you send that email...
Before you speak those words...
Before you assume the worst...
Pause.
Listen.
Ask yourself one simple question:
Who's talking right now?
Is it my body?
Is it my emotions?
Is it my intellect?
Or is it the Spirit?
Because when the Spirit becomes the loudest voice in your life...
Your body becomes an instrument of compassion.
Your emotions become a source of empathy instead of volatility.
Your intellect becomes a servant of wisdom instead of anxiety.
And your life...
almost without you noticing...begins to bear fruit.
Not because you tried harder.
Not because you became smarter.
Not because you finally got everything under control.
But because you learned, little by little, day by day, to say "yes" to the still, small voice of God.
And that, my friends...
…is where every abundant harvest begins.
Amen.