Good Dirt

I presented the message for the worship service at our church today.  Below is the manuscript which I am happy to share.

Good Dirt

July, 13, 2014

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

They say the third time is the charm or maybe its three strikes and you’re out, you see, for the third time in the past six years I am preaching on this gospel.  In fact it’s my second time here at OSL. To further understand this, our Gospels are on a three year rotation which means, for the last three rotations the pastor has opted out of preaching on this particular gospel.  I have duly noted; this is a text pastors do not want to preach on and once I am in a parish this will be a vacation week for me every three years. 

Let me introduce you to Eddie, Eddie was born prematurely to a hard working Irish farm family, the eighth of eleven children. Illness due to his premature birth would be a lifelong struggle.  He worked as a shepherd, tending cattle and sheep, a position which suited him because of his frail nature and perceived lack of mental capacity.  However, he attended school and graduated from Summerhill College at the age of eighteen. 

His family were devout in their religious beliefs.  Prayer was central to their and to Eddie’s life.  He immigrated to America with his sister after graduating from college. He entered the United States through Ellis Island.  Eddie settled in Maryland where he would begin his studies.  He would go on to graduate with honors from St. Mary’s College, with this degree he qualified for entrance in Dunwoodie Seminary.  It was here in his first year of seminary where he would contract double pneumonia  and because of his weak lungs was unable to fully recover and was told by the doctor’s he would have to leave seminary for at least one year.

For his recovery he would move in with a brother who lived in Nebraska and was nursed back to health by his sister.  After a complete rest, he sailed for Italy and attended Gregorian University.  However, the harsh Italian winter made him ill again and he would return to the United States where he rejoined his family.  Recovering again, he began work as an accountant until he was healthy enough to resume his seminary studies.  Once again he would travel abroad to Germany and finally Innsbruck, Austria where he, now twenty-six years old, would complete his studies and fulfill a call he first heard at the tender age of six with his ordination to the priesthood.

Soon after his ordination, Eddie would board a ship bound once more for the United States.  He would now follow his brother as assistant pastor to the local Irish community in O’Neill, Nebraska.  Six months later, during Holy Week, Eddie would be transferred to Omaha, Nebraska to assist an ailing pastor there. On Easter Sunday, a violent tornado struck Omaha and wiped out a third of the city.  The next morning Eddie was on the streets with a local mortician picking up the bodies of the dead and making arrangements for their burial. One hundred fifty-five in all were killed in that tornado.

For the next two years Eddie would minister to the needs of those affected by the tornado.  From there his ministry would reach out to finding shelter for the seasonal workers who became stranded in Omaha because of the drought.  Eventually Eddie would convert an old hotel into a shelter for men.  He recruited the homeless men to refurbish the old hotel and initially it housed fifty seven of them.  Over the next few years Eddie would find a larger space and continue to provide housing for the homeless.  Eddie would listen to the stories of these men and came to realize a common thread among them.  None of them had come from a loving family, their families were broken and often they were neglected.

It was at this time Eddie decided to learn all he could about the juvenile justice system, studying social theories and insights of the time.  The following summer, he took seven boys from the courts, met with them three times a week and established a healthy routine for them.  By now he had discovered his purpose, and with the permission of the arch diocese, he moved five boys, eight to ten years of age, into his first home for boys.  This is the beginning of what would be known as Boy’s Town.  To this day Boy’s Town serves the needs of more than 1.4 million boys, girls and families.

And Eddie, the frail little boy who tended sheep because he lacked mental capacity for anything else…that’s right… Eddie is… Father Edward Joseph Flanagan.  Boy’s Town’s founder Father Flanagan. 

The book of Matthew is made up of five discourses.  Today’s gospel comes from what is referred to as the Parables discourse.  The parables discourse provides several parables for the Kingdom of Heaven.  The other four are:

1. The Sermon on the Mount, and is one of the best known and most quoted parts of the New Testament. It includes the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer.

2. The missionary discourse provides instructions to the Twelve Apostles.

3. The community discourse is often called the Discourse on the Church. It includes the parables of The Lost Sheep and The Unforgiving Servant which also refer to the Kingdom of Heaven and finally,

4. The ecological discourse and it is also referred to as the Discourse on the End Time.  The discourse is mostly about judgment and the expected conduct of the followers of Jesus

Each of the discourses has shorter parallel passages in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke. 

In our gospel today we hear the Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells of the sowing of seed and the effective results dependent on how the seeds are sown.  First, we need to understand that we are all sowers of seed, as well as, the ground to which the seed is sown.  We are told that even good seed will not produce good fruit if it is carelessly sown. 

My dad was an agronomist, his career was spent in the dirt. He was able to look at a crop in the field and tell you precisely what was needed in the soil to improve the crop health and yield. He would often talk about how unhealthy soil would lead to under producing, unhealthy crops.  He was also able to look at soil sample test results and tell you what additional nutrients the soil would need to improve the yield of the specific crop in the field.  He understood that seed put in soil was not enough to guarantee a desirable yield, he understood the soil needed to be cultivated, fertilized and have the right amount of moisture to produce a good crop. Good soil, good seeds, good results.

In addition, he understood that the quality of the soil could vary in the same field.  There could be areas which could not produce as well as other areas.  They may be too wet, too rocky, or contain less or more nutrients all of which would change the resulting yields. 

Jesus tells us in the gospel today that we, like a field, have fertile soil.  We also have shallow soil, and rocky soil.  He explains that in the shallow soil the seed may take root but will eventually wither and die because of its lack of depth.  We experience that in receiving the word when we falter in our faith and the first signs of resistance.  For example, it is easy for us to talk about Jesus and our faith in the confines of this building or to someone who we know has a relationship with God already.  But, when we are approached by a situation where we may not know the circumstances, a stranger, a coworker or a casual acquaintance we withdraw and are not as bold in our proclamation of faith and of our relationship with God.

In the rocky, thorn ridden soil, no seeds will grow.  This is where the evil one exists.  Satan lies in wait to destroy the seeds which fall within his grasp.  It’s in those moments of weakness where we fail to live up to our call as Christians, where we fall short of His grace, it is here, where we have forgotten the promises of Jesus, that Satan wins and where we will not bear fruit.  It is in this soil where we are deceived by the falsehoods of the world, material Gods, earthly wealth which gets in the way of our relationship with our Father.

It is in the rich fertile soil where God plant’s his Word, rich soil which is planted with seeds of our baptism, cultivated by the promises of the Eucharist and fulfilled in our salvation, won for us on the cross.  Promises of a relationship with God, which cannot be severed.   It is in this soil we plant our God given gifts and abilities and where they grow so they can be utilized to glorify Him.  In each of us are given special gifts:

IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is
worth about $33 million
It depends on whose hands it’s in

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6
A baseball in Albert Pujolz hands is worth $23 million
It depends on whose hands it’s in

A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands
is a Wimbledon Championship
It depends on whose hands it’s in

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea
It depends on whose hands it’s in

A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends on whose hands it’s in

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands
is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands

It depends on whose hands it’s in

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce
salvation for the entire world.
It depends on whose hands it’s in

As you see now it depends on whose hands it’s in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because

It depends on whose hands it’s in

An example of allowing the seeds planted in fertile soil occurred twenty-four years ago today, at Wembley Stadium in London, Live Aid was the brainchild of Bob Geldof, the worldwide concert raised more than $110 million. In 1984, Geldof traveled to Ethiopia after hearing news reports of a horrific famine that had killed hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians and threatened to kill millions more. After returning to London, he called Britain's and Ireland's top pop artists together to record a single to benefit Ethiopian famine relief.  "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was performed by "Band Aid," an ensemble of those artists. It was the best-selling single in Britain to that date and raised more than $10 million.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" was also a No. 1 hit in the United States and inspired U.S. pop artists to come together and perform "We Are the World," The single went to the top of the charts and eventually raised $44 million.

This is a great example of talented individuals using their hands, their heads, and their hearts to serve those in need. A product of seeds planted in fertile soil which came to fruition.

The central lesson [of the Gospel] is that ‘the kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus will not be established without many serious failures.’  The final success of the kingdom is assured. The goodness of the good soil is not an innate characteristic of some who hear, but is the quality of what they produce.

Those who hear and understand God’s word will bear a fantastic harvest, which will wipe out all the losses caused by the deficiencies of the other soils. God has chosen us and planted his Word in us. We pray that he will enlighten us through his Holy Spirit that we may receive it, understand it, and growing in faith, hope and love, may live according to us. So, God’s kingdom indeed comes of itself. We pray that it may come also to us, and through us, to others. The life of the Christian is the result of the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit human beings are destined for death, even the "good" ones.

The church faces many difficulties as those who are called move between their earthly empowerment which leads to death, and the empowerment of the Spirit which leads to life. But the future of the church is assured. God has given his word, and it will not fail. God waters the earth and causes the crops to grow. Likewise, God alone insures the richness and vitality of the kingdom.