D. Moody Smith, Jr. - "The Parable of the Sower" (July 9, 1978)
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Transcript
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- | Duke University Chapel Service of Worship, | 0:04 |
July 9th, | 0:07 | |
1978. | 0:09 | |
(orchestral church music) | 0:17 | |
(orchestral church music) | 1:50 | |
(orchestral church music) | 3:48 | |
(orchestral church music) | 5:01 | |
(choir singing church music accompanied by orchestra) | 8:04 | |
(orchestral church music) | 8:36 | |
(orchestral church music mixed with congregational singing) | 9:10 | |
- | Greetings in the name of Christ. | 11:36 |
If any of you need permission to take off a jacket, | 11:40 | |
please do. | 11:44 | |
If we say we have no sin, | 11:47 | |
and no need to confess our sins, | 11:50 | |
we deceive ourselves, | 11:53 | |
but when we confess our sin, | 11:57 | |
God is always waiting to forgive us, | 12:00 | |
to heal us, | 12:04 | |
to restore us. | 12:06 | |
Let us pray: | 12:08 | |
- | Oh God, everywhere we turn, | 12:12 |
someone is making demands on our time. | 12:15 | |
We spend ourselves frantically, | 12:19 | |
without taking time to be in touch with you, | 12:22 | |
or with ourselves to evaluate what is important | 12:26 | |
for us to be doing. | 12:30 | |
People who need us are often overlooked. | 12:33 | |
Causes which need our energy, are often neglected. | 12:36 | |
Opportunities for real learning are not foreseen. | 12:42 | |
Words which wound are uttered in haste | 12:46 | |
on momentary irritation. | 12:50 | |
In the midst of our haste, we are thirsty for your presence, | 12:53 | |
and the sure knowledge of your love. | 12:58 | |
Help us to spend our time wisely and lovingly | 13:01 | |
as we live and serve in your world; | 13:06 | |
Amen. | 13:09 | |
- | Hear these, our personal confessions, oh God, Amen. | 13:23 |
We give thanks that God is forgiving and loving, | 13:28 | |
that we now can live as forgiven people. | 13:34 | |
Dear people of God, accept the forgiveness | 13:39 | |
which is yours this day. | 13:43 | |
Let us give thanks for God is good | 13:47 | |
and God's love is everlasting. | 13:50 | |
- | Thanks be to God who creates us. | 13:54 |
Thanks be to God, by whose mercy we are redeemed. | 13:58 | |
Thanks be to God, whose Spirit leads us | 14:03 | |
into the future. | 14:07 | |
- | Gene Owens who was scheduled to preach this Sunday | 14:11 |
was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, | 14:15 | |
and anticipated that he soon | 14:17 | |
would have to have back surgery. | 14:19 | |
We're sorry that he cannot be with us, | 14:22 | |
especially because of illness, | 14:24 | |
but we are grateful, thankful, and privileged | 14:26 | |
that the Reverend Dr. D. Moody Smith, Jr., | 14:30 | |
agreed to stop work on his manuscript | 14:33 | |
that the publishers are now awaiting | 14:35 | |
long enough to prepare to preach for us today. | 14:38 | |
Moody is well known internationally | 14:42 | |
because of his outstanding work on the Gospel of John. | 14:44 | |
He is just ending a sabbatical year, | 14:49 | |
a time he has used to complete his third book on John. | 14:51 | |
Those of you who have read works | 14:57 | |
in the area of New Testament, | 14:59 | |
know he is one of the people | 15:00 | |
who is always quoted, and footnoted, | 15:02 | |
but Moody is also a scholar who can communicate | 15:05 | |
with us ordinary people. | 15:09 | |
He is a dedicated church person, a caring father, | 15:13 | |
husband, colleague, friend, and teacher. | 15:17 | |
Moody, thanks, and welcome. | 15:21 | |
Let us pray: | 15:25 | |
Oh Holy God, we wait in your presence. | 15:29 | |
Open our minds, | 15:34 | |
still our hearts, | 15:36 | |
that we may hear you speak to us this day; Amen. | 15:39 | |
The Old Testament lesson is selected | 15:46 | |
from the 55th chapter of Isaiah. | 15:48 | |
Hear now, the reading: | 15:52 | |
Ho! Everyone who thirst, come to the waters; | 15:55 | |
And he who has no money, come, buy and eat. | 16:01 | |
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. | 16:06 | |
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, | 16:12 | |
and your labor for that which does not satisfy? | 16:15 | |
Harken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, | 16:20 | |
and delight yourselves in fatness. | 16:24 | |
Incline your ear, and come to Me. | 16:27 | |
Hear, that your soul may live; | 16:30 | |
And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, | 16:35 | |
My steadfast sure love for David. | 16:38 | |
Behold, I make him a witness to the peoples, | 16:42 | |
a leader and commander for the peoples. | 16:46 | |
Behold, you shall call nations that know not, | 16:49 | |
and nations that knew you not, shall run to you, | 16:54 | |
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel; | 16:59 | |
For He has glorified you. | 17:03 | |
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, | 17:07 | |
and return, not thither, but water the earth, | 17:10 | |
makin' it bring forth and sprout, | 17:14 | |
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, | 17:16 | |
so shall My word be that, | 17:20 | |
one that goes forth from My mouth; | 17:23 | |
It shall not return to Me empty, | 17:27 | |
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, | 17:29 | |
and prosper in the thing for which I sent it. | 17:32 | |
For you shall go out in joy, | 17:36 | |
and be led forth in peace; | 17:39 | |
The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth | 17:41 | |
in singing, and all of the trees of the field | 17:44 | |
shall clap their hands. | 17:48 | |
Instead of the thorn, shall come forth the cypress. | 17:50 | |
Instead of the brier, shall come up the myrtle; | 17:54 | |
And it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, | 17:57 | |
for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off. | 18:00 | |
Here ends the reading of the Old Testament lesson. | 18:04 | |
(orchestral church music) | 18:11 | |
(choir singing church music accompanied by orchestra) | 18:50 | |
Will the congregation stand for the reading | 20:33 | |
of the gospel lesson? | 20:35 | |
Hear the reading selected from the 13th chapter | 20:40 | |
of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew: | 20:43 | |
That same day, Jesus went out of the house | 20:46 | |
and sat beside the sea, | 20:49 | |
and great crowds gathered about Him, | 20:51 | |
so that He got into a boat and sat there; | 20:55 | |
and the whole crowd stood on the beach. | 20:58 | |
And He told them many things in parables, saying: | 21:00 | |
A sower went out to sow. | 21:04 | |
And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path; | 21:07 | |
and the birds came and devoured them. | 21:11 | |
Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, | 21:14 | |
where they had not much soil; | 21:17 | |
and immediately they sprang up | 21:19 | |
since they had no depth of soil. | 21:21 | |
But when the sun rose, they were scorched, | 21:23 | |
and since they had no root, they withered away. | 21:26 | |
Other seeds fell upon thorns, | 21:30 | |
and the thorns grew up and choked them. | 21:33 | |
Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain: | 21:36 | |
some a hundredfold, some 60, | 21:40 | |
some 30. | 21:43 | |
He who has ears, let him hear. | 21:46 | |
Hear then, the parable of the sower: | 21:49 | |
When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom, | 21:51 | |
and does not understand it, | 21:54 | |
the evil one comes and snatches away | 21:56 | |
what is sown in his heart. | 21:59 | |
That is what was sown along the path. | 22:01 | |
As for that which was sown on rocky ground, | 22:05 | |
this is he who hears the Word | 22:08 | |
and immediately receives it with joy; | 22:10 | |
yet he has no root in himself, | 22:13 | |
but endures for a while, | 22:16 | |
and when tribulation or persecution arises | 22:19 | |
on account of the Word, immediately he falls away. | 22:22 | |
As for what was sown among the thorns, | 22:27 | |
this is he who hears the Word, | 22:31 | |
but the cares of the world and the delight in riches | 22:33 | |
choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful. | 22:37 | |
As for what was sown on good soil, | 22:42 | |
this is he who hears the word and understands it, | 22:45 | |
he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case, | 22:49 | |
a hundredfold, and another 60, and another 30. | 22:52 | |
Here ends the gospel reading. | 22:58 | |
All glory and praise be unto God. | 23:00 | |
(orchestral church music) | 23:04 | |
(congregational singing accompanied by church music) | 23:16 | |
- | I bid you good morning, | 24:20 |
it's good to be here once again, | 24:21 | |
even under rather unfortunate circumstances. | 24:23 | |
Thank you, Helen, for that typically gracious | 24:27 | |
and overly generous introduction. | 24:30 | |
I do want to say, however, that no Christian | 24:34 | |
preacher ought to stand up to preach the gospel | 24:36 | |
thinking that such things as you have | 24:40 | |
just said about me are true. | 24:42 | |
I think the only resolution of this problem | 24:45 | |
is to come before God in prayer, | 24:49 | |
so may I invite you to pray with me, let us pray: | 24:51 | |
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heart | 24:56 | |
be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord our strength, | 25:00 | |
and our Redeemer; Amen. | 25:05 | |
The gospel lesson for this morning | 25:10 | |
is Matthew's rendition of the parable of the sower. | 25:12 | |
Jesus might have been a little amused | 25:16 | |
and I hope not angrily outraged | 25:18 | |
at the spectacle of preachers expounding | 25:21 | |
and explaining his parables. | 25:24 | |
But the preacher who does so is in good company. | 25:27 | |
Saint Matthew himself was no earlier | 25:30 | |
than the second and probably at least | 25:32 | |
the third or fourth preacher to expound | 25:34 | |
and explain the parable of the sower. | 25:38 | |
Saint Mark preceded him, | 25:41 | |
and in all probability there was a tradition | 25:44 | |
of interpretation or preaching before Mark. | 25:46 | |
Yet, at best, there's something faintly ludicrous | 25:51 | |
about explaining Jesus' parables. | 25:54 | |
It would seem that the parable itself | 25:57 | |
is intended to make something clear. | 25:59 | |
If the parable is not entirely explicit | 26:03 | |
in its message, that has to do with its quality | 26:06 | |
and character as parable. | 26:10 | |
Presumably, Jesus himself had some purpose | 26:13 | |
in putting his message in to parabolic form. | 26:16 | |
He did so, so often. | 26:20 | |
Not long ago, I read a book on the uses | 26:24 | |
of structuralism in biblical exegesis | 26:26 | |
and interpretation. | 26:30 | |
Now those of you who are familiar | 26:32 | |
with structuralism will know all about that, | 26:34 | |
and those of you who are not, | 26:37 | |
would scarcely profit from my explanation of it. | 26:38 | |
After a learned exposition of several leading | 26:43 | |
exponents of structuralist method and thought, | 26:46 | |
the author set about to demonstrate | 26:50 | |
its usefulness in biblical interpretation | 26:52 | |
by applying it to the parable of the Good Samaritan. | 26:55 | |
I read the author's erudite discussion with amazement, | 27:00 | |
but then wondered whether it might be | 27:04 | |
just another sophisticated way | 27:06 | |
of leaving the man attacked by robbers | 27:09 | |
in the ditch. | 27:13 | |
I had read and heard Jesus' parable | 27:15 | |
and I had thought I had understood enough | 27:19 | |
to be disquieted by it. | 27:21 | |
Now, I felt myself being led down paths | 27:24 | |
of restful confusion | 27:27 | |
and through valleys of amazed perplexity. | 27:30 | |
One recalls Karl Barth's dictum, | 27:33 | |
uttered in another context, | 27:36 | |
that God did not intend for us, | 27:39 | |
first to learn Chinese in order to understand the gospel. | 27:41 | |
And I think Barth would also have agreed | 27:46 | |
that the Chinese would not have to learn English | 27:48 | |
in order to understand the gospel. | 27:51 | |
Or there's the story about Halford Luccock, | 27:55 | |
the late professor of preaching at Yale Divinity School. | 27:57 | |
He emerged from listening to a lecture | 28:02 | |
on revelation by his distinguished colleague, | 28:04 | |
H. Richard Niebuhr, but not much had been revealed | 28:06 | |
to him, and as he came out he was heard to mutter, | 28:10 | |
"I'm thankful that the Lord said feed my sheep, | 28:14 | |
"and not feed my giraffes." | 28:18 | |
In other words, it suffices to put the cookies | 28:21 | |
on a lower shelf. | 28:25 | |
We have an innate sense that the gospel of Jesus | 28:28 | |
is simple enough to be understood by simple people, | 28:31 | |
and we're surely not wrong in that sensibility. | 28:35 | |
One reason that we think this, is the presence | 28:40 | |
in the New Testament, especially in the gospels, | 28:43 | |
of so many parables of Jesus. | 28:46 | |
Here are brief and simple stories | 28:49 | |
told in the language of a predominantly rural society. | 28:52 | |
Stories which do not seem to put too great a strain | 28:56 | |
on our understanding or our intellectual capacity. | 28:59 | |
And for centuries, or at least until the emergence | 29:04 | |
of modern and technological society, | 29:07 | |
these parables have spoken an almost universal | 29:10 | |
language of seed, time, and harvest. | 29:13 | |
The shared experiences of people | 29:17 | |
who lived close to nature and close to the land. | 29:19 | |
Tell me the stories of Jesus; I love to hear. | 29:22 | |
We expect to hear something familiar. | 29:26 | |
In fact, most people, who down through the centuries | 29:29 | |
have heard Jesus' parables, | 29:33 | |
have heard things that are familiar to them. | 29:35 | |
Perhaps there is no more familiar parable | 29:40 | |
than the parable of the sower. | 29:43 | |
We just heard it read. | 29:46 | |
Of course, you all listened attentively | 29:49 | |
while that gospel lesson was read, I'm sure, | 29:51 | |
but on the other hand, just because the sermon | 29:54 | |
topic of the parable of the sower was announced, | 29:56 | |
might not necessarily mean that someone | 29:59 | |
is actually going to address himself to that text. | 30:01 | |
And moreover, what is familiar can become too familiar. | 30:05 | |
So familiar, in fact, that we do not even hear it. | 30:08 | |
So, perhaps, at this point, we'd do well to remind ourselves | 30:11 | |
of what we're talking about. | 30:15 | |
Our text falls into three parts: | 30:17 | |
First, there's the parable itself. | 30:19 | |
Second, there's the disciple's question, | 30:22 | |
and Jesus' statement about the purpose | 30:24 | |
of parables, generally. | 30:27 | |
Third, there's the explanation of the parable of the sower. | 30:29 | |
Now, Matthew tells us that Jesus was so pressed | 30:35 | |
by the crowds along the lake shore | 30:38 | |
that he got into the boat and addressed the people, | 30:39 | |
standing in the boat. | 30:43 | |
Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables | 30:45 | |
and Matthew then relates this parable, | 30:47 | |
presumably as a kind of specimen of what Jesus said. | 30:50 | |
A sower sows seeds which fall in different places. | 30:54 | |
Along the path, where birds devour it. | 30:58 | |
On rocky ground, where it is soon scorched by the sun. | 31:01 | |
On thorns, where it is soon choked out. | 31:05 | |
And yet, some does fall on good soil, and bears fruit. | 31:09 | |
A hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold. | 31:13 | |
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear.", says Jesus. | 31:17 | |
Now if we were not told that this was | 31:25 | |
a parable of Jesus, and also later in the text, | 31:27 | |
if we were not told what its interpretation might be, | 31:30 | |
our reaction to it might not be entirely positive. | 31:34 | |
We might think "far out" or even "off the wall" | 31:36 | |
or more than likely, "so what?" | 31:39 | |
Even the importance of the subject, | 31:42 | |
the harvest does not seem so immediately urgent to us. | 31:45 | |
At least it doesn't seem urgent until we encounter | 31:49 | |
yet another round of price increases at the supermarket, | 31:51 | |
or see farmers on TV, | 31:55 | |
declaiming their determination not to plant again | 31:57 | |
unless they get better prices. | 32:00 | |
But, as a matter of course, we don't feel the urgency | 32:02 | |
of the issues involved in the imagery of this parable. | 32:06 | |
Now, of course, we are right in sensing | 32:10 | |
that the parable is not about agriculture, | 32:12 | |
but farming provides imagery that's appropriate. | 32:15 | |
For what is at stake, Jesus seems to imply, | 32:19 | |
is no less a life and death matter | 32:23 | |
than the success of the harvest. | 32:26 | |
Still, the meaning of the parable is not so obvious. | 32:30 | |
Not such a simple matter. | 32:34 | |
Now Matthew, the evangelist, here apparently follows | 32:37 | |
one of his sources, the gospel of Mark. | 32:40 | |
And he next portrays the disciples asking Jesus | 32:44 | |
why he speaks to the crowd in parables. | 32:47 | |
Now, that part was not read in the lesson this morning, | 32:50 | |
but I do want to make one or two comments about it. | 32:52 | |
And their question about why speak in parables, | 32:56 | |
reflects a perplexity which any hearer | 32:59 | |
or reader might feel at this point. | 33:02 | |
And in answer to this question, | 33:05 | |
Jesus gives them a rather long answer. | 33:07 | |
He seems to be saying that | 33:11 | |
what is clear to the disciples, | 33:14 | |
must be stated in parables to the multitudes. | 33:16 | |
But it's not really clear to me | 33:20 | |
whether the parables are to help the crowds understand, | 33:21 | |
or Jesus' speech seems parabolic to them | 33:25 | |
just because they don't understand, | 33:29 | |
and this, I think, is a difficult passage, | 33:32 | |
but Matthew is not as difficult as Mark at this point. | 33:35 | |
In Mark, Jesus says quite explicity | 33:39 | |
that he speaks to the outsiders, | 33:42 | |
to non-disciples in parables in order that, | 33:45 | |
so that, they will not understand and be forgiven. | 33:48 | |
Now that was too much for Matthew. | 33:54 | |
Matthew evidently thought that the Lord | 33:56 | |
could not have said such a thing, | 33:59 | |
so he changes the wording just enough | 34:01 | |
so that Jesus doesn't say that, | 34:04 | |
and then he quotes Isaiah more fully | 34:06 | |
to the effect that unbelief is the fulfillment of scripture. | 34:08 | |
Whatever Matthew's reasons or grounds | 34:13 | |
for departing from Mark, | 34:15 | |
he was in all probablity right in one thing; | 34:17 | |
That is, right in refusing to represent | 34:21 | |
Jesus' parables as a means of obfuscation, | 34:24 | |
confusion, condemnation, rather than as a means | 34:28 | |
of communication and grace. | 34:32 | |
That much is certain. | 34:35 | |
Then after what almost amounts to a filibuster | 34:40 | |
against Mark's parable theory, | 34:42 | |
Matthew gives Jesus' interpretation | 34:45 | |
of the parable of the sower. | 34:48 | |
And it's pretty much like Mark. | 34:51 | |
The seeds falling upon the various soils are equated | 34:54 | |
with different bearers of the Word. | 34:57 | |
Finally, the seed sown in good soil | 35:00 | |
are those people who hear and understand the Word, | 35:03 | |
and bring forth fruit. It all sounds so obvious now. | 35:06 | |
In all probability, even this interpretation | 35:12 | |
which is familiar to most of us, | 35:15 | |
even this interpretation is some early preacher's idea | 35:17 | |
of what Jesus meant. | 35:21 | |
As a matter of fact, very seldom in the gospels | 35:24 | |
does Jesus offer such an interpretation of his parables. | 35:27 | |
The parable of the sower, as a matter of fact, | 35:33 | |
appears in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, | 35:35 | |
without this interpretation. | 35:38 | |
Also, the language, the technical terminology | 35:40 | |
of the interpretation, reflects the situation | 35:43 | |
of the early Christian church. | 35:45 | |
For example, the term "the Word" here | 35:47 | |
means the Christian gospel. | 35:50 | |
The parable is about the success of the gospel | 35:53 | |
among those who at first accept it. | 35:56 | |
Actually, elsewhere, Jesus does not speak in this way, | 35:59 | |
and we hear witness to the earliest interpretation | 36:03 | |
of one of Jesus' parables. | 36:05 | |
The first Christians understood that parable | 36:08 | |
in relation to their own situation, | 36:11 | |
and that was not such a bad, or such a wrong idea. | 36:13 | |
And yet, Jesus first spoke this parable | 36:18 | |
with his own situation in view. | 36:21 | |
As the messenger who announces the reality | 36:23 | |
and coming of God's Kingdom, God's rule, | 36:26 | |
Jesus himself is the sower who goes forth to sow. | 36:29 | |
His preaching and His ministry find different receptions | 36:34 | |
among different people. | 36:37 | |
A lot of people react positively, | 36:39 | |
he gets an enthusiastic reception. | 36:40 | |
Yet, many more wither in the heat of the day | 36:43 | |
than endure or persist. | 36:46 | |
Now, as we see, reading the Gospel of Matthew, | 36:51 | |
is a little like looking down a kaleidoscope | 36:55 | |
or a stairwell, or peeling off the layers of an onion. | 36:58 | |
One can distinguish what Matthew added to Mark, | 37:04 | |
what Mark wrote, | 37:08 | |
what Mark got from the early church's preaching, | 37:10 | |
and what Jesus himself said. | 37:14 | |
They're layers of meaning, | 37:16 | |
but there's no reason to doubt | 37:18 | |
that Jesus himself spoke this parable. | 37:20 | |
It's also as certain as can be that Jesus wanted | 37:24 | |
to say something about the Kingdom or the rule of God. | 37:26 | |
All the gospels, but Matthew, particularly, | 37:31 | |
put the sower at the head of a group | 37:33 | |
of parables of the Kingdom, and in doing so, | 37:35 | |
they preserved the original intention of the parable. | 37:40 | |
Moreover, as I read Matthew, I don't see just | 37:44 | |
competing or conflicting meanings. | 37:47 | |
There's a unity in what is said, | 37:50 | |
even if it's said by more than one witness. | 37:52 | |
Furthermore, and I should like to underscore this, | 37:56 | |
Matthew puts his finger on an important thread | 38:00 | |
that runs through the text, and runs from the text | 38:03 | |
back to Jesus himself. | 38:06 | |
In the interpretation of the parable, | 38:09 | |
only Matthew writes: | 38:12 | |
when anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom, | 38:14 | |
and does not understand it, understand it, | 38:17 | |
The evil one comes and snatches away | 38:22 | |
what is sown in his heart. | 38:24 | |
At the end of the interpretation, Matthew writes: | 38:26 | |
He who hears the Word and understands it, bears fruit. | 38:30 | |
Only Matthew speaks of understanding | 38:36 | |
and at the end of the whole parable collection | 38:39 | |
in Matthew 13, Matthew, and Matthew only, | 38:41 | |
has Jesus ask his disciples: | 38:45 | |
Have you understood all this? | 38:48 | |
And they answer, yes. | 38:51 | |
It's pretty clear we have uncovered here | 38:54 | |
an important and distinctive motif of Matthew's gospel. | 38:57 | |
Christian discipleship according to Matthew | 39:02 | |
is not only obeying Jesus, it is also understanding Him. | 39:04 | |
But I think there's more to it than that. | 39:10 | |
That is, more to it than just an important theme | 39:12 | |
of the Gospel of Matthew. | 39:14 | |
Matthew is pointing to something ingredient to, | 39:16 | |
essential to, being a disciple, being a Christian. | 39:19 | |
I'd like to take a few moments now | 39:24 | |
to look at the ways in which Matthew's emphasis | 39:26 | |
on understanding really makes sense of the parable. | 39:29 | |
That is, it makes sense of this specific parable, | 39:33 | |
and makes sense also, | 39:36 | |
of Jesus' habit of speaking in parables. | 39:37 | |
Jesus didn't appear on the scene discussing theology, | 39:43 | |
or even debating questions | 39:47 | |
about the interpretation of the Law. | 39:49 | |
He came announcing the advent of God's Kingdom. | 39:52 | |
He spoke in hyperbole, or so it seems, | 39:57 | |
about turning the other cheek and going the extra mile. | 40:00 | |
He spoke in parables in answer to questions | 40:05 | |
or in order to make a point about God's Kingdom, | 40:07 | |
or God's rule. | 40:10 | |
In fact, in the gospels, Jesus never answers | 40:12 | |
or speaks directly to the question, | 40:16 | |
What is the Kingdom of God? | 40:18 | |
Scholars remark that Jesus seems to assume | 40:21 | |
his hearers will understand what he means | 40:24 | |
by Kingdom of God; that may be right, | 40:27 | |
and yet it is not altogether clear | 40:30 | |
that even all of Jesus' Jewish contemporaries | 40:32 | |
would have understood the same thing by that phrase, | 40:35 | |
Kingdom of God. | 40:38 | |
Jesus' language is suggestive, evocative, | 40:40 | |
his parables illicit understanding | 40:44 | |
on the part of the hearers. | 40:47 | |
The question that his parables pose for the hearer | 40:50 | |
is something like this: | 40:52 | |
Do you grasp what I'm talking about? | 40:55 | |
Can you perceive what's going on? | 40:57 | |
And the answer is not a matter of purely | 41:02 | |
intellectual understanding, or assent. | 41:04 | |
With Jesus, it has to do with the nearness | 41:08 | |
of God's rule. | 41:10 | |
With the earliest church that produced Matthew's gospel, | 41:12 | |
it has to do with the good news that God's rule is now, | 41:15 | |
in a sense, present in Jesus. | 41:18 | |
And then it becomes a question of whether people | 41:22 | |
are going to accept it, | 41:25 | |
and Matthew makes explicit | 41:27 | |
that this is a question of understanding, | 41:29 | |
but in either case, the question implicit in Jesus' parable, | 41:33 | |
the parable of the sower, | 41:38 | |
is what one makes of Jesus himself. | 41:40 | |
Do you understand who I am, what I'm doing, he's asking. | 41:44 | |
Why I'm here? | 41:49 | |
But that question is never a silly, irrelevant, | 41:52 | |
abstract, or pointless question. | 41:55 | |
The question about Jesus is not just | 41:59 | |
an other-worldly question, either. | 42:02 | |
It's put to the disciples, to the church, | 42:05 | |
where they are. | 42:08 | |
It is not asked in the cloister, so to speak, | 42:10 | |
but in the world of people and of events. | 42:13 | |
The sower went forth to sow. | 42:16 | |
He scatters seed among all sorts and conditions of people. | 42:19 | |
He comes saying "the reign of God is at hand." | 42:24 | |
(clears throat) His Kingdom is near. | 42:27 | |
We are caught short. | 42:32 | |
Is this rather strange, itinerate preacher | 42:34 | |
who casts out demons, heals the sick, | 42:38 | |
and associates with undesirables, | 42:42 | |
somehow the token and embodiment of God's rule? | 42:44 | |
Does he have a right to make demands on us? | 42:48 | |
In fact, he does so, | 42:52 | |
but his demand is at the same time, a question, | 42:55 | |
and thus he speaks in parables. | 42:59 | |
The sower went forth to sow. | 43:02 | |
Do you know what's happening? | 43:05 | |
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. | 43:07 | |
Which of these three do you think proved neighbor | 43:12 | |
to the man who fell among robbers? | 43:16 | |
Jesus speaking in parables, is itself, | 43:22 | |
a challenge to understand. | 43:25 | |
Believing and obeying, are of course, essential. | 43:28 | |
But a meaningful obedience of faith requires understanding. | 43:32 | |
To be a disciple of Jesus, one must know not only | 43:38 | |
who he is, and where he is, | 43:43 | |
but who we are, and where we are. | 43:47 | |
Jesus' probing parables call forth a response. | 43:51 | |
A response, not intellectual sophistication, | 43:56 | |
but what we might call moral and spiritual insight. | 43:59 | |
Matthew rightly speaks of understanding. | 44:04 | |
The simplest person is capable of it. | 44:09 | |
The most sophisticated intellectual may miss the point. | 44:12 | |
Several years ago, I was observing a divinity student, | 44:18 | |
leading a discussion in a youth group | 44:22 | |
at a church not far from here. | 44:24 | |
We might describe it as a working class church. | 44:26 | |
The subject of the discussion was communism, | 44:29 | |
and the discussion was going pretty badly. | 44:32 | |
The young person doing most of the talking | 44:34 | |
apparently had some canned material from Life Line | 44:37 | |
or some such source, but eventually the talk got around | 44:40 | |
to such matters as school, integration, | 44:44 | |
Duke student demonstrations, | 44:47 | |
which had just then been going on, | 44:49 | |
and other matters closer to home, | 44:50 | |
and as it did, the discussion got a lot better. | 44:52 | |
The young people, it was clear, could understand | 44:56 | |
their parent's strong feelings against some of these things, | 44:58 | |
but they thought that their parents were really | 45:01 | |
a little intolerant. | 45:03 | |
And finally, the girl who had been reading | 45:06 | |
the anti-communist propaganda had a flash of insight. | 45:08 | |
As Christians, she said, we should love everybody. | 45:12 | |
We must love communist, and black people, and Duke people. | 45:17 | |
Well, I stifled a laugh, and for years, | 45:23 | |
I have told this story in a rather condescending way. | 45:26 | |
It seemed to me to illustrate so marvelously | 45:30 | |
the way in which people in town think, some people, | 45:32 | |
and how they regard Duke University, and Duke people. | 45:35 | |
But now I have some second thoughts. | 45:40 | |
This young person had a perfectly valid | 45:43 | |
and important Christian insight. | 45:45 | |
It came home, especially as far as black people | 45:49 | |
and Duke people were concerned, to right where she was. | 45:52 | |
Now, I might say parenthetically as the years have passed, | 45:56 | |
I've found that loving Duke people | 45:59 | |
is not such an inconsiderable challenge after all. | 46:01 | |
As members of an academic community, | 46:06 | |
we can be insufferably self-assured | 46:08 | |
and self-righteous, but such learning and prestige | 46:10 | |
as we possess is no guarantee, may not even be | 46:15 | |
any evidence that we have the kind of insight | 46:18 | |
and understanding which Jesus demands. | 46:20 | |
Indeed, we do not always agree, | 46:24 | |
and in fact, we are not always right. | 46:27 | |
William F. Buckley once said that he would | 46:30 | |
rather be governed by the first 1000 people | 46:32 | |
listed in the Boston telephone book | 46:35 | |
than by the faculty of Harvard University. | 46:37 | |
Now, I'm not sure whether I agree entirely with that, | 46:41 | |
or whether I'd like to apply it | 46:43 | |
to Duke and to Durham or not, but be that as it may, | 46:44 | |
the longer I reflect, the more I rejoice | 46:48 | |
in a young girl's spontaneous insight, | 46:52 | |
that the gospel lays upon her the demand | 46:55 | |
to love her neighbors even if they are Duke people. | 46:58 | |
And it occurs to me to think that the reverse of that | 47:02 | |
is also true for us. | 47:06 | |
We who are members of an academic community, | 47:10 | |
for all our penchant for self-criticism and debate, | 47:13 | |
we find it easier to esteem and in a real sense, | 47:16 | |
love our colleagues. | 47:20 | |
We find it much less easy to esteem and to love those | 47:22 | |
who do not share our intellectual and related commitments. | 47:26 | |
And whom we do not esteem as equal before God, | 47:31 | |
we can scarcely, meaningfully love. | 47:35 | |
For those of us who had lived at once in the University | 47:39 | |
and in the church of Jesus Christ, | 47:45 | |
there may be a painful but necessary acknowledgement. | 47:47 | |
It is certainly true that the values and goals of the two, | 47:51 | |
the church and the University, in many ways overlap | 47:55 | |
and are mutually supportive. | 47:58 | |
The goals of the University are valid and valuable. | 48:01 | |
I do not, for a moment, disparage them. | 48:04 | |
In many ways, as many of you do, | 48:06 | |
I live out of them and for them. | 48:08 | |
And yet, the understanding which, according to the | 48:12 | |
New Testament Jesus calls for, is not the same | 48:14 | |
as the understanding we seek in the University. | 48:18 | |
That distinctively Christian understanding | 48:23 | |
is not based upon erudition, | 48:26 | |
but upon an insight born of faith. | 48:29 | |
It is not available to the arrogant | 48:33 | |
and the haughty of this world, but to the lowly, | 48:36 | |
and to people who have put all pretense aside. | 48:41 | |
Whoever can hear and understand the parables of Jesus, | 48:48 | |
will gain this saving knowledge. | 48:53 | |
So, at the conclusion of the parable of the sower, | 48:56 | |
what does Jesus say? | 49:03 | |
He who has ears to hear, | 49:06 | |
let him hear. | 49:11 | |
So be it, | 49:16 | |
may we indeed hear; | 49:18 | |
Amen. | 49:22 | |
(orchestral church music) | 49:32 | |
(orchestral church music mixed with congregational singing) | 50:00 | |
- | Let us affirm what we believe. | 52:02 |
- | We believe in God who has created and is creating, | 52:05 |
who has come in a truly human Jesus, | 52:11 | |
to reconcile and make new, | 52:14 | |
who works in us and of us by the Spirit. | 52:17 | |
We trust God, who calls us to be the Church, | 52:22 | |
to celebrate life and its fullness, | 52:27 | |
to love and serve others, | 52:30 | |
to seek justice and resist evil, | 52:33 | |
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, | 52:37 | |
our judge and our hope | 52:41 | |
in life, in death, | 52:44 | |
in life beyond death, | 52:47 | |
God is with us. | 52:50 | |
We are not alone. | 52:52 | |
Thanks be to God. | 52:55 | |
- | The Lord be with you. | 52:57 |
- | And with your spirit. | 53:00 |
- | Let us pray: | 53:01 |
Oh holy God, | 53:14 | |
we bow before you in awe and adoration. | 53:16 | |
We are overcome with a sense of our infinitude | 53:23 | |
when we consider your greatness, and your power, | 53:26 | |
and your love. | 53:28 | |
We are confused, troubled people. | 53:32 | |
We live with the complexity of our existence. | 53:37 | |
We want to be your people through whom your Word | 53:42 | |
and your truth is manifest, | 53:44 | |
and yet we struggle and become discouraged. | 53:47 | |
So we ask you to teach us to pray | 53:51 | |
for ourselves and for others. | 53:54 | |
Hear these our prayers of petition and intercession. | 53:59 | |
We pray that the way we spend our leisure time | 54:05 | |
may be a living witness to you, | 54:08 | |
and that we may never forget the many who are enslaved | 54:11 | |
to the industry of entertainment, | 54:15 | |
and the poor who have no leisure or only their leisure. | 54:18 | |
Show us ways that all of our time will be used | 54:24 | |
for your glory. | 54:27 | |
We pray, oh God, that what we do with our abilities, | 54:31 | |
and our energies will be a living witness | 54:35 | |
to your love and concern for this world. | 54:38 | |
May we never forget the many who cannot choose their work, | 54:43 | |
those who find no satisfaction in their work, | 54:47 | |
those who have no work, or only their work. | 54:52 | |
Direct our social and political struggle toward | 54:57 | |
a society where all can love you | 55:00 | |
and their neighbor in the midst of their daily work. | 55:04 | |
We pray that the style of life we have chosen | 55:10 | |
may be a living witness to your love, | 55:13 | |
and that we may never forget the many, | 55:18 | |
who married, or unmarried, find no hope | 55:20 | |
or joy in their future. | 55:24 | |
Redeem our destructive relationships. | 55:27 | |
Release us from loneliness. | 55:32 | |
Renew your church so we may become truly your family, | 55:35 | |
the new caring humanity. | 55:41 | |
To you, oh God, we bring our failures, | 55:45 | |
our compromises, and the joys of our achievements. | 55:49 | |
Hear now, our prayers for those who are facing | 55:56 | |
special crises, illness, | 55:59 | |
unemployment, death. | 56:04 | |
We mourn the loss of those who have recently died. | 56:09 | |
We give you thanks for the lives | 56:14 | |
of Carlyle Marney and John Wheeler. | 56:16 | |
And we pray that their family and friends | 56:20 | |
will be sustained by your comforting presence. | 56:22 | |
Send us your Spirit, oh God, with all your healing power. | 56:26 | |
When we are grieving, console us. | 56:33 | |
When we are fragmented, make us whole. | 56:36 | |
When we are desperate, help us to walk in hope. | 56:41 | |
When we're separated, unite us. | 56:45 | |
We pray in the spirit of the one who taught us to pray. | 56:49 | |
- | Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 56:55 |
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, | 57:00 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 57:04 | |
Give us this day our daily bread; | 57:07 | |
and forgive us our trespasses, | 57:10 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us; | 57:13 | |
and lead us not into temptation, | 57:17 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 57:20 | |
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 57:23 | |
and the glory forever; Amen. | 57:26 | |
(orchestral church music) | 57:34 | |
(choir singing church music accompanied by orchestra) | 58:56 |
(slow piano music) | 0:06 | |
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(moves into thumping piano music) | 0:36 | |
(moves into slow piano music) | 0:45 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 1:17 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 1:53 | |
(moves into slow piano music) | 2:03 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 2:19 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 2:45 | |
(thumping piano music) | 3:12 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 3:29 | |
(moves into upbeat-beat piano music) | 3:37 | |
(moves into slow piano music) | 3:48 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 3:58 | |
(moves into upbeat excitement piano music) | 4:09 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 5:05 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 5:16 | |
(moves into friendly piano music) | 6:25 | |
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(moves into slow piano music) | 6:47 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 7:04 | |
(moves into slow piano music) | 7:21 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 7:45 | |
(moves into steady piano music) | 8:13 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 8:33 | |
(moves into upbeat piano music) | 8:49 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 8:54 | |
(moves into twirling piano music) | 9:06 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 9:34 | |
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(moves into calm piano music) | 10:18 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 10:35 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 10:49 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 11:05 | |
(moves into upbeat-thumping piano music) | 11:26 | |
(moves into twirling piano music) | 11:40 | |
(moves into suspenseful piano music) | 11:51 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 12:41 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 13:20 | |
(twinkly piano music) | 13:36 | |
(moves into deep piano music) | 13:47 | |
(moves into stepping piano music) | 14:07 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 14:17 | |
(moves into slow piano music) | 14:30 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 14:37 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 14:47 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 15:19 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 15:37 | |
(moves into deep piano music) | 16:07 | |
(moves into stepping piano music) | 16:17 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 16:40 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 16:48 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 17:08 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 17:15 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 17:30 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 17:40 | |
(moves into suspenseful piano music) | 17:52 | |
(moves into grumbling piano music) | 18:15 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 18:28 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 18:39 | |
(moves into suspenseful piano music) | 18:45 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 19:19 | |
(moves into suspenseful piano music) | 19:53 | |
(moves into steady piano music) | 20:13 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 20:18 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 20:38 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 21:18 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 21:58 | |
(moves into upbeat piano music) | 22:42 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 22:55 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 23:19 | |
(moves into upbeat piano music) | 23:39 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 23:50 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 24:02 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 24:26 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 25:04 | |
(moves into upbeat piano music) | 25:12 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 25:24 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 25:28 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 25:39 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 26:28 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 26:40 | |
(moves into twirling piano music) | 26:47 | |
(moves into slow thumping piano music) | 27:02 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 27:37 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 28:04 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 28:11 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 28:35 | |
(moves into slow piano music) | 29:07 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 29:38 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 30:36 | |
(moves into flittering piano music) | 30:40 | |
(moves into deep-to-high piano music) | 31:05 | |
(upbeat piano music) | 31:32 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 32:39 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 32:57 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 33:08 | |
(moves into hopping piano music) | 33:55 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 34:05 | |
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(moves into twinkly piano music) | 35:57 | |
(moves into upbeat piano music) | 36:15 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 36:52 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 37:01 | |
(moves into hopping piano music) | 37:11 | |
(moves into worrisome piano music) | 37:23 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 38:01 | |
(moves into twirly thunderous piano music) | 38:32 | |
(moves into steady piano music) | 38:53 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 39:13 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 39:20 | |
(deep thunderous piano music) | 39:55 | |
(moves into flittering piano music) | 40:04 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 40:32 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 40:50 | |
(moves into thunderous piano music) | 41:01 | |
(moves into deep piano music) | 41:16 | |
(moves into upbeat piano music) | 41:24 | |
(moves into thumping piano music) | 41:35 | |
(moves into high-tension piano music) | 41:50 | |
(moves into twinkly piano music) | 42:06 | |
(moves into calm piano music) | 42:15 | |
(moves into suspenseful piano music) | 42:27 | |
(moves into lonely piano music) | 42:44 | |
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(moves into calm twinkly piano music) | 44:29 | |
(moves into deep calm piano music) | 45:00 | |
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(moves into twinkly piano music) | 45:24 | |
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(moves into deep piano music) | 46:35 | |
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(moves into twinkly piano music) | 46:57 | |
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(moves into thunderous piano music) | 47:41 |