15TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR A
A famous story describes the commander of the Army of Tennessee, Union general, U.S. Grant’s unflinching attitude to setbacks. At the end of the first day of battle at Shiloh, Union forces had been pushed back to the Tennessee River. William Tecumseh Sherman said to Grant, well, we’ve had the devil’s own day, haven’t we! Grant, taking a puff on his cigar, replied, yeah, we’ll lick ‘em tomorrow though.
The next day, Union forces launched a counter attack and forced the Confederates to retreat, ending their hopes of blocking the Union advance into Mississippi. What led to this Union victory?...Grant would not give up!
Today’s parable of the Sower and the Seed has much the same point. God is not going to give up. God is going to win. That was an important message for Jesus.
He began his ministry by teaching in the synagogues. But soon, opposition developed from religious leaders and they barred him from the synagogues. They accused him of heresy and charged him with drinking too much and hanging out with prostitutes and other sinners.
But Jesus persisted. He started preaching outdoors – in the countryside and along the river. He appealed to the common people with stories they could understand. And, he started gaining ground.
The crowds grew until the groundswell of support was so strong that Jesus decided to enter Jerusalem. And the rest is history.
Jesus had made his point: If the sower of ordinary seed does not become discouraged, but persists with the hope of an abundant harvest, how much more should we persist in our work for the kingdom of God.
Much of the sowers labor may seem futile, but to the farmer, that’s what you have to do to achieve an abundant harvest. Keep sowing!
Jesus’s own ministry faced opposition and apparent failure, but he kept sowing the word of God’s kingdom, assured that as long as he kept sowing, God was going to win. The kingdom would come.
That’s an important message for us too. In our culture, we look for immediate gratification, instant success, increasing quarterly profits. But, it doesn’t always work out that way.
Take Whiting/Robertsdale. The area around us keeps growing. By all rights, our faith community should be growing too. But we’re not. Why?
We’re sowing seeds. We have collections for the food pantry. We deliver baskets to those in need at Easter and Thanksgiving. We have a great Catholic school, Faith Formation program, and adult enrichment classes. We have inspiring, inviting, worship. But we’re not growing. It’s very tempting to become discouraged.
But what Jesus requires of us is the courage to keep sowing the seed of God’s kingdom. While others may shrug their shoulders and say, what’s the use, we will stand up for those too vulnerable to stand up for themselves. Why? Because God is going to win!
And when others say, we’ve already tried that and it didn’t work, we’ll persist in opening our arms to young and old, to rich and poor, to the widow and orphan and stranger in our midst. Why? Because God is going to win!
We, who live for God’s kingdom don’t live as those without hope. We live as the farmer, who casting the seed upon the ground, knows that it is God who will bring forth a more abundant harvest than we can hope for or imagine.