Based on the Gospel reading: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Jesus looks out on the crowd gathered on the shore. He sees many familiar faces amongst them. There are, of course, his closest followers, the ones he has chosen. And there are others who stand out from the crowd. They are people who gather whenever he begins to speak. But there are many whom he has never noticed before. He recognizes the hunger and suffering that has brought them to this place. He sees the sense of hope in their eyes. "Let anyone with ears listen!" he says and they know he is saying it to them.

He has much on his own mind – the difficulties in Nazareth, his hometown, people who think he is out of his mind, the constant harassment of the officials of the synagogue. All of this he puts aside as he begins to speak to them. Knowing that even the disciples don't always understand he tells them a parable about a sower. He sees the farming people in the crowd relax. The picture he paints is so familiar to them.

He talks of a sower sowing the seed. They can picture themselves walking through the unploughed field, scattering the good grain they have kept from the last harvest. There is lots of seed. They simply scatter it. They know some will land on the hardened soil that forms into paths through the fields. Some seed will get choked by the wild thorns that grow up again after the ploughing. There are stones just under the soil. You can never tell just where they are, out of sight until the field is ploughed. The seed that lands there will probably be wasted. But there is no way around it. Some seed even gets scattered to the very edge of the field. You cannot tell where the best places are to sow the seed. But there is plenty! You can afford to lose some. And some of it will produce even in the poorest soil.

How surprised they are to hear Jesus speak of the wonderful bounty of the harvest! Is it possible? Can you even imagine producing that kind of yield? With even a small harvest a farmer is able to put aside enough seed for the following year. What if the harvest was thirty times what was sown? A farmer could pay off debt, put in irrigation ditches and erect a new barn. With sixty times what was sown one would be the richest person in the area. And if it were ninety percent? Why with ninety percent a farmer would be able to export grain to other countries. He would own it all. What a dream! "Let anyone with ears listen!" They are all ears! Jesus is speaking to them.

Last week up at the cottage I watched my neighbour out seeding his lawn. He had a small bag of grass seed and he was sprinkling it here and there. Now you need to know that this is not a well-manicured lawn that needs a little help. This is ground that is more weed than grass. I had read this week's readings and so I was already thinking in terms of the parable of the sower. I felt like shouting out to him, "Let those who have ears to hear, listen. Do you get it or not?"

I feel like shouting that same message out this morning. Are we all ears? What is Jesus saying to us? How do we, the Church – this church here in Meadowvale, our partners in the Church Centre, the churches in our Diocese, other denominations, churches throughout the world – hear what Jesus is saying? Do we get it or not? If we do get it why is the church in such a state of decline?

What kind of harvest do we expect? We need growth here at St. Francis. We live in a growing community. What would it be like if the harvest in our church were thirty percent? Would we have new people coming here every Sunday to find out what we were about? Would we be inviting people to come and see? Would more and more people want to be involved in being the church? Would there be an excitement about the faith, a commitment to God's work?

What if the harvest were sixty percent? Would we be reaching out beyond ourselves into the community? As much as we try to do now, we would be able to do so much more. There would be no poor in our parishes or neighbourhoods. People would be flocking to churches for help, solace, companionship, hope and community. It would be clear to all, both those in church and not, that something exciting was happening, growing and being produced. We in this congregation would be a committed community sharing our faith. People would be looking at us, saying, "Look at those Christians, how they love one another!"

What if the harvest were a hundred percent? Christians would be a global force. We would be a moral presence in all the countries of the world. Our influence would be noticeable in politics, in education, in health care, and in economics. When we come together in solidarity we are able as a Church to do wonderful things. I've experienced it. A few years ago millions of people worldwide signed a document asking the G7 nations of the world to forgive debt. Six hundred thousand of them were Canadians, most of them from the Christian community. The initiative was largely undertaken by the World Council of Churches. The most powerful nations in the world took note and listened. They were able, knowing that they had the backing of so many people in their own countries, to forgive enormous debts of the poorest nations of the world. But it was only a drop in the bucket. How much more we could accomplish! "Let anyone with ears listen!"

It is easy to look at the Church and see its shortcomings and failures, its lack of relevance. But perhaps that is our failure to recognize what the Church is. It is not our building. We are the Church. That is why we need to meet Sunday after Sunday. How can we be renewed and go out into the world and be the Church if we are not sustained and nurtured by our faith? Are we in our lives and in our work in the world, bringing God's love to a world that needs to hear it? Are we committed to the faith? Are we sowing the seed lavishly?

The question still remains, do we get it? It isn't enough to hear. We have to understand. And even understanding is not enough. Faith is empty without action on our part. Church isn't about a building. It also isn't about insightful preachers having wonderful messages to share Sunday by Sunday. It is about the commitment of the Christian community. It is easy to listen to the parable of the sower and gloat about how responsive we are to God, to see ourselves as good seed landing on good soil. Many good churchgoing people are unresponsive to God's call. We have all sorts of excuses for our lack of faith. It isn't our fault. It is the way we were brought up. It is because of what happened to me in my childhood. It is God's fault for treating me this way.

We choose our own paths. The good news is that God is there to give us guidance and support. The church is there to nurture us on the way. But it requires action on our part. We who are privileged to hear need to respond. We don't need to find excuses. We just need to do what God calls us to do.

If we would believe the parable of the sower, although God does not seem to be at work in the world, although God does not seem to be in control, nevertheless, God's realm is coming. In its coming it will make up for all the failures and disappointments which have gone on before. We are assured of abundant success despite failure. We are privileged – we Christians – to be bearers of God's truth in the world. We bear a message of great hope. "Let anyone with ears listen!"