Jesus spoke about the need to “read the signs of the times.” His advice is especially pertinent for preachers. According to homilitician, Don Wardlaw, the most effective preaching comes from the area where the biblical world, the current society and the life of our local communities overlap. Below is a sample of a homily inspired by the overlap of the Parable of the Sower, a farming community in Texas and illustrations from current agricultural technology.
Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Most of you know that I grew up on a farm.
My brothers are famers and so are most of my nephews.
Besides that, most of my parishioners from Vega are farmers.
So I hear a enough about modern-day farming
to know today’s agriculture involves more than weeds in the cotton patch.
Take today’s gospel passage about the Parable of the Sower, for instance.
If you want to translate this parable into the language of today’s farmers,
you need to expand the subject matter
to include more than soil productivity.
You’d need to talk International trade agreements
and economic trends in domestic and global markets.
Not to mention GPS systems that manage soil fertility
by square foot
as opposed to square mile…
determining
planting depth,
seed dispersal
and nutrient application
via in-field satellite topology readings…
And what about animal agriculture?
If you’re talking livestock these days,
you’re talking DNA
and embryo implants.
Just two nights ago,
I was talking on the phone to my friend Jake, a dairy farmer back in Ohio.
“How you doing, Jake?”
“Doin’ fine.”
“How are the cows milking?”
“They’re doing good.”
“What’d you all do today?”
“Well, we hauled some manure.
Then I walked to barn and cut some strands of hair from a new-born calf.
I sent the sample off to the lab in Columbus.
Tomorrow, I’ll find out how many gallons of milk
she’ll produce per day
when she grows up.”
You get my drift?
Farming is big business.
and it’s big on technology.
So, if a GPS is going to keep some seed from being wasted on poor soil,
then you’re going to go that route.
If you can get the loan to do it, that is.
Farmers refer to it as “Risk Reduction.”
The rest of us call it gambling.
When you bet everything you got…
and the outcome is not guaranteed…
you’re gambling.
And farmers are among the world’s biggest gamblers…
always were, always will be.
The higher the stakes, the harder they work.
Not just to control the weeds,
but to control the every single variable they can.
Why?
To reduce the financial risks as best they can.
________
You and me, we live in a country where only 2% of the population are farmers.
Just 2% of the population feeds the rest of us and a lot of other people besides.
So, the 98% of us who do not farm
might tempted to dismiss the importance
of the Parable of the Sower.
But if you recognize the fact that
the underlying message in the parable is about taking risks,
then it’s relevant for all of us…farmers and non-farmers alike.
After all, this parable is about God, not agriculture.
It’s about God taking incredible, foolish risks.
That’s what’s at the heart of today’s gospel:
the extreme and improbable risks that God takes
by planting his Word…in a world like ours.
What are the chances that the Word of God
will take root and yield a good harvest?
Even from God’s side of the equation, the odds aren’t promising!
Let’s play this out:
Imagine a priest in city parish using the word Integrity in a conversation with a gang member? How convincing is he going to be?\
Imagine some Padre down in Mexico talking to a member of a drug cartel.
Would the word Compassion have a fighting chance with a monster like that?
How do you thing the word Forgiveness rings in the ear of a father
whose daughter’s been raped and murdered?
What role does the concept of Truth in a political campaign?
Does the phrase “Sell what you have and give the proceeds to the poor” ever commercials for Caribbean cruises?
When was the last time your financial adviser recommended investment in a not-for-profit agency?
In other words, what are the chances of God’s Word taking root?
______
Now, you and me, we might think
that the chances of the Word of God
germinating in the barren soil
of a fallen world are mighty slim.
But, as it turns out, God is a gambler…
a gambler of the most reckless sort.
_______
Go back to the first reading for a minute.
How does the prophet Isaiah
talk about the chances of God’s Word surveying in this world?
He writes: Swiftly runs the Word upon the earth and does not return to the heavens void!
What does this mean?
It means that each time you and I
open the Bible,
or take time to pray
or gather together at a Bible study or for weekday Mass or Sunday Mass
more seeds are scattered…and more risks are taken!
Day after day, in the face of incredible odds,
God flings the seed of the Word
like a gambler throwing dice.
It appears reckless…
but faith takes root.
The prophet, Isaiah, was confident of this.
Jesus of Nazareth claimed it as a sure bet:
God’s Word will yield a harvest.
When hearts are thirsty
and needs are great,
God’s Word will take root!
When conditions are desperate
and when you least notice,
God’s Word will take root!
________
Next time you hear the Parable of the Sower,
think of it as the Parable of the Gambler.
Like a farmer with a million dollar loan,
God has taken a gamble.