Sermon (3) and Liturgy for Ordinary 15 - Proper 10 - Year A
Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 65; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
"The Sower and The Seed"

READING: Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 65; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 SERMON : "The Sower And The Seed" Rev. Richard J. Fairchild a-or15sx 989000 The following is a more or less complete liturgy and sermon for the upcoming Sunday. Hymn numbers, designated as VU are found in the United Church of Canada Hymnal "Voices United". SFPG is "Songs For A Gospel People", also available from the UCC. Sources: The Call To Worship is from Julie M. Hulme, "Companion to the Revised Common Lectionary", Vol. II, p. 135.) as found John Maynard's "Prayers and Litanies For Ordinary 15a", as sent to the PRCL List, July 2002. GATHERING AND MUSICAL PRELUDE (* = please stand) * WORDS OF WELCOME AND CALL TO WORSHIP L The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. P And also with you. L God is the source of our life. P He journeys with us in love. L God is the giver of all that is good. P He journeys with us in love. L God is the sower of grace and truth. P He journeys with us in love. L God is our strength and our hope. P He journeys with us in love. * PRAYER OF APPROACH Wonderful God - you who send the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous and make the sun to rise upon the just and the unjust - we give you thanks and praise for the abundance of your love. Refresh us today with your Spirit. Pour out upon us your grace and your truth and help us to receive it with joy and to heed your instruction and obey your commandments so that in us and through us there may be an abundant harvest. May your Word live and grow in us and bear much fruit - even as we praise your everlasting name through Christ Jesus your Son and our Lord, our brother, and our friend. Amen * HYMN: "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine" - VU 368 CHILDREN'S TIME "The Seed is The Word of God" Object Rakes, hoes, shovels, garden tools (seed). Theme: Without the right seed the soil produces nothing of value Source: Self Good morning. How many of you like to work in the garden? Or have worked on a farm? There can be a lot of work to get a garden to grow things properly. This morning I brought some of the tools I have been using to build a garden for my wife..... First - a pick.... to open up the ground - then a shovel (to turn over the soil) - then a rake - to take out the weeds and clean up - then a small trowel and small rake to maintain things and to keep the soil loose. Over the last month or so I have made a garden spot. It is really quite beautiful if I say so myself. But one thing is missing. Can you guess what it is? It is SEED. We can have the best kind of soil - the best kind of land - we can even make it - but if we don't have the seed or the bedding plants to plant - then we have nothing. So it is in our lives - we can work hard to do everything that we should do - but unless we receive the Word of God deep into our lives we will have nothing of value. It is God's word - God's presence for us in Christ Jesus - that gives life its meaning and purpose. When we really hear and obey Jesus - when we follow him and pray to God through him - when we allow him inside our lives where he can grow - then we end up with a beautiful crop of those things that we want and our world needs. PRAYER AND THE LORD'S PRAYER Let us pray..... Dear Lord Jesus - plant your word deep in our lives - grow in us day by day - and as we obey and serve you - as we tend to the soil within us - as we listen to you and do all you ask - produce in us the harvest of righteousness. Amen. And in the word's Jesus taught us, let us pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen * HYMN: "All Creatures of our God and King" - VU 217 SHARING JOYS AND CONCERNS: ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SPECIAL MATTERS - Welcome and Announcements - Birthdays and Anniversaries - Special Matters - Sharing Joys and Concerns TIME OF SILENCE & AN INTROIT FOR THE WORD (verse 2 - VU 371) Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth thou sendest clear and while the wave notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear. Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God they will to see. Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine! A READING FROM ISAIAH 55:10-13 (NIV) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." L This is the Word of the Lord P Thanks Be To God. RESPONSIVE READING: Psalm 65 (VU 782) & The Gloria Patri (sung): Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen A READING FROM MATTHEW 13:1-9,18-23 (NIV)``That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear." "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." L This is the Gospel of our Risen Lord P Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ. * HYMN: "When Seed Falls On Good Soil" - VU 503 SERMON: "The Sower and The Seed" O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen. Over the next three weeks we will be looking at some of the parables of Jesus as they are found in the Gospel According to Matthew. The parable of the sower and the seed that Gil read this morning is the first of several that Matthew records in his gospel and as we look at it - and some of the others in the weeks to come - it will be good for us to remember that the parables of Jesus - when they were first heard - were heard in two ways. Some found their message offensive - and others found their message to be incredibly liberating, they heard them as good news about God love - about how God cares for the world and for everyone in it. The offense in today's parable should be obvious to any of you who garden - and to any who have farmed or who are familiar with farming. Seed is a precious commodity. It is not something that you spread on rocky ground or cast indiscriminately on the pathways throughout your garden or the roadside next to acreage. Nor do you sow seed in the midst of thistles. Yes - when you sow - be it by hand or by machine - some seed will fall in those places, but it is not something that you do deliberately. What you do deliberately is sow seed in good ground. You sow it in those places where you know the seed has a chance not only to germinate and sprout, but to grow up into a healthy plant - one that produces much fruit. But in today's parable it seems that God has a different system of sowing. The incredible thing within the parable of the Sower and The Seed the thing which is both offensive to those who think that they know how things should be done and good news to those who have ears to hear the message is the liberality of the sower of the seed and the abundance of the harvest that is produced - a harvest that far exceeds what could be reasonably expected even if all the seed landed in good soil.. Those who have ears, let them hear..... The seed in the parable of The Sower and the Seed is the Word of God, it is the Word - or The Message - about God's kingdom. And the sower is God. But the seed is also the one who first tells us this story, - the seed is Christ Jesus himself - who - as the scriptures tell us over and over again - came from God that we might have life and have it abundantly - the seed is the one whom we call the Living Word - the Word made flesh - who came, while we were yet enemies of God - and gave us his life for us so that we might turn to God and live as God's beloved children in a world - and a heaven - made new. - the seed is the one who tells us to do crazy things like love our enemies - and to pray for those who oppress us - and to bless those who curse us. - the seed is the one who accepts us and who wants to be planted deep in our hearts and to grow in our lives even we think that we are not good enough to approach him and to ask him for his hope - his love - his strength - his joy. While there may be a limit to what we can do in sowing the word, - a limit to the energy and the love that we have for one another - a limit that might cause us to try to sow in one place, but not in another, there is no limit to what God can do and what God does do; - nor is there a limit to what we can do when God's word is in our lives, working through us, growing in us as God wants it to do.. "Those who have ears", says Jesus, "let them hear." Let them hear that God is pouring out himself in abundance upon this world upon the rocky ground and the places that thistles grow and the pathways and the good soil and that at the end - when the final reckoning is made - there will be an incredible harvest a harvest so generous that the one who has sown so much seed so indiscriminately will be rewarded beyond anything one could reasonably hope for - even if all the soil had been good soil. Let them hear too that we should not hoard the seed that God has given to us to sow; let them hear that God's purposes will not be frustrated if we waste a little bit of here and there, - that the word of God's love and care that we manifest in our actions and our attitudes and the words we speak will not be lost if we give it freely to the those who may allow it to be snatched away, or choked out, or to wither away... it won't be lost because the harvest that will come from all our acts of sowing the good news of Jesus Christ will be more, much more, than anyone can expect. "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth" said God through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading today. "My word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." The purpose of God is the renewal of our lives - of our lives - and of the life of the world. "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace", says God to his people Israel - and to us here today. "the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." God's purpose is accomplished by God's word - the word that created heaven and earth and which has been made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord so that the sick might be healed, the captive set free, the poor receive good news - and the dead restored to life. It is going to happen - and we can be part of it - or not - as we choose. But those of us who have chosen to receive the Word of God into our lives, those of us who have accepted Christ into our lives and who strive to grow in him and have him grow in us - let us not choose for others by denying to them what God has given to us, let us be wildly indiscriminate in how we share the good news, in how we love one another This indeed is part of the harvest that good soil produces abundant seed for the sower to sow once again and grain that is more than enough for all who hunger. They who have ears - let them hear - day by day, now and forever. Amen PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Rx - And In Your Love Answer) Singing #400 at the start and the end of the prayer time) Lord, listen to your children praying. Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying, send us love, send us power, send us grace! Loving God, Father and Mother of all - we praise you for being such an awesome farmer - for casting your seed far and wide without regard to where it might land or how it might be received. We praise you for your indiscriminate love - your willingness to forgive - your desire to see all people made whole. Oh God, we pray that in us, instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow... Lord, hear our prayer... Lord Jesus - we praise you for being such powerful seed - for growing and producing such abundant fruit among those who not only receive you with joy - but who in faithfulness continue to listen to you once you have taken root in them. We thank you for offering to take our burdens - those burdens that might choke out the good news of the Kingdom of God - and for offering to us your yoke and your burden - the yoke of being a sower of your love - the burden of caring for those you care for. Help us Lord to have the ears to hear and the will to do what you want us to hear and do.... Lord, hear our prayer.... Holy Spirit - wind of God - divine comforter - strength of the strong and solace of the needy - we invoke you in the name of the Father and of The Son upon our concerns here in this world - upon our own thirsty hearts and upon the needs of others. As you hovered and brooded over the waters of creation - so be present for those we lift before you now who need to be re-created or made new. We pray for those in grief -and for those who hunger and thirst in body or in soul. We pray for those whose who are vulnerable to having all that is good snatched away from them - and for those who find themselves in the thickets and thistles and who seek a way out. O Lord, we pray that in the lives of those about us, instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow... Lord, hear our prayer... Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - hear our prayers for those of our family - our church - our community - and our world - that you have put upon our hearts this past week - and this day. We pray for... (Bidding Prayer).... Lord, hear our prayer... Most loving God, we thank you and we praise you for growing such a wonderful crop. From humble beginnings in the most unlikely of places you have raised up through your Son and the people who bear his name a harvest of souls beyond counting. We pray that we might hear and in hearing - become sowers of your word - a people who produce abundant fruit - both now - and forever. Amen Lord, listen to your children praying. Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying, send us love, send us power, send us grace! MINUTE FOR MISSION * SHARING GOD'S BLESSINGS: As the Offering is presented all stand for the Doxology (Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow - VU 541) and Prayer of Dedication O God, you have sown your seed in our lives and you have nurtured us and cared for us. We offer to you now the fruit of your labour within us. Use us and the gifts we offer on these plates in the work of your Kingdom - both here in this place - and in our community - and in the church around the world. Grant that through what we say and do a rich harvest of peace and praise may bring glory to your name. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. * DEPARTING HYMN: "In The Quiet Curve of Evening" -VU 278 * COMMISSIONING (Unison): In the power of the Holy Spirit we now go forth into the world, to fulfil our calling as the people of God, the body of Christ. * BENEDICTION AND THREEFOLD AMEN Go in peace - love and care for one another in the name of Christ Jesus - and may all the seeds of love and faith, of truth and peace, of hope and kindness planted by God in your hearts find fertile soil - and may blessing upon blessing be seen in you and known by you - and may you share in abundance with all of God's people - both near and far, on earth and in heaven, now and forevermore. Amen. * CHORAL BLESSING: "Go Now In Peace" - VU 964 copyright - Rev. Richard J. Fairchild 2005 please acknowledge the appropriate author if citing these sermons.


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