Isaiah 55:10-13

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle, and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Matthew 13:1-9

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.  And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!”

What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Apple Trees and the Blue Sky

There are two apple trees in our front yard. In late winter every year I prune those trees. And I must not know what I’m doing because every year that I prune them, there are no apples. So this past winter I decided not to do anything. I did not prune a single branch. And now, in mid-July, the trees are absolutely loaded with apples.

Yesterday I watered the apple trees. I soaked them at the roots with the garden hose. The grass was green, the air was warm, the sky was blue, and my heart felt at ease. I felt the goodness of God’s creation, and I’m pretty sure I caught a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven.

In Matthew Chapter 13, Jesus presents seven parables on the Kingdom of Heaven. And we’re going to talk about the Parable of the Sower in just a minute. But first, I want to take a look at our reading from Isaiah. Because the book of Isaiah, like the parables in Matthew 13, is food for the soul.

Isaiah

The scholar Walter Bruegemann points out that in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Kings is followed immediately by the book of Isaiah because Kings and Isaiah, together, tell the story of Jerusalem. Now, I don’t know why the order changed in the Christian Old Testament. But the original order in the Hebrew Bible makes sense because Kings ends with the destruction of Jerusalem. And then Isaiah picks up the story and writes about the captivity in Babylon, and the eventual return to Jerusalem.

Isaiah is filled with poetry. As Bruegemann puts it, Isaiah gives us “chapter upon chapter of high poetic art.”[1]Now, this poetry in Isaiah is not easy reading. “High poetic art,” takes some effort to get into. But it’s worth the effort. Because Isaiah is food for the soul. Reading Isaiah’s poetry is nourishment for the soul.

I have a feeling the New Testament writers felt this way, too because quotes from Isaiah are found throughout the New Testament. Jesus often quoted Isaiah. And the early Christians found great inspiration in Isaiah’s poetry.

Isaiah 55

Our reading from Isaiah chapter 55 looks forward to the restoration of Jerusalem. Isaiah is writing to the captives in Babylon to give them hope and encouragement. He tells the captives God’s word is sustaining. God’s word is food for the soul. The chapter begins with this:

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy. (55:1-2)

Isaiah is saying that some things are not worth our attention because they are not satisfying. But God’s word satisfies our soul.

The more I read Isaiah, the more I find it satisfying. This is poetry that nourishes the soul. It is worth reading. It is worth making the effort to read, worth spending time with. If you ever feel down in the dumps, if you ever feel like you have been captured and taken as prisoner to Babylon, read Isaiah. Isaiah is inspiring and uplifting scripture.

We live in an age of distraction.

In the keynote presentation on preaching at the NA conference two weeks ago, Rev. Douglas Stivison made the point, speaking to a room full of preachers, that if a preacher has an attentive congregation, a congregation that actually listens to a fifteen-minute sermon each Sunday morning, that is basically a miracle. It is a rare gift indeed to have such a congregation. That preacher should feel blessed.

Rev. Stivison went on to point out that anything beyond 17 minutes would be pushing one’s luck. And 20 minutes was absolutely out of the question. And at that point in the presentation, I felt a wave of conviction as I estimated how many times I have gone over the 20 minute mark. All of this is to say that I do appreciate the grace you show me, week after week, giving me your attention.

Attention is given

Attention is a valuable resource. A person’s attention is a highly sought after thing. When you give your attention to something, or to someone, you give your time, your energy, and your focus. Your attention is where your life happens. Attention is immediate. It is here and now. It only happens here and now. Attention is kind of a nebulous thing, it’s difficult to define or identify. But we all know what it is, in a kind of common-sense way. I remember my grandfather telling us when we were kids to “pay attention.” We would be getting ready for church on Sunday morning, walking to the car, and he would say, “Pick up your feet. Pay attention. The grass is wet. Pick up your feet and keep your good shoes dry.” Pay attention. Even in that context, attention was treated almost like a commodity, or a currency. Something to pay. Pay attention.

People in the marketing world have long understood this. If you can get someone’s attention, you can influence their decisions. For example, you can get into their head, so to speak, and make them want to buy stuff. You know? That’s what commercials are all about. Remember tv commercials? Remember all the jingles? “Plop plop, fizz fizz oh what a relief it is?”

For the jingles to sink in, there had to be attention first. You know, it’s embarrassing to think about, but I sometimes wonder how many tv commercials I absorbed growing up. “A manly soap, your Irish Spring. Manly, yes. But I like it, too.”

Now looking back, it seems like hours of wasted time and attention. It took me a long time to realize that I was in control of my attention. That I could focus my attention. That, in fact, focusing my attention on specific content was a way to learn new information and new skills, and this would lead to improving the quality of my life.

Pay Attention

Our reading from Matthew is from Chapter 13, and Chapter 13 is the Third Discourse in Matthew. Remember, we said that Matthew is organized into Five Major Discourses. This third discourse is a collection of seven parables. So when you read through Matthew 13, you will see this. The chapter contains seven parables. And these are the famous “Kingdom of Heaven” parables. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus is telling us in these parables. But in the first parable, he presents the main problem. The Kingdom of Heaven is right here in our midst. But is anyone really interested? Does anyone really care? It’s right here. But we so often miss it.

Today’s reading is the first of these parables. It’s about listening and being receptive. It’s a parable about teaching. In other words, paying attention. I can’t think of a more appropriate parable for us today. Think about how many distractions there are, how many distractions we have to deal with. It seems like it’s impossible to do anything for more than 2 minutes without some kind of distraction coming up. And what’s more, we are losing our attention span. We are losing the ability to stay with something, to keep our attention on something for more than 20 seconds. We live in an age of distraction.

And the way I know this is true is because when I meet with people, I often notice how hungry they are for someone who really listens. Have you ever noticed, in a conversation, you might get 7 seconds, or maybe 8 seconds, to say something. And then, that’s it. Conversation’s over. On to the next thing. Nobody is listening anymore. Life is happening at a very fast pace. You get those first few words, and then that’s all.

See, everybody wants to talk, but nobody wants to listen. Everybody wants to tell their story. People are so hungry to tell their story, to be heard. To be seen. To be heard. To matter. To be given attention.

And so this is the problem with attention. It is rare. And it is valuable. That is what the parable is getting at.

Imagine a teacher, going into a classroom, standing up in front of the students in the class, and talking. Presenting the material. Articulating in words and sentences, the content of the class. Here is what you need to learn in this class. And then the question is, “Is anybody listening?”

It takes work. Listening takes work. It takes work to give one’s attention long enough to make a difference, to learn something new, to create new relationships, to help other people. It takes time, and it takes attention, and it takes work. It’s an effort. Giving our attention is an effort.

The Parable of the Sower

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus is talking about preaching the Gospel. He’s saying that most of the time, no one is listening. Or if someone is listening, maybe they hear the words, but the message doesn’t sink in. Or they don’t care about it. The message doesn’t really matter to them. They’re not interested. Maybe they’re not ready to hear it.

  It takes time and repetition and effort to make a significant change. To make a life altering change. The Gospel is a life altering message. It is worth our attention. Worth our repeated attention, over and over, until if finally sinks in, until we really get it, until there is a conversion of heart and mind, a “metanoia” a transformation, a new life. It takes work. And it takes attention.

The invitation this morning is to look for the Kingdom of Heaven and to find ways we can create the Kingdom of Heaven by giving our attention where it is needed, sowing seeds where they will take root and bear much fruit.

Amen? Amen.

[1] Walter Bregemann, An Introduction to the Old Testament (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press), 191.