15th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A - Hearts Burning Within

The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time

Isaiah 55:10-11

Isaiah I: shape up or else; exile is coming 1-39
Isaiah II – Book of Consolation, Comfort. People in captivity, discouraged and tempted to drift 40-55
Isaiah III: going home 56-66 Trito Isaiah; struggle for a new temple and new leadership

Today’s passage comes from the end of the Book of Consolation.

I think to really appreciate this lectionary reading, you have to back up a bit and read verses 8-9. What those verses remind us of is that God is utterly transcendent, ineffable, and unapproachable. Which takes us into the short lectionary reading of verses 10-11.

God is so far above us that we can’t even begin to fathom what or who God is. And yet, God makes God’s self known to us! He sows the seeds of the word. And that seed bears fruit, which we’ll talk more about with the gospel reading.

It’s also worth noting here that God’s word is less a message and more an event. It’s more than words; it’s what those words do.

In what ways has God’s word watered your life, taken root and born fruit?

Matthew 13:1-23

During Ordinary Time, I’ll cover the Old Testament and then the Gospel readings as a pair so that we can better see the connections.

Sometimes the lectionary provides shortened reading options and this is one of them; you may hear only verses 1-9 read at Mass.

We’ll read the entirety of chapter 13 over the next 3 weeks.

Traditionally this parable is called “the parable of the sower” (titled in verse 18) but the real focus is on the seeds and their yields. The title comes from the ancient tradition of referring to a story by the first 2 or 3 words.

This is the first parable we encounter in Matthew. The Greek word parable comes from para – alongside and bole – to cast. A parable is something (like an image or metaphor) “cast alongside” something else.

Scholar C.H. Dodd says the definition of a parable is “a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt of its precise application so as to tease it into active thought.” A parable is a story that the audience can readily identify with but there’s something “off” by just enough to trip us up and make us think. The best example I can think of for this is the parable of the lost sheep where Jesus says “wouldn’t a shepherd leave the 99 and go in search of the one?” Even though I have zero experience with sheep and shepherding, I immediately think “what kind of caretaker leaves 99 to find the single one that wandered off?!” It makes us think.

New Testament parables are challenging on many levels, not the least of which is that we no longer readily identify with the cultural references made in most parables. Jesus tailored his stories to an audience that lived in sync with nature and seasons, an audience which depended on the land to produce the crops. Unfortunately, this is a context we no longer have. So the first step towards fully appreciating Biblical parables is to begin to appreciate the cultural context.

Verses 1-2 set the stage for this parable by telling us about the large crowds gathering around to hear Jesus. If you’d like to immerse yourself in the scene, I encourage you to check out this video, filmed in Israel at what is known as the Cove of the Sower.

In Isaiah we see that God is longing to reveal God’s self to us. This parable reminds us that God does so in a manner that we can understand. The original audience would have been farmers and so they would have readily identified with the images of this parable.

Verse 7 references thorns. A lot of times thorn bushes would be used / allowed to grow up to mark the boundaries of a property. So this is a farmer casting seed all over his property, including near the very edges of his fields.

Verse 8 speaks of the return of the seed sown good soil. The average yield of seed in that time was probably sevenfold; tenfold would have been really good. Thirtyfold was remarkable. 60 was unimaginable. And 100….. Inconceivable. The numbers speak of a tremendous harvest.

Verse 9 is our invitation to reflect on and consider what has been said. Remember that a parable is designed to make us stop and think and the interpretation is not always immediately obvious. Jesus doesn’t spoon feed it to his audience – we have to do some work. There is a certain level of responsibility put on the listener.

Verses 1-9 are the parable. Verses 10-17 are in interlude of sorts where the disciples talk to Jesus about what they’ve heard and ask why he speaks in parables.

Verse 10 uses the word mysteries from the Greek mysterion meaning “a secret doctrine.” This is the only place in the gospels it’s used but Paul really likes this word. It’s not something unknowable but something that can be known only when it is revealed. It’s the hidden plans and designs of God for history and for establishing God’s just rule through overcoming the forces of evil. It’s also the purposes of God with respect to the kingdom. Isaiah 55:8-9 tell us that these purposes and plans are so far above us we can’t even begin to imagine what God has planned.

The emphasis in verse 12 is theological not economic. It’s saying that if you open yourself in faith and hope to God’s revelation and God’s plan of salvation, you can make rapid progress in understanding it. If you close yourself to it, you can lose the offer and never come to understand.

Verses 13-15 are a reference to Isaiah 6:9-10 which is from the story of Isaiah’s call and commission. That call predicted a spiritual blindness and deafness in those who received the message. This is not a deliberate act of God to confuse people but rather the reality of a people who don’t really want to hear. But if they do open their eyes and ears, they will begin to understand and be healed. Underlying it, though, is always God’s intent to save, dependent on the human response. Isaiah is sent with a mission to preach but the parallel knowledge is that most people won’t listen.

Verses 16-17 are the contrast of the people who are spiritually blind versus the ones who aren’t. Jesus blessed those who do have their eyes open and he reminds them that his presence is what the prophets talked about and longed to see.

So that’s the interlude about why Jesus speaks in parables.

Verses 18-23 give an interpretation of the parable. It’s only one of many possibilities and it’s likely that this section was not part of what Jesus originally said. Matthew’s community and audience were largely Jewish. They responded to Jesus’ invitation but were perhaps perplexed by their fellow Jews who rejected Jesus. Verses 18-23 are an interpretation that stems from a missionary situation: spreading the gospel even while knowing that many will reject it. It urges the need for perseverance.

In this interpretation, verse 19 are the people who don’t accept the gospel because of activity of the evil one. Verses 20-21 are people who don’t accept the gospel because of personal shallowness – the inability to be rooted in what matters. Verse 22 are ones who don’t accept the gospel because they are too preoccupied with worldly concerns and the desire for wealth. Verse 23 is the picture of Matthew’s community – they’ve heard and understood and borne fruit beyond imagining.

There are a variety of other interpretations depending on which “character” is chosen as the focus:

Parable of the seed
- This interpretation seems to be favored by the lectionary pairing with Isaiah
- The seed is able to bring forth an abundant harvest as God intends
Parable of the soil (this is the focus of the explanation in v18-23)
- Emphasis on personal responsibility for receiving the word
- Levels of receptivity to the many seeds: scripture, liturgy, sacraments
Parable of the sower
- Presents us with an image of God who acts lavishly, sowing his seed even in the most unlikely of places.
- Challenges us to sow in the same way, to be God-like in this way
Parable of the harvest
- The end result is unimaginable, inconceivable abundance of God’s gracious manifestation

Remember that we are in Ordinary Time and so our readings are going to be talking to us about how to live out our Christian vocation in the ins and outs of daily, ordinary life. The parable puts the focus today on sharing the gospel and I think it gives us a few different ways to approach that:

Like God, we sow seed in abundance, without regard for where it may fall, trusting the inherent goodness of the seed
We pay attention to the quality of our own soil, making sure it’s ready to receive the word
We’re called to always be on the lookout for the abundance of the harvest

Where do the seeds in your life come from? It might be scripture, liturgy, relationships, dreams, or desires. How are these seeds bearing fruit?

How can you expand your mission to include sowing seeds at the margins of society, in the most unlikely of places?

Looking to the “soil” of your heart, how can you create the best possible environment for receiving the seeds of God’s presence in all their many forms?

How have you experienced the abundant harvest?

Romans 8:18-23

See detailed background on Romans here.

This is the second of five weeks in this chapter. For background on this chapter, see this post.

We could summarize last week’s reading from verses 1-13 by saying this: through Christ’s work, the paschal mystery, there are two responses – live according to the flesh or according to the spirit.

Living according to the flesh in Paul’s view means choosing to sin. As baptized believers, we live in the spirit with the freedom that brings: we can choose not to sin. For Paul, flesh is anything and everything that inclines us to sin.

Living in the flesh versus the spirit are not just about humanity; Paul’s theology is much broader than that. He will now bring the whole creation into this choice.

Verses 19-27 have a “groaning” motif:
19-22 creation groans
23-25 we groan
26-27 the spirit groans (next week’s reading)

Paul takes up in verse 18 a common question from Christians and non-Christians alike: if God is so good, then how do you explain suffering in the world? Paul says that suffering is a sign of authentic Christian experience but it is only a transition to the glory awaiting us. Remember, we make the choice to live in the spirit but we are still in a world at the mercy of the effects of sin. So suffering is inevitable. It is impossible to separate death and resurrection. Christ couldn’t get to his resurrection without going through his passion and death – the suffering. So suffering in this life is not really an issue for Paul – just something to be endured for the time being.

At the end of verse 18, Paul references the glory to be revealed. Glory here is the state intended for humanity before the fall and is promised to be restored. Paul turns his attention to this beginning with verse 19.

Jewish teaching of the time was that the coming end of the age would transform all creation and it recognized that we are intimately connected to the material world (see Isaiah 65:17). Creation here refers to the entire non-human world which the biblical creation stories present as the essential context for human life. There’s a shift here that indicates salvation is not just about us human beings but about all of creation.

In verse 20 Paul references “the one who subjected it” – a reference to Adam. Adam’s action subjected creation to death and decay, just like it subjected humanity to the same. So humanity and the non-human world are all in the same boat. Verse 21 imagines a world where the fall is reversed, a state which all creation is laboring to bring about (verse 22).

In verse 23 Paul tells us that we already have the firstfruits of the Spirit. “Firstfruits” was often a pledge or guarantee of what was to come. Paul emphasizes again and again that we already have what is promised!

Also in verse 23 Paul says that “We wait for adoption.” Most scholars view this phrase as something introduced to the text later, as nowhere else does Paul speak of waiting for adoption. Quite the opposite: Paul affirms over and over that we are already adopted.

Verses 24-25 are not in the lectionary but they bring us back to the idea of suffering mentioned in verse 18. Hope allows us to bear the sufferings of the world. And not only that, our hope is so secure that we really are already in a situation of salvation. For believers, hope is not an optimism based on encouraging aspects of our present situation. Our hope is grounded in something not easily imagined and certainly not seen but one that can get us through any situation.

In what ways do you experience the “firstfruits” of the Spirit – how do you already experience what has been promised?

Questions to ponder

What do these readings say about how to live day in and day out as Christians?