Preaching Paths 12 July 2026

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

The parable of the Sower and Soils (Mt 13: 1-9), coupled with its interpretation (Mt 13:18-23), is familiar to many congregations. One reliable approach to this parable has been to see the sower as Jesus, the seed as the gospel summons to trust and follow him, and the soils as human hearts and minds. Preachers often end with interrogation: “What kind of soil are you? How fruitful is your life?” An alternative approach is to see our communities of faith as the sowers of seed in today’s world.

For three chapters (chs 10-12), Matthew’s theme has been sharing news of the reign of God, and the mixed responses it provokes. In ch 10, Jesus sends out his disciples to proclaim and heal, warning them about great resistance. Mt 11 and 12 describe Jesus’ public teaching, healings, and the resistance these evoke among the religious authorities. The story of the Sower and Soils is a capstone, of sorts, to this material. Some scholars see the interpretation of the parable (13:18-23) as a late addition by Matthew’s community, perhaps a portrayal of its own missionary experience.

Understanding Mt’s agricultural setting can be enlightening. NT scholar Kenneth Bailey helps us envision a typical Palestinian farm plot (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfJT_3sZXHM). Farmers lived in the village, not on their land. They walked out to their contiguous farm plots on the terraced hillsides. Reaching their plot meant crossing several other properties on well-worn paths that bordered the fields. Each terraced plot included the featuresto which Jesus refers: the hard border pathway, a rocky strip against the stone wall rising up to the next terrace, and weed-infested corners. The farmer focused on seeding the field’s central area; yet, seed also fell in less fertile spots.

The parable encourages us to sow, and yet be prepared for mixed results. Up to the 1960s in North America, church attendance was a social norm. Preachers and congregations could assume that, with a good preacher and solid music program, a church would see a steady flow of newcomers. But by the 1960s, church attendance was optional. Worried church leaders wondered, “How do we coax a reluctant public into our pews?” Church growth gurus turned to secular, consumer-oriented research for clues. Sermons, they said, had to be simple, practical and visually engaging. Praise bands replaced organs and choirs. Video clips on big screens became the norm. The innovations “worked.” People who had quit church as boring and irrelevant showed up. Yet, over time, the new methods, too, became run-of-the-mill. Further, attracting folks was one thing; keeping them over the long haul was another. Comforting messages “sold” well, but bringing up costly discipleship thinned the crowds. One Southern megachurch handed attendees raffle tickets for new home appliances which were fetchingly displayed near the pulpit. Winning numbers weren’t called out until after the benediction.

The parable of the Sower urges us to rethink both our methods and our expectations. The sower goes outto sow. What if sowing is not about luring folks into our sanctuaries? The parable suggests that we need to take the seed of God’s challenging and gracious ways out into the  beyond our church doors.  The inclusive compassion and restorative justice Jesus lived and taught is good news in a world increasingly weary of twisted versions of Christianity that sponsor xenophobia and race-based hate. Recall that the parable of the Sower concludes a section of Matthew that begins with Jesus’ gut-wrenching compassion for the hungry, over-taxed multitudes that follow him (9:36). We, in our time and place, need to go outand cast seeds of grace and hope that save not just souls, but bodies that struggle with poverty, food and shelter insecurity, harassment, and discrimination. God accompanies us into unpromising places. And miraculously, those very deserts may burst into bloom.