Extravagant, wasteful farming

This morning's sermon was preached from an outline, pasted below. Sometimes less is more...

Firstly, the readings (click on the underlined bit and it will open a window with the text):
Isaiah 55:10-13
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

read Isaiah 55

isn’t it beautiful?

but wait, what about the soil?

reiterate the types in Matthew 13

too distracted, too shallow, too hard

yet the sower scatters freely and abundantly

what gets scattered?

Romans 8 - there is now no condemnation

none

nada

and the seeds that were eaten by birds will end up someplace, eventually

and the seeds that grew up quickly but were scorched will, over time, either feed cows

or line bird nests

and the seeds that were choked by weeds will eventually become soil

but even better still

the same sower who sows the seed all over the place

         (some would say, wastefully so)

     will plow the field, break up the hard-pack

dig up the rocks

take care of the weeds

and continue to plant seeds

(we are not the seeds)

our hearts are the soil

and God rains down all faithful promises upon us

whether or not we are ready to receive those promises

and God will continue to send forth the Word 

to cleanse our hearts 

to free our souls from those distractions that would keep us from depth of life

        to grow in us a harvest which we could never expect on our own