Hear the sermon now,  "What the Sower Sees" - Fr. Christopher Caudle

Sermon Summary

Matthew 13: Parable of the Sower

Fr. Christopher Caudle invites the congregation during Lent to view the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) through two lenses: the condition of our own hearts and the life of our church/community. Using Vincent van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Crows as an image of a world full of distractions, he emphasizes that Jesus’ parable is meant for real hearts where birds, rocks, heat, and thorns are present—not as “fine print” to ignore, but as conditions the Sower expects while still moving forward in hope.

• The Sower: The first mark of the Sower is movement—he gets up and scatters seed because “things as they are not enough.” He takes a faithful risk (echoing Ecclesiastes 11:4: waiting for perfect conditions means never planting or harvesting) and acts on a vision of what God could bring forth.

• The seed: The seed is God’s Word—living, potent, and self-contained with the power to begin new life. The sermon contrasts seed with fertilizer: fertilizer can accelerate what already exists, but it cannot create life. Lent is a time to ask what we are “fertilizing” in our hearts and community, and to choose what carries the life of the gospel.

• The soil: The parable’s soils differ not in composition but in condition. Whether we feel hardened, shallow, crowded, or fruitful, the Sower still sees “good soil underneath” and believes it can be readied to bear much fruit.

• The harvest: The Sower sees beyond present obstacles to a future harvest—sometimes asking God to do again what He has done before, and sometimes asking God to do something for the first time where nothing has grown. The promised abundance (30/60/100-fold) reflects God’s generosity, not ideal circumstances.

Key takeaway: The sermon culminates in a single Lenten question: Can you see, with the eyes of faith, what the Sower sees for your heart? Even acknowledging distractions and resistance, the invitation is to trust the Sower, receive the good seed of the gospel centered on Jesus Christ, lay aside what crowds out faith, and draw near through repentance, Scripture, and the community of God’s people—confident that God can bring fruit from soil that does not yet look productive

Prayer

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