On January 12, 2007, the world renowned violinist Joshua Bell, disguised in a simple pair of jean, a long sleeve T-shirt, and a baseball cap, went to the Washington Subway with his $3 million violin. There he stood and played for 42 minutes. One thousand and seventy people passed him by, seven stopped to listen, and only one recognized who the violinist was. Joshua Bell whose performance’s ticket to a merely good seat cost about $100, made $32 that day playing six classical masterpieces of Sebastian Bach.
A story which amazes many who come to hear about it!
Now, imagine ourselves in that situation. Imagine ourselves being at the Washington Subway. What sort of crowd would we belong to? Those who just merely passed by without a slightest idea of what was happening? Those who were so occupied with day to day busy routine? Those who stopped and enjoyed the entertainment of another “street performer?” Or joining the one person who recognized the master?
There is a striking connection of the story above and the parable of the Sower which our Lord presented today.
In place of the world renowned violinist, we have the Sower, the Eternal Son of God. Instead of the $3 million violin, we have the Word which offers everlasting life. Thousands upon thousands came to listen to him. They all carried with them their own types of soil – the sidewalk, the rocky, the thorny, and the rich.
Fast forward to two thousand years later, to our time today, we still have the same story. The Sower is still sowing the Word of Life. We all listen to him at least every Sunday. And just like the crowd of Jesus’ time, we, too, carried with us our own soil.
These types of soil do not refer to the types of person. Rather, they refer to the dispositions of a person’s heart:
- The sidewalk of indifference and ignorance. Christ’s Word is just something the priest reads of a book. And sometimes he just goes on and on talking about it which cause us to constantly check our watch and mutter “My Gosh, be done already.” The Word means nothing and has no value.
- The rocky of momentary enthusiasm. We listen with eager and even with some seeming devotion, but we hear merely some nice words which please our ears. And then as we leave the Church, we leave them there and go on with our life. God’s word has nothing to do with our day to day experience.
- The thorny of many anxieties and fears. This disposition is probably the most common. We recognize the beauty and value of the Word. We hear it and wish to apply it to our life. But, then, come the worries of daily busyness and of the battles for survival. Then, come the fears of being discriminated, of being “too religious,” and of being judged. We have no other choice but to put God’s word into a box, hide it in a closet and would not bother with it until Sundays come around.
- Finally, the rich soil of sincere acceptance and openness. It is the soil of one who realizes that God’s word is not only some nice words of a book, rather the living word which is the light to guide us to everlasting life. He or she recognizes the challenges the Word entails, but still humbly listens to it and allows it to bear fruit as he or she applies it to his or her life.
We all have these types of soil within ourselves. We are all capable of becoming the sidewalk, the rocky, the thorny, or the rich. We are all capable of ignoring and being indifferent, of shallowly listening and then forgetting the next moment, of choking with fears, and of accepting with openness.
In Alice Walker’s short story called “Meridan,” a little girl in the South is playing in the yard when she finds a piece of metal. She recognizes that this piece of metal is a bar of gold, and she digs up this incredible, heavy bar of gold. She rushes home to her mother, who is sitting on the back porch, shelling peas. She says, “I found some gold.” And she places the large, heavy gold bar in her mother’s lap.
Her mother says, “Move that thing out of the way. Don’t you see I’m trying to get supper ready?”
“But it’s gold,” she insists, “Feel how heavy it is. Look how yellow it is. It’s gold. It could make us rich.”
But her mother is not impressed. So she is rejected, and no one is interested in sharing her joy. She takes her bar of gold, puts it in a shoebox, and she buries it under the magnolia tree in the backyard. Once a week, she digs it up and holds it in her lap. Then, she does it less and less often. Soon it’s only once a month, until finally, she forgets to dig it up at all. And then she acts like everyone else, not as someone possessing a bar of gold.
Friends,
The Sower is always there.
The Seed – our bar of gold - with all its richness, is always there.
Do we stop to listen?
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