Message: Still Sowing / Matthew 13:1-9

 Today’s Gospel reading comes from Matthew 13. It was a time when Jesus’ ministry was facing growing challenges. At first, many people welcomed him and followed him. Through Jesus, they experienced God’s love and care.

But not everyone welcomed Jesus. The religious leaders, in particular, became suspicious of him and began to oppose him. Even some of those who followed Jesus did not fully understand his mission. They expected him to become a political or military leader who would free them from Roman rule.

It was in this situation that Jesus told the parable in today’s reading. Many of you already know this story well. We can read it in at least three ways. First, we can focus on the four kinds of soil that receive the seed. Second, we can pay attention to the remarkable harvest at the end. Finally, we can reflect on the sower who goes out into the field and scatters the seed.

In fact, this story is usually called the Parable of the Sower. There is certainly value in focusing on the different kinds of soil or on the abundant harvest. However, when we remember that Jesus told this parable as he faced rejection and misunderstanding, it may be even more helpful to pay attention to the sower.

In Jesus’ time, people sowed seed by hand. They walked through the fields and scattered the seed widely. Some seed fell on the path. Some fell on rocky ground. Other seed fell among thorns. Still, the farmer kept sowing.

This was a very familiar scene to the people of that time. Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God in ways that people could easily understand through their everyday lives. Through this farming story, he helped them see how God’s love and grace are given to the world.

Ultimately, God is the sower. God scatters seeds of life and mercy, justice and forgiveness, reconciliation and peace throughout the world. God does not sow seed only in certain kinds of soil. As Jesus said, God makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Jesus lived in exactly this way. His good news was not limited to certain people. He proclaimed the kingdom of God, healed the sick, and welcomed those who were marginalized. He shared meals with people who were called sinners. Some people accepted his words, while others rejected them. Some followed him but soon left. Even his disciples often misunderstood him, and on the night Jesus was arrested, they abandoned him and ran away.

Still, Jesus did not stop sowing. After the resurrection, he returned to the disciples who had failed and abandoned him. He did not wait for perfect people before entrusting the gospel to them.

After Pentecost, Jesus’ followers continued the work of sowing that Jesus had begun. Together, they became the church, a community of faith that bears witness to God’s hope. The church bears witness that God never gives up on the world. The church bears witness that God seeks those who are lost and welcomes those who return. The church bears witness that love is stronger than hatred, mercy is deeper than judgment, and peace is still possible in a wounded world.

In Canadian church history, there have also been many people who lived as sowers. One of them was William John Mackenzie. I first heard his name about twenty-five years ago, when I was taking a course on the history of Christianity in Korea at seminary. Mackenzie’s story touched my heart and helped me reflect deeply on what it means to live out our Christian calling.

Mackenzie was born in 1861 in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. After completing his theological studies, he was ordained and served as a minister in Nova Scotia. During that time, he decided to bring the gospel to Korea, a country that was almost unknown to most Canadians.

At that time, the Presbyterian Church in Canada did not have the resources to send a missionary to Korea. But Mackenzie did not give up his calling as a sower. With support from several churches and individual Christians, he finally left for Korea in 1893.

After arriving in Korea, he went to a small rural village called Sorae. There, he wore Korean clothing, ate Korean food, and lived in the same way as the Korean people around him, sitting and sleeping on the floor. For a Canadian who was used to chairs and beds, this way of life would not have been easy. But Mackenzie did not want to remain there as a distant foreigner. He wanted to share in the lives of the Korean people and live among them. He wanted to become their neighbour.

However, his missionary work did not last long. He became ill and died about a year and a half after arriving in Korea. He was only thirty-three years old. It might seem that his ministry was not successful. Only a small number of people became Christians during the time he served there.

Yet his death was not the end of the story. Korean Christians who had been influenced by Mackenzie sent a letter to the Canadian church, asking them to send more missionaries like him. When the Presbyterian Church in Canada received the letter, many people in the church were deeply moved by his story. As a result, in 1897, the church officially sent three missionaries to Korea.

After that, many Canadian missionaries went to Korea. They established churches, schools, and hospitals. Their work contributed to the growth of the Korean church.

Last summer, during my vacation, I travelled through Nova Scotia and followed the traces of Mackenzie’s life. The story of a person I had first encountered in a seminary classroom twenty-five years earlier unfolded before me in real places and landscapes. I visited Dalhousie University, where he graduated, and the Atlantic School of Theology, formerly Pine Hill Divinity Hall, where he studied theology.

I also went to Cape Breton and visited Black River United Church, where Mackenzie was baptized. It was a very small local church. But it was there that the journey of a future missionary began.

Nearby, I also found the cemetery where Mackenzie’s parents and siblings are buried. Mackenzie’s own grave is in Korea, but there is a memorial stone to him in that cemetery. It was placed there in 2023 by Korean Christians who wanted to express their gratitude for his ministry.

At a Korean church in Halifax, a mission centre has also been established in his memory. Many Korean Christians still remember him and give thanks for the life he lived and the faith he shared.

We are called to be sowers. Seeds sometimes grow in ways we could never imagine. Some of the seeds we sow may fall on the path. Some may fall on rocky ground or among thorns. At times, it may seem that only a small amount falls on good soil.

But we do not stop, because God, the true sower, does not stop. Today, we sow seeds of love. We sow seeds of hope and welcome, encouragement and faith. We sow seeds of justice and peace.

So let us keep sowing. Let us plant seeds of life and peace in this congregation, in our homes, in our workplaces and communities, and in the lives of those we meet. We may not see the harvest with our own eyes, but we trust that God is at work through every seed of love we plant. Just as Mackenzie could not imagine how far his seed would travel, we cannot know what God may bring from the seeds we sow today. 

Thanks be to God. Amen.