The Parable of the Sower which is our Gospel this morning is actually a gift to the preacher because Jesus himself supplies both the story and the sermon.  This is one of the most memorable of Parables that Jesus told because of his explanation and we don’t really need to try to better it.  So, I should just sit down now and leave you to ponder what Jesus said though perhaps your pondering can be helped if I were to ask the question –  What sort of ground are you – the path, the rock, the thorn, or the good soil?  It’s rather an important question and I’m sure if pressed you would answer that you are the good soil.  Why would you be here this morning unless you know the Word of God in your heart and try to live by it?

I’m sure that we all believe that we are good soil but every gardener and  farmer knows that every so often good soil needs attention if it is to continue to be good.   One of the important ingredients for continued good growth is the quality of the soil and we sometimes have to turn it with the fork, add compost, manure, not forgetting worms - and breathe new life into it.  In olden days before intensive farming, fields were dug over and allowed to lie fallow for a season. The soil needed to rest because otherwise it gets stale.

The soil of our faith needs similar attention.  Sometimes we get stale and we need to rest a little, particularly if we are very active in church life.  Being active in the Church is often a sign that we are good soil. The Word of God – the Good News of Jesus Christ – has taken root in our soul and we simply want to do things to proclaim God’s love and salvation for all.  Generally we do this by taking every opportunity for Christian service and whilst this includes serving our community in different ways it also is expressed by the work we do in the Church itself.

But this can become all consuming. Those who are most active in church life belong to the 20 % of Christians whose work keeps the church alive. To them the lot falls and whilst they are mostly willing to take on the tasks they also get tired and need to be renewed.  It’s so easy to take church workers for granted and assume that they will always be active.   Sometimes, though, they get into a rut because they don’t want to let people down and anyway, who would do the work if they didn’t?

I was ordained in Durham Cathedral. Like most Cathedrals it attracts lots of visitors and even some Christian pilgrims who go there for a spiritual re-charge.  Care of visitors has always been part of its story and in former times, when it was a great monastery, the visitors and pilgrims were cared for by the monks. Many came to stay in the guest house.  As well as caring for visitors, the monks continued the daily round of prayer, worked in the various occupations needed to keep a busy monastery going; copied manuscripts and so on. It was all hard work.  Every so often the monks needed to rest and recover from their labours.  A few miles down the river wear there was another monastery – you can still visit its ruins.  It was called Finchale Priory and its purpose was simply to be a holiday camp.  Exhausted monks were sent there for a time of rest and recovery. 

In spiritual terms we call this making a Retreat – a getting away from the hurly burly of daily life in order to rest in God. It’s a kind of lying fallow so that the good soil of our souls might be refreshed and renewed. Then new growth can happen.  Retreats are still an important part of our Christian pilgrimage through life though few of us have the time to go away from home for them.  Mostly we have to snatch whatever time we can to simply be with God.  It might be a simple thing like taking a cup of coffee out into the garden and just look quietly at God’s creation all around us and feeling part of it and therefore of God.  Or we might have a little time visiting a spiritual place – a place where prayer has been made valid by the countless pilgrims who have visited a holy place or, in some cases, by a saint who lived there.  We might do something like spending time at a Quiet Garden or we might just get away on holiday with a few good books.

Even where that is not possible we need to stand back from all our activity and make time for God.  Into every Christian life there should be at least an hour or so each week when we simply read a portion of Scripture and meditate on its meaning for us personally. This is about listening to God who wants to speak to our hearts.   

Even involvement in Church can crowd God out which may sound surprising because in our church work we are involved with holy things but church itself can be all-consuming. We can get to a point when we can’t see the wood for the trees. We can forget that our entire purpose in Christian Service is to proclaim the Kingdom of God – the Good News of Jesus Christ – whom we worship and adore and who, of course, we get to know through a real encounter with Scripture and in those prayer moments when we stop speaking and start listening.

The first thing we need to do to make all this possible is to refuse to fall in with the belief that we haven’t got time.  That just isn’t true.  We find time to read the newspapers – the biggest purveyors of bad news in our world today – so we should find time for the good news of Jesus Christ.  We can sit and watch television so we should find time to look on the image of God within our own hearts.  We can chatter away for hours on the telephone so it should be possible for us to have a daily conversation with God.  Without this relaxation we shall break. The soil of our soul will become stale and unfertile. 

There is a story about the great St. Antony who spent most of his life in the desert where he sought God. He was one of the pioneers of the monastic life.  One day he was resting with his disciples in the desert when a hunter came upon him.  The hunter was a great activist and was quite shocked to see the holy man taking his ease. He complained and chastised the saint.  Antony responded by asking the huntsman to draw his bow and shoot an arrow.  Though puzzled, the hunter did as he was bid.  “Now”, said Antony, “do it again.”  The man shot a second arrow.  “And again!” commanded Antony.  The hunter protested that if he continued to shoot arrows as Antony had asked his bowstring would break.

“And so it is with men” Antony replied, “without rest, we shall break.”

Of course it all sounds very fine but am I being an idealist. If we all took our rest who would keep things going?   The truth is that without such rest, we won’t be able to keep things going anyway.  And perhaps we have to ask the critical question – is everything we do really necessary?

One thing’s for sure – unless we pay attention to God and allow his Word to continue to be planted in our hearts we will stop being good soil.  Gardeners can test the quality of their soil by using a special soil testing kit.  Today’s post-communion prayer offers us a spiritual soul testing kit.

Strengthen for service, Lord, we shall pray, the hands which have taken holy things.

May the ears which have heard your word be deaf to clamour and dispute –

 We might suggest that the Church of England as a whole heeds that one but let us not deflect from ourselves.  If we hear God’s Word and act upon it we shall not be party to destructive talk either about others or the Church.

may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit.

The  words Christians should speak are God’s words – if we cannot speak to others as we have heard God speak to us, especially in Jesus Christ, then our praise of God might well be in vain. Accepting the integrity of others and valuing their worth and most of all speaking to them from the heart of God’s love as we have experienced it – a love which frees us all – flows from our praise of God.

May the eyes which have seen tokens of your love shine with the light of hope.

There is so much despair around and people are all too ready to talk things down – even in the Church. But the Gospel should fill us with hope and with joy in believing. This hope should shine from our souls and radiate from our lives.

and may the bodies which have been fed by your body be refreshed with the fullness of life.

Shortly we shall receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Through this we are fed by Christ who re-enters our life in a special way. We are called therefore to live Eucharistic lives – lives that are thankful – lives that know the power of God’s mercy and love.  In Christ alone is our true refreshment – he makes us fresh again after our week’s journey through the dust of this world. He feeds us anew for the journey of the week ahead.

glory to you for ever.  That is the purpose of our lives – to give God glory – to put him before all else. Everything we do should glorify God and that also means doing nothing of which God may be ashamed, disappointed or sad about us.  Use this prayer (it is printed in your notice papers ) and test the soil of your soul.  If you find you haven’t quite measured up then do something about it – turn back to God. He will rush to help you. For God not only sows the seeds of his love in your heart – he nurtures it and nourishes it because you are precious to Him and He delights in your growth.