Sermon on 20th (21st) Sunday

This is the story of Mr. A, who was born and raised in an Orthodox Christian family in a city in Hokkaido. Mr. A attended church every week with his devout parents. However, after graduating from school and leaving his hometown to work in a big city, he gradually began to distance himself from church. Before he knew it, he had completely forgotten about church in his busy daily life. After retiring to Yokohama and getting used to a leisurely lifestyle, Mr. A suddenly felt an irresistible urge to go to church. However, he had no idea where an Orthodox church was. He cycled here and there every day from morning to evening. Finally, one day, he spotted a Russian cross behind the overlapping rooftops of a residential area. Whenever he later recalled that moment, tears would fill his eyes. From that day on, he never missed a Sunday. He sang in the choir, served in the church, and was loved by the other parishioners. In the end, he lived out his life of faith peacefully until his repose.

Mr. A never spoke much about the Bible or shared any formal testimony of faith. He showed not even a hint of what one might call “a pious tone” or “religious talk.” However, his enthusiastic and joyful attendance at church every week, his compassion and kindness toward his fellow believers, and the way he continued to smile every day even after illness and physical disability in his later years, all seemed undoubtedly gifts of deep faith.

Today’s Gospel carries a bittersweet message: even when God’s word is sown as a seed in the field of our hearts, the various obstacles surrounding that field can hinder its growth. However, in the end, it concludes that there is also “good soil” that will bear fruit a hundredfold the seeds sown. No matter how barren a place may be, there is always “good soil” hidden in every person’s heart that resonates with God. God created humans to be partners in loving communion with Him. Our minds and bodies were supposed to be “good soil,” capable of resonating with God’s call. Through sin, we have laid waste to this soil. However, even if we don’t realize it, a small amount of this “good soil” remains in each of our hearts.

Whenever I recall the life of faith of Mr. A, whom I introduced earlier, I am reminded of one thing: what Jesus teaches us through this parable is that faith is not something that is unshakable from the start, nor does it suddenly fall into us as a firm conviction one day; rather, it grows gradually. Rather than learning about the difficulties of faith, we should embrace this Gospel with joy, realizing that faith grows over time.

Mr. A spent decades as a working adult, surrounded by the thorns of the busyness of this world, unable to produce seeds. But there remained good soil for the seeds to grow. As long as we are human, no one lacks this “good soil.” This “good soil” will never be lost. In his profound wisdom, God may allow people to temporarily lose sight of the “good soil” within themselves, but He will never take that “good soil” away.

The seed planted in young Mr. A is now present in our gathering here. In this prayer gathering, we imprint in our hearts and bodies the joy, fun, beauty, and above all the love that is present here—as the Kingdom of God, “in the fullness of time” and “drawing near”—the peace that is present here, the taste of the Eucharist that we receive here, as God’s forgiveness through the Lord’s cross, and the surge of strength that is present here, as the Lord’s resurrection and victory over death. The message of the Gospel is sown in each of us gathered here as an experience that can never be found anywhere else, even in the hearts of children who do not yet understand it, and even in the hearts of those who waver with doubts and distrust toward the Church’s teachings. This is a place where we receive the “Word,” that is, the “Person” Christ, as a seed and experience its growth. It is a place where we can once again find within ourselves the “good soil” that God will never take away. It is a place where we can cultivate that “good soil” with the hoe, fill our hearts with the breath of the Holy Spirit, and nurture it.