Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Jesus taught with parables. Today’s parable is about the sower (God) spreading seeds (the Good News about Jesus Christ). The seeds landed in four places: the hard packed path, the rocky ground, the brambles, and the good soil. Here at St. Timothy’s we are the good soil so there isn’t much sense in talking about the other three. Instead, I’d like to talk about what makes our good soil even better. I’d like to talk about the "soil of the abyss."

The abyss is a deep hole with no perceivable bottom. When I stand at the edge of the abyss, all I see is the black unknown. To step into the abyss would mean certain terrifying, death. I think that all of us are afraid of the abyss.

My friend Cody was at the edge of the abyss last week. He only has about 9 months left in the Oregon National Guard. But it looks like his unit will get called up before he gets out. If he gets a certain certification to qualify him for a quartermaster job, then the odds are that he will be driving a desk rather than driving a Humvee. He left for the training on his own initiative on Wednesday.

The prospect of going to Iraq is like looking into the unknown black hole of the abyss. It is scary. But Cody didn’t look away from the abyss and pretend that it wasn’t there, hoping that it won’t overtake him even though it probably will. He held his breath, said a prayer, and jumped in. He didn’t go recklessly, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was (and surely continues to be) scared. Nothing will ever be the same now that he has jumped.

But here is the key: Cody knew that God would be with him there in the abyss and would catch him. Cody is and has been good soil for the seed of God. But now Cody has cultivated his soil in a new way, making it more fertile by adding a healthy dose of faith to his soil in the same way that a gardener might add nitrogen to his soil.

I admire Cody for his leap of faith because I had my own not long ago. So I know how scary it can be. When Paige and I went to Virginia Seminary for the first time to be interviewed, we met with the financial aid lady. She told us that it would cost us between 55 and 60 thousand dollars to do the deal for 10 months. That was scary, but we knew that the seminary sometimes gives scholarships so we had hope. I asked her how much we could expect to receive. "Sorry," she said, "you don’t qualify." It turns out that the seminary counts a high percentage of assets as income when they calculate need.

We excused ourselves from the financial aid lady and Paige and I talked it over. We didn’t know where the money would come from, but we decided to jump into the abyss and commit to the admissions people anyway. They concluded the interview, sent us home, and then waited three weeks to tell us that we were accepted while we hung there in the dark of the abyss wondering if we had really jumped or were going to be spit back out.

In the end, God was there to catch us when we jumped into the abyss. And he gave us a soft landing. We committed ourselves to his care when we jumped and he did not disappoint us. Because of that experience, our soil is richer and more fertile. The result is that we, as a family, have even more faith for when we jump into the abyss again (which was just recently).

When Cody and I talk about trusting God, we aren’t referring to a slogan on the dollar bill. We are talking about making major life decisions where we have no idea of the outcome, yet we plunge into the dark unknown on faith, knowing that God is in the abyss waiting to catch us.

That is faith, that is trust in God, and that is what makes us receptive to the seed of God in ways that we could never have imagined prior to facing the abyss.

God bless Cody. God bless my family and I, and God bless all us here at St. Timothy’s.

==AMEN==