Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil - 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil - 7th Sunday after Pentecost

Author: Pastor Carolyn Hetrick
July 12, 2026

Sometimes people will ask us as pastors why we keep coming back to the same themes in sermons over and over again. And sometimes people will ask why we don’t just tell everyone that you loved and let it be. Blame Jesus. Today’s gospel is part of the answer. Over and over we do our best to sow the word God gives us to preach because God desires growth for all of us. And so we hear about seeds and sowers and soil and plants- things that just about all of us have experienced in a field, a garden or a flower pot.

What do we learn about the seeds?
If you are a gardener, you know this. Not all seeds germinate. Not all seeds that germinate will grow. Not all seeds that grow will reach maturity. Not all seeds that reach maturity will bear the same fruit. But the sower still sows.

What do we learn about the soil? Not all soil is good soil for growing all the time. But there is more than one growing season. The soil could change. A path could be plowed under. Birds could move on. The soil could be amended. Elsewhere Jesus talks about putting manure around a plant to encourage growth. The sower keeps sowing seeds.

What do we learn about the sower?
He was extravagant and expansive, not cautious or selective. Throwing seeds everywhere. Surely, he knows that the birds will come to eat some and that thorns will grow but has not done anything to eliminate the birds or the thorns. But the sower just keeps sowing seeds.

He does not have a good return on his investment- if we assume for a second that an equal amount of seeds in each of the four scenarios, only 25% of his investment bears fruit. And yet he does not consider this a losing proposition. And yet the sower keeps sowing seeds.

Now, the sower is God. The seed is the word of God. Each of us is the soil. And the plant is our faith, hope and love, what we are given from God. But as the saying goes “Your results may vary.”

There is a hymn called “Lord Let My Heart Be Good Soil.” I want you to hold onto that phrase.

We want to believe that we are the good soil. After all, we are here, Pastor, even though it is Arts Fest weekend. And so it might be tempting right now to try to decide who is the 75% of bad soil:
Those people who aren’t here today.
The ones who stayed home and watch on the couch, as though that is not enough. It is.
The ones who never volunteer or don’t really give.
The ones who are judgmental or we are sure get the Bible wrong.

I could go on comparing and contrasting, but we are here for the gospel and there is no good news in that comparing. Jesus is not telling this parable to get people to grade one another. That makes it be about us. The gospel is about God.

God is the sower sowing the word. Yet I think Jesus is asking each of us to reflect upon our soil.

How is your soil? What is God growing in you?
Does it seem like now is a good growing season?

Let’s go back to the parable with these questions:

Is God’s word sometimes getting trampled in you? If you’ve ever heard a flock of noisy birds, you know it can drown out everything else. So can our noisy world. Is the path of the world stomping around creating a well-worn groove of discord or frustration in you? Do you feel beat down and just want to shut yourself off from all the words? Are you feeling like the good news just keeps getting squashed? ? The hallmark of sin is separation.

If you are feeling this way, take heart and pray: Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word.

Is God’s word taking root in you? Here in Pennsylvania, hikers call us Rocksylvania. It’s easy to stub a toe or turn an ankle with so many rocks. Hit a patch of rocks and your vision for a gentle hike withers. Being surrounded by people who think Jesus’ command to love is an obstacle is like walking among the rocks. We get excited to follow Jesus’ commands to love others and care for others, but then we remember it is not popular. Sometimes the word feels good on Sunday, but out there in the real world it feels less achievable. The vibes fade fast as soon as a friend or family member thinks that what Jesus taught is too “woke” or “liberal.” Does it feel like in order to keep the peace you have to let some things go?

If so, take heart and pray: Lord, let my heart be good soil, where love can grow and peace is understood.  

Is God’s word sometimes getting in the way of your bottom line? We all can feel pinched by economics. But then we also want to treat ourselves for just surviving sometimes. I hear people complain about gas prices, but the line of cars burning fuel, lined up around and around at Seven Brew tells me we change for what we want. Here’s the challenge- When we are called to give first to God and seek first God’s kingdom, it can seem like other things snuff out that commitment. Does consistently supporting the poor, the orphans and the downtrodden week after week feel like an inconvenience? Consistent financial discipleship is often the hardest part. Because we see what we want and it can harden our hearts for God’s commands.

If so, take heart and pray: Lord, let my heart be good soil. When my heart is hard, break the stone away. 

Is God’s word bearing fruit in you?  We are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. What is the capacity of our hearts for compassion, our souls for repentance, our minds for enlightenment and our strength for perseverance these days? God’s word has the power to bear fruit that will last, but growing takes time. We live in a world of instant gratification and equally instant rejection. Long after the emotions of a moment or even a season, the greater gifts God gives us will mature and endure. God continues to tend us as we grow even when that growth is inconsistent. Elsewhere Jesus will talk about a gardener deciding not to give up on a plant that isn’t bearing fruit but instead putting manure around it to change its course. Let’s be honest, we all have bad growing seasons. Sometimes even the manure of life must be endured but it often becomes the fertilizer for something better.

God takes our worst and continues work on helping us grow. If you feel stuck, take heart and pray: Lord, let my heart be good soil, when my heart is lost, lead me on your way.

What is God’s word trying to grow in you?
Take time to pray with God. “Pray” is an acronym- P.R.A.Y.

Pause- sit with God without the distractions. Remember those noisy birds? What would your path look like without the noise? Let God show you.

Reflect and rejoice- Where there is fruit, celebrate it! Where there is room to grow, acknowledge it. Remember the sower is prepared to see only 25% growth at any time but keeps tending until we grow more. Let God’s word come to you each day.

Ask God to grow in your heart- let my heart be good soil, where there are thorns growing, remove them so I can see your love and reflect it.

And then yield to God- God is the sower.

If we ask God to let our heart be good soil, Jesus says we then must listen. Take in what God shows us in God’s word and then take on what that means.

Maybe this week, each day pray in the morning, Lord let my heart be good soil and watch what God grows. Because the sower is still sowing.  Amen.

Copyright Rev. Carolyn K. Hetrick, 2026 All rights reserved.  May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.

Sermon Text: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ 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. ⁶ But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ If you have ears, hear!”

¹⁸ “Hear, then, the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹ 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. ²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³ 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.”

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