What Kind of Dirt Are You
Sermon July 12, 2026
Scripture Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
“What Kind of Dirt Are You”
Reverend Betty Jo Sims
The man said, “Excuse me, sir, my wife and I are looking for work. Do you have any positions available?” “Yes, one.” “Oh, good. And how many people are needed to fill that position?” “Two.” “Great. Could you give me a job description?” “Sure, work the garden and take care of it.”
“Landscaping work? Oh, that’s just wonderful. Anything else to it?” “Yes, be fruitful and increase in number. Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
That is some job! Involved and complex.
Work in its basic form is not an affliction, but wholesome productivity. We could define work as doing what needs to be done to sustain life.
Adam and Eve were to work the garden and take care of it, thus taking care of themselves - sustaining the lives that God had given them.
But it actually goes a bit deeper than that.
They were called, just as we are called. In a world that may seem upside down, we are called to see more than what simply is.
As followers of Jesus, we hold out hope - a living, driving, motivating hope for what can be. We lean into the promises of God with confidence, even as we recognize how far we still must go to reach that mountaintop. As we move through this world, we hold onto optimism because our ultimate destination is always on our minds – or at least, it should be.
I believe we have a certainty that the church is still a force for good in the world - that justice is still within reach as hearts and minds and behaviors are changed. And I know we believe that there is a God who will continue to guide us and bring us into the new church he wants us to be in this community.
And despite our flaws, and the distractions we may experience, God will continue to work through us. But we have to maintain that hope and believe.
We have to trust in God, and we must have the ability to imagine a new reality - new places and events where God is calling us.
When we look at the Parable of the Sower – we need to imagine a new reality – one where we can seek fruitfulness – looking for seeds— and not just look at the dirt. We need to look for potential – And not for limitations or barriers.
COVID gave us the opportunity to pause and reflect. Since then We have moved our thinking from doing the same things in the same ways to “Wow – let’s try some different things and join God in doing something new!” So that means we now have to look not just at the dirt but at the seeds and at their potential.
We are beginning to celebrate the fruits of our labors and experiencing what happens when we allow the Spirit to invest in and through us. But how do we continue to grow and sustain what we are doing------ what we are building?
Sometimes sustaining life simply means bringing home a paycheck. Many people have a hard time seeing the value of the job they do or the work they perform. They know they will never have their pictures in the newspaper, they are not likely to save someone’s life and they will never get a Nobel prize for what they do for a living.
Yet earning a living is inherently valuable—it is the basic way we sustain life. Even if all I know is that today’s work will put food on the table and a roof over my head, I will have done something good and right, because my work sustains life. I tended the garden.
Self-sufficiency is a good thing, but it is so much better to be able to go beyond self-sufficiency and help those who cannot help themselves. In Ephesians 4, Paul writes, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need .”
Paul also told the Thessalonians to make it their ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind their own business and to work with their own hands…
so that their daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that they would not be dependent on anybody. We are living what Paul was teaching.
We have been doing the work with our own hands and I believe, winning the respect of this community. They know that this church is Alive!
Some work comes easily – like tending the garden and some is difficult labor like plowing the thorny fields.
You have heard this parable many times before. Jesus literally explains this parable because quite honestly his disciples did not get what he was trying to teach – so he had to explain it. And it is about the fact that WE ARE DIRT! this parable is asking you what kind of dirt are you going to be? Which is kind of cool because we get to choose what we become.
Think about all the different types of dirt that is around. Go to northern Indiana or parts of North Carolina and it is hard packed clay that you cannot even dig in. Go down to NC OBX where there is thin topsoil hiding a layer of sand. In fact, if Jesus had been trooping around the countryside, I bet he would be talking about dirt that was not really dirt – those places where you can drop in a seed, but chances are the soil is too hard to grow anything right and things just rot in the ground.
Or maybe that sandy soil does not provide enough nutrients and cannot hold its water any better than a leaky diaper. Or maybe Jesus would talk about the dirt that is twisted up with so many deep weeds, that it is like digging woven twine. Or the dirt that is filled with rocks and is like digging what you thought was to become a flower bed only to discover a gravel pit underneath. Or maybe Jesus would talk about the rich, black glacier melt soil that seems to allow anything and everything to spring up when a seed comes near.
You see Dirt is dirt --- even though it comes in so many various configurations. BUT we get to choose what kind of dirt we want to be. Maybe – just maybe -that makes us smarter than dirt...........smarter than dirt – why?
Because we do not have to accept the soil conditions of our soul; (repeat this)
We can change them - and adapt them - and grow them ---- if we pay attention.
But we do not always do that do we?
Why? Because the truth is, we are human, and we make mistakes. Sometimes, God’s word just bounces off the hard surface of our stubbornness or we are just too tired and we do not care if a bird comes along and eats it. Sometimes our pride, or our greed, or some other sin, causes us to be shallow, like the rocks – we take the easy route. And even though taking the easy way out sounds good, it does not sustain us.
Because that easy route – the one where we do not have to work quite as hard –does not have any depth to it. And then we realize – Oh my, we are on rocky ground --- or in weeds so thick we cannot see our way out or even worse, we are tangled in the thorny brush. And when that happens – even the Good Word can get choked out of you.
But if we are diligent in our Christian journey –
if we are consistent an can find that special sustaining rhythm - by the grace of God, we can find the space. we can find the depth, and we can find the growing time to let God’s word take root in us and begin to show some fruit.
And then we know what it means to be good soil. So, Let’s be smarter than dirt. Let’s figure out what it takes to cultivate the good soil of our souls.
Let’s engage in those practices that break up the stones in our rocky soil - that get rid of the hard edges, the sins we savor far too much.
Now granted, some soils simply will not produce the fruitfulness that God requires. The decision to stop doing a ministry that is not working, for example - that can be stressful, it can be hard to embrace changes as we continue to grow – both within ourselves and within God’s church.
It can be hard to let some seeds finish dying – because perhaps that dirt is no longer able to produce the fruitfulness in which that particular seed used to grow. That can be difficult, and it can hurt. And that is where we have to pay attention.
We have to adopt an attitude of focusing on the opportunities that lead us to hear God’s Word - and to let it go deeper than that hard path surface;
And we have to prioritize our lives as much as we can, so that those unessential thorns do not become such huge issues that they choke out what is really important in our lives and in our faith.
Let us tend to the good soil – that good soil that becomes part of our soul. Let us tend to the good soil soul by spending time in service and worship, always listening for the God winks and the God nudges.
Let us b smarter than dirt. Let’s work to see beyond the immediate moment – the fact that our doors our open and let’s work to see beyond what is - so that we can claim what it can be – what God wants us to be
A good disciple has the ability to look beyond the immediate horizon into the future that God has in store for us all. That does not mean that we lose sight of the dirt upon which we stand or the dirt that we are. It means that we also hold on to the blessing God has given us – our birthright to be good soil.
As Jesus’s disciples - we live in the real world – but we are called - called to have the vision to look beyond this world toward a better one. Like good soil, disciples look forward to a good crop that will yield much. We see the harvest when others see only seeds in the dirt.
That is who we are – let’s claim that right to be disciples of Jesus and stand firm on good soil - looking towards who and what we can be. The best of life is not to sit around getting fat with God’s blessings, but to be actively engaged with His creation—tilling it, working it, planting, and reaping His harvest.
SO, let’s dream a little bit about what we can try and what new opportunities we may find. let your dreams grow from the seeds that you are planting right now. See beyond the dirt to the fruit that God will bring. And be willing to join the efforts as we do some new things going forward together. It takes all of us - clergy and laity – to build and grow and move forward – in our churches and in the community.
Take some time to dream and ponder – what new ideas is God planting in your mind and vision for our church. I want to hear from you soon.
Together we make a much better world than any one of us alone. And we exhibit God’s grace in all that we say and do.
We have our calling!!
May the peace of Christ be with you!
In the name of the Father,
The Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen