Death & Breath
July 12, 2026. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. Erin Lussier
I’ve been taking a class on death & dying this summer, and we have been talking about all things life, death, heaven, body, and soul. One of the difficult topics we’ve dug into is our society’s perception and understanding of the body and soul. We tend to view the body and soul as separate and distinct, with the “soul” being eternal and the “body” being the temporary vessel or shell that contains the soul. We see the soul as our “true being”, our self. This often leads to the denigration of the body, and we forget that we are embodied creatures and that our souls and bodies are intertwined. In this class, we’ve gotten into all kinds of discussions, debating what the soul really is, what happens to our souls and bodies after we die, and what Scripture gives answers to and what it leaves unanswered. The mysteries of God. Interesting, brain-pretzeling, beautiful, remarkable stuff.
What can we certainly know about our creation and our being? Let’s go back to Genesis. God took dust–dirt–and into it He breathed the breath of life. Dust and breath. God created man from the earth and breathed life into Him, and Adam was alive.
Dust and breath. Incredible.
We are dust and breath. God breathed His breath into dust and created life. Likewise, into the dirt of our hearts God sows the seed of His Word and creates new life! God sows this seed of His Word generously, freely, everywhere and all over the place for all people. And yet people still do not believe. We share that Word with people and are rejected. What goes wrong?
The sower in Matthew 13 doesn’t seem to have a very high success rate. He sows his seeds, and some of them are choked out by thorns; others are scorched by the sun. Is there something wrong with the seed? Or maybe the problem is the sower–I mean, he’s almost careless with the way he tosses his seeds about. Onto rock, amidst thorns, onto the path. Perhaps he doesn’t have very good aim? Maybe he should be more conservative and more careful with where he sows the seeds.
Spoiler alert: It’s not the seeds. It’s not the sower. What then can it be? Jesus tells us in His explanation that the problem is the soil. Some soil is rocky, some is the untilled soil of the path, and some is filled with thorns. The seeds are not broken. The sower is not dumb or unskilled. The problem is the soil.
We are called to sow seed in the world around us, tossing it about everywhere and for everyone. When you share the Word of God, do you ever feel disappointed? Do you wonder why that person you invited to church didn’t show up? Or why that person stopped coming to Bible study after a few weeks? Or why that family member or friend you’ve been praying for for years still isn’t receptive to any of that “God stuff”? We measure success in our churches by bodies in the pews and at Bible study. What happens when we don’t see those numbers grow? Is the Word of God powerless? Does God know what He’s doing?
In Isaiah we hear words of life and promise: God’s Word will not return to Him empty. God’s Word will accomplish that which He purposes and succeed in what He sent it for. How can we measure success when we don’t see the soil onto which the seed is cast? We don’t see the growth beneath the surface or the roots developing. And, very importantly, we must remember that we are not the ones who make the seeds grow. As we sow seeds of the Word of the Kingdom in the world around us, it's easy to lose to hope, to see no “success”, and to doubt God’s Word or His power.
On Easter Saturday, grief and confusion and sorrow circulated among the followers of Jesus.
Jesus, the One whom they believed came to deliver them, was killed. This appeared to be great weakness and an ultimate defeat. Satan rejoiced, believing himself victorious. Then, on Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty. What appeared to be a defeat was a victory! God had a plan that no one else could see, and that plan was to bring redemption and salvation and forgiveness of sin for you and for me and for the world.
God’s Word is powerful. The Holy Spirit is tilling the soil of the hearts of the people in the world around us, even though we cannot see it. Our call is simply to sow. To sow generously, freely, without worrying where the seed lands.
Bring your doubts, worries, questions and fears as we dive deeper into God’s Word to be fed by God’s amazing, powerful, and incredible promises. Come, gather and hear, as the Holy Spirit waters, nurtures, and grows the seed that has been planted in the soil of your heart, breathing the breath of new life into you each day.
Thanks be to God.
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