From Rev’d Caroline Symcox – 01285 712467 – carolinesymcox@googlemail.com
Readings for Sunday: Isaiah 55.10-13; Romans 8.1-11; Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23
To hear the Gospel reading and Caroline’s sermon click on the arrow below.
The following is taken from the Parish Newsletter for Sunday 12th July 2026.
‘Why don’t they understand?’ It’s a plaintive refrain, and one we hear, and express, depressingly often. Missed communication sometimes seems to be very much part of the human condition. It can be something as simple as a playground misunderstanding at school, or as high-level as ineffective diplomacy between nations. Something that can seem incredibly clear to us can be utterly impenetrable to someone else, and that’s where the pain comes from. We want to talk to the other person, or the other group, but when there’s no shared understanding, communication becomes at best incredibly frustrating, and at worst, impossible.
This state of affairs is particularly noticeable in our Christian faith. The truths that we hold dear, our understanding of God’s love for us shown in and by Jesus, and our place in God’s Creation, are things that people outside our faith may struggle to understand. And of course, these people are often people close to us, people whom we love very much! How much more painful, when someone you care for has no understanding of, or respect for, a belief that is bedrock to us?
So often we can blame this on ourselves. We think that we should have the right words, the ones that will break through this miscommunication. We feel like we should be broadcasting the love of God and the strength of our faith through our actions and attitudes, and if that’s failing to reach those other people, well then we just aren’t doing that hard enough!
However, Jesus offers us a different story. So many people failed to understand him, too. Is that his fault? Should he have been a ‘better’ Messiah, so that more people would follow him? Of course not. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus shows us the truth. People need to be ready to hear. They need to be open to understanding. So many things can close people off to being able to hear the truth. But a word of hope here too – people change, and situations change, and in the end, it is the power of God that will give growth to the seeds that we’re casting out into the world. We can’t claim credit for that growth, but neither can we hold blame. Understanding is a thing that will come in God’s time. Paul shares this same truth in 1 Corinthians – “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor 3.6-7)
So then, let us not be despairing, my beloved family in Christ, if we feel our words are falling on deaf ears. And don’t let that stop you from speaking them, from feeling them, from showing them in our acts and attitudes. Because who knows when those tiny seeds will begin to sprout, by God’s good timing?
Rev’d Caroline
Updated 4th August 2026