Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 – 7/12/2026 – The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
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
Matthew 13:22 (NRSVue)
The “cares of this age and the lure of wealth,” The word of Jesus is opposed to these things. Concerns of getting ahead and achieving security and comfort above and beyond what others have are opposed to hearing and doing what Jesus teaches. Jesus and the rest of scripture are consistent on the incompatibility of wealth and living well. One cannot serve both God and money. One cannot be concerned with both wealth and following the word of Jesus.
This teaching is not, for me, a difficult one. It’s been apparent to me since I knew enough about the world to reason about it that being rich is antithetical to the good. One cannot hoard for oneself and truly love those who are in need. Owning more than one house when others are homeless or putting away hundreds of thousands of dollars when others cannot even afford a meal are perverse, clearly not in keeping with the good news of Jesus Christ.
What is difficult about scripture like today’s gospel is that they are not taken seriously by those who claim to take the Bible seriously. Every sermon I have ever heard about these passages that warn against wealth reminds the listener that it’s OK to be rich. Whatever Jesus’s teaching on money and whatever the warnings there are against wealth, today’s churchgoer is likely to hear words that are meant to sooth the conscience of those who do possess wealth, those who have far more than they need and know it.
The teachings of Jesus are supposed to be both difficult and easy to bear, both challenging and life-giving. Those same teachings are supposed to run counter to the way the world usually operates; the life Jesus envisions in the kingdom of God runs counter to what one is supposed to do or what one is expected to do. In our Capitalistic society, one is supposed to secure more wealth than one needs, enough wealth to live off the interest, enough that one does not have to worry anymore. Jesus’s teachings run counter to that dominant cultural expectation. To preach and teach that it’s OK to be rich are counter to Jesus’s teaching, both the spirit and the letter.
Every Christian has to confront those teachings of Jesus that are to them the most challenging. In a society that values economic privilege as one of the highest goods, the teachings we find on wealth are always going to be challenging to the most people. Emphasizing what Jesus has to say about wealth is a threat to the power structures that use wealth to exploit and oppress. Those power structures depend on the belief that we do not have to take seriously those who teach that wealth harms and debases rather than blesses. Jesus called the poor, the average everyday menial working class to be his followers and then to be leaders after he left. The movement of following Jesus is supposed to subvert existing power structures when they are oppressive, not support them. Wealth in a capitalistic society is one of those oppressive power structures. The kingdom of God is not made up of the wealthy who hoard and exploit. It is made up of the least of these, those who renounce the privileges of wealth.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for 7/12/2026, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost:
Isaiah 55:10-13
Romans 8:1-11
Psalm 65:9-13
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Reflections of a Dionysian Lutheran, comments on the daily readings of the Revised Common Lectionary by Justin Marquis
Dionysus on a Bike 
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