by Trevor Sannes, Seminarian
Click here to watch the sermon recording on YouTube.
Good morning, I am Trevor Sannes and I have been serving as a Seminarian here at St. John’s for the past year. I am starting today’s sermon with a little of my own story.
When I was in elementary school, I spent a lot of time being pulled out of the classroom. Reading, spelling, math — all the things that seemed to come easily to other kids — were hard for me. I remember the long hallway walks to the “special ed” room, and I remember the looks from classmates who made sure I knew I was different.
One day, during a spelling competition, I walked up to the chalkboard praying the word would be something I recognized. It wasn’t. I misspelled it, sat down, and heard a classmate say loudly, “That was so easy. Why didn’t you get it right?”
I didn’t have the language for it then, but that was dyslexia showing up in my life. And in that moment, I felt like rocky soil — like something was wrong with me, like I wasn’t the kind of person God could use.
But here’s the thing: God never stopped sowing seeds in me. Even when I didn’t feel like good soil. Even when others didn’t think I was good soil. Even when I didn’t think I was good soil.
And that’s exactly what today’s Gospel is about.
So, let’s turn to the parable Jesus gives us — a story many of us know well. But today, I want us to hear it with fresh ears, especially through the lens of disability and the many ways God works in every kind of life.
Most of the time, when we hear the Parable of the Sower, we focus on the soil. But Jesus begins with the sower — a sower who is wildly generous, even reckless.
He throws seed everywhere:
- on the path
- on the rocks
- in the thorns
- in the good soil
No sorting. No judging. No withholding.
This is not a careful farmer. This is a God who refuses to give up on any kind of ground.
And that is good news for anyone who has ever been told they are “less than,” “not enough,” or “not capable.”
It is good news for anyone with a disability. It is good news for anyone who struggles. It is good news for anyone who has ever felt like rocky soil.
And that brings us to something important — something that sits at the heart of Disability Pride Month. Because the world often labels people with disabilities in ways that do not reflect the heart of God.
The world often labels people with disabilities as:
- less capable
- less productive
- less valuable
- “special ed”
- “not leadership material”
- “not ministry material”
But the sower in Jesus’ parable does not see “less than.” The sower sees soil worth sowing in.
And Isaiah tells us:
“My word… shall not return to me empty.”
God’s Word does not depend on perfect soil. God’s call does not depend on perfect bodies. God’s grace does not depend on perfect minds.
God sows because God sees possibility where the world sees limitation.
And Paul takes this even deeper in Romans — a reading that speaks directly to the dignity of every body, every mind, every life.
Paul says:
“The Spirit gives life to your mortal bodies.”
Not perfect bodies. Not able bodies. Not socially approved bodies. Mortal bodies. Real bodies. Disabled bodies. Aging bodies. Tired bodies.
The Spirit does not wait for us to be fixed. The Spirit dwells in us as we are — and brings life through us as we are.
And Jesus reminds us that fruitfulness looks different in every life — and that’s not a problem. That’s the beauty of God’s kingdom.
Jesus says the good soil produces different amounts:
- some a hundredfold
- some sixty
- some thirty
Not everyone produces the same fruit. Not everyone produces the same amount. And Jesus calls all of it good.
This is disability theology in one sentence: Fruitfulness is not uniform. Faithfulness is not measured by productivity. God delights in the fruit that grows in you — even if it looks different from someone else’s.
So, here’s the question I want to leave with you — the question that sits at the center of this Gospel and at the center of my own story.
What If Disability Is Not the Rocky Soil — But the Good Soil?
What if the places we think are weaknesses are actually the places where God’s Word takes deepest root?
What if disability is not the obstacle to ministry, but the soil where compassion, patience, resilience, and empathy grow?
What if the very things the world calls “limitations” are the places where God is doing God’s best work?
And that brings us right here — to St. John’s, to this community, to the soil God is tending among us.
St. John’s, you are a community that already knows how to welcome, how to listen, and how to make space for people’s stories. You are good soil — not because you are perfect, but because you are open.
But Jesus’ parable invites us to go one step further:
To see every person — every ability, every disability, every body, every mind — as soil God has chosen, soil God loves, soil God is sowing in.
So here is the invitation for us today:
- Look for the seeds God is planting in you — especially in the places you think are “not enough.”
- Look for the seeds God is planting in others — especially those the world overlooks.
- And commit to being a community where every kind of soil is honored, nurtured, and celebrated.
Because the sower is still sowing. The Spirit is still giving life. And God’s Word will not return empty — not in you, not in this community, not in anyone God has created.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
