Seeds
November 12, 2007
Matt 13:1-15
God is a giant mystery to us. This is why we require faith. Because there is no way to completely know God. We have experience, and some have knowledge of the Scriptures, but these tools only point to what, who, how God is. To completely know God is impossible. We have many things that point to God including the names we call God. But, still, not one of them is God. That's one of the reasons I think the God is Still Speaking campaign is genius! It plants in our current cultural minds that we can't contain a God who is still moving in our time. God is evolving we are evolving it's a journey, a fluidity, a process.
These Scripture passages that we have, come out of one person or one community's opinion or perspective of who, how, and what God is. Jesus as our pioneer, our leader, he again took on the task of naming God and our relationship to this God. He shared the Scriptures and met the people and re-imagined the two. He helped this process along by tweaking an old Hebrew tradition of mashal, a riddle that teases the mind into insight. But he tweaked this old tradition by rooting the riddle into real life examples that conceal and reveal the Divine. Matthew who is telling today's story of the Sower is trying to connect these teachings of Jesus with his community. Matthew is trying to help the community hear the story as relevant to them, settled, well to do, people of faith. Matthew is also telling these parables in response to Jesus being rejected by the elders of Matthew's community. This section of parabolic storytelling is in explanation to why some do not choose to perceive. In other words, how many times have we seen someone hurting. How many times have we seen people self sabotaging and desperately want to help them. And, yet, no matter how much work we do nothing changes. This is because there is no reception or understanding of the work. We each have the ability to choose. We have the ability to choose whether we are open or not, no matter what is going on. And in this case, by choosing it goes beyond an intellectual decision. We can not fix anyone else. We can change the climate, we can change the tools people have access to, we can support people but in the end each person must choose to open him/herself to receiving a new thing.
The Sower went out to sow, this parable begins. And, I think that this is the key to the entire parable. The Sower sowed. It didn't matter the type of ground, the Sower Sowed. And, the Sower kept sowing, over and over again. It didn't matter what was going on, the Sower kept doing what the Sower was called to do, sow seeds. The Sower was not discouraged that only a quarter of the seed took root. The Sower didn't value where the seed was going stopping because was a dumb place to put seed. Instead, the Sower saw possibility in each place to receive a root. To open to new life. To become a new thing.
As Arizonans we know that it doesn't matter how hard, how nutrient free, how dry, and rocky the soil is, we know things can and do grow here. What I'm trying to say, is on the dry, rocky, hard ground, the Sower can throw seed, and instead of withering, with the right reception, the seed can take and even thrive. I think the point is not what kind of soil, it's the metaphor of soil. We are the soil. What are we going to do with the Sower's Seeds? Because every day, no matter where we are on the journey the seeds are falling all around us. Will we be open to allowing God to grow a new thing within us? Or will we reject new life? What kind of reception will we have? Is it going to be something we believe but yet won't incorporate into our living? We are allowed to be the soil that God made us to be, some of us rocky, some of us sandy, and some of us fertile, Iowa dirt. However, our location on the journey, our personality, the ways in which we learn, may require us to work harder at nurturing reception. We can get so caught up in the world and the goals of our American world that our faith gets choked out. We forget to fertilize and water, we forget to weed and loosen the soil, we forget to shade some of the sun away. But, the good news is that in spite of what we're doing, or if some of the plants die, or never take root, the Sower will continue to Sow.
So, what are the tools of reception? How do we cultivate an attitude of allowing us to receive God's blessings? First, Jesus reminds us this isn't an intellectual exersize. This is a moral commitment to what you believe. Reception is about opening your mind, working your knowledge and then connecting it to your daily living. Second, we often allow ourselves to get caught up in the giving. Which is important and one of our ethics. But, we also need to be able to receive. If we expect others to receive our kindness, we need to be able to model gracious, humble gratitude for our blessings as well.
Veterans Day was yesterday, November 11. It was originally known as Armistice Day commemorating the end of WWI. It was a day to pay tribute to all service members while simultaneously celebrating the end of war that it will not come again. That we learned the sacrifices of war in mind, body and soul. I wonder how many times we will fail to receive the messages of peace. I wonder how many times we will allow a bully to dominate the world always leading to war both at home and abroad. I pray that we may receive and understand our poor, our young, our people of color are often called to put their lives on the line for the freedoms of this country. I pray that we can name and recognize how our continual preparations for war and the testing it creates human guinea pigs, like those in the Marshal Islands where we tested our bombs, poisoning their water, land and community, sending birth defects into every family line for generations and generations to come. I pray we can honor all of the people who are affected by war. I also pray that we will receive the message of peace. That all of God's people will know the ways of peace and that those who have sacrificed so much will not have done so in vain. This would be a tangible, practical, way of living that shows the seed took root and we are growing this plant based on a moral, ethical compass from our faith.
It always amazes me when crisis hits a family within our community. At any given time we usually have 3-5 families facing some sort of troubling situation. And, even here, where we come to worship, make promises to include one another in our lives, it amazes me how often people are too private to even allow themselves on the prayer list. It takes practice but is a requirement that in order for people to receive from you, you must have some practice receiving yourself. It makes the biggest difference in giving and being open when you've had to do this type of thing yourself. It is not a mutual relationship when you choose to only share when you can give not when you are in need. In community we need to be open to sharing where we are on the journey. If it's not a great place, if we're sick, broke, family troubles whatever, we've got experts who've been there and done that sitting right here in this room. The number one problem with being open to sharing our vulnerability is gossip. Now, I don't believe we have a rampant problem with this. However, every once in awhile I know a few of us like to share a juicy tidbit. As every word falls out of our mouths, it must be remembered this is preventing people from sharing. And, if we can't be vulnerable enough to share what's really going on in our lives, not just with the minister, but with one another, we don't have a community. Instead, you solely have a relationship with a minister. Please, the Sower has come to sow. And the Sower is Sowing blessings every day. Some of the biggest learning for me came when my family of origin terminated me from their family and I had to start over. I was in college at the time and a member of a faith community that made sure I had a place to stay and food to eat. The time has come, to be open to receiving the blessings of this community. It feels amazing to not stand in crisis alone. It feels like a special blessing to be loved no matter where you are on the journey.
Let us pray.