7/14/02
A place where a garden never grows…
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Romans 8:1-11
(view lectionary notes for this text)
In the gospel lesson today, we come upon another of Jesus' parables, another of his attempts to communicate to the crowds his message of good news about the kingdom of God. Jesus shares about a sower who went out planting seeds. Some fell on the path and was eaten by the birds. This is like when the evil one snatches away what is sown in the heart because it is not understood, Jesus explains. Then there is the seed that falls on rocky ground. One hearing the good news on rocky ground shoots up quickly, eagerly, but soon falls away, lacking roots, lacking a foundation when times of trouble come. Other seed, he says, falls among thorns. The thorns grow up and choke the seeds, just as the cares of the world can choke a person. Finally, some seeds fall in the good soil, and the seeds grow and bring forth their fruits, 30, 60, 100 times over, like a person who hears God's message and understands it and lives it out.
Jesus explains his parable to the disciples, and follows up with another string of parables, all about the kingdom of god - the kingdom of God is like a field with wheat and tares, which grow up together but must be separated at the harvest, the kingdom of God is like a field with a treasure hidden in it, worth more than all that one already possesses, it is like nets full of fish, good and bad, needing to be sorted out. These parables outline what is good: the good seed, good soil, the wheat, the treasure, the good fish, and show how the good is sorted out from the bad, the seed that produces nothing, the tares, the bad fish, the possessions that are unworthy compared with treasure in a field. Obviously, we should aspire through our living to be the good - to leave the bad behind and model ourselves to be good seed, hearing God's word, understanding God's word, and living out God's word. This is what how we seek to live as Christians, isn't it?
And yet, somehow, I find myself feeling helpless under the weight of this message, under the seeming impossibility of being able to succeed in the way that God urges us to do. Can I separate the bad out of my life? Take today's lesson, for example: The parable of the sower. With a path nearby, rocks on the sides, and thorns all around, how much chance is there that my seed can find its way into the good soil anyway? And isn't God the sower in this story? If God is throwing the seed, why doesn't God throw all the seed in the good soil? Wouldn't that solve all our problems? By the time I'm done thinking about this, I feel like I'm spinning in circles. How could I possibly be the good seed in the good soil? How can I make it, and avoid being the bad, separated out, choked, shallow, eaten up, and rootless?
But before we lose hope, let's look at the message from Romans. Hear just the first words, and take heart. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and earth." No condemnation. What powerful words. God has done what we could not, can not do out of our own power, our own law, our own flesh. Through Christ we are made in the Spirit, of the Spirit. By God's grace, we are not condemned because of our sinfulness, but set free because of God's infinite love for us. There is no condemnation - we are set free.
How do we reconcile these words of needed grace with the heavy burden in the parable of the sower? There is a seeming contradiction in message at initial reading. Yet, the power of Jesus' parables is that they are simple and yet intricately complex at the same time, filled with rich, multi-layered metaphors that withstand our deepest probings. Let's turn back to the parable of the sower. What it is that God is trying to plant in our hearts? The seed represents God's message to us - the good news. What is the good news? Why, the good news is that very message we hear in Romans: there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus because in Christ through the Spirit we are set free from the law of sin. The good news is that we are saved from ourselves and our sins.
The parable tells us that this message of grace, this good news is sewn in all kinds of soil: rocky soil, shallow soil, thorn-ridden soil, and good soil too. There have been times in my life characterized by each one of these kinds of soil. Like the seed and soil on the path, there have been times when I've not understood what God was saying to me, or when I refused to understand what I was hearing in God's voice. I've had times, too, like the rocky ground: I've been excited about my relationship with God. I get big ideas about saving the world, seeking out justice, working with compassion for those in need. Yet, too often, my enthusiasm is replaced by inaction and complacency. I too have had times like the seed among the thorns, when I've let the stresses of life take me away from my close relationship with God, unable to find comfort in my faith in times of trouble. And then, thankfully, there are days when I can embody the good seed and the good soil. I hear God's message of grace and my heart rejoice - I am a loved child of God and I know it, believe it, live it. Do you experience these things too? Do you have dry periods where nothing seems to grow in your own soul's garden? Times when God is right there sowing good seeds in your soul's garden? I suspect that we all experience these changes, seasons in our lives.
Imagine, then, if God only sowed seed in the good soil of our life? What if God only reached out to us when we were showing our best stuff? What if God was only there for us when we were there for God? What if God only showed up when we proved our worthiness, by clearing away the rocks and pulling up the thorns? Song lyrics sing to us: "There's a hole in my soul that's been killing me forever. It's a place where a garden never grows." Sometimes we feel this desolateness. We feel that nothing will grow in our gardens again. But the message of the parable, the message from Paul's letter is that God always shows up, even during the barren times in our souls, God is always there, sowing seeds in our lives. Sometimes God's message can take root in us in the unlikeliest of places, at the unlikeliest of times. Grace pervades, grace finds the good soil in us, and grows and flourishes.
The good news of God's grace is that we don't have to earn God's love - God will throw us seeds no matter what we do. Of course, we can always do our part - God offers us grace, and we can accept or reject God's offer. But God offers grace to me and you, because God loves us so much, enough to keep planting seeds in our lives. For our part, we can try to turn up our good soil, so that what God plants in our lives grows in our care, bringing countless blessings to ourselves and others. But we aren't in the garden alone. As the hymn tells us, God walks with us in the garden, telling us that we are God's own. We are not condemned - despite rocky times, dry times, thorny times, we are not alone. God is with us, drawing us to life, setting us free by God's grace.
Let us pray: God of Grace, God of love: Speak to us today, plant in us seeds that can grow, 30, 60, 100 times over. We are your own loved children, dwelling in your grace. You fill the holes in our soul with your boundless love. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.