Church
of the Redeemer The Rev. Nancy
E. Gossling
The women’s Bible study group that
meets on Thursday mornings recently has been working our way through the gospel
of Mark. Presumed to be the first gospel written after the death and
resurrection of Jesus, Mark describes Jesus as an action figure. Implicitly
suggesting that Jesus has divine power, Mark tells us that Jesus was someone
who healed the sick, cast out demons, and challenged his religious leaders
straight from the jump. Then he began his teaching ministry by telling
parables.
Now
recall that people in those days didn’t have church bulletins in which every
word was printed. In fact, in those days, many people didn’t know how to read,
and so religion was an oral tradition. Pointing to the obvious activity in
front of them, whether he’s inside or outside a house, whether he’s in the city
of Jerusalem or the countryside of Galilee, whether he’s in Jewish or Gentile
territory, on land or at sea, in a synagogue, a boat, or on the plains, Jesus
repeatedly told the crowd around him to “Look.”
If you are not blind to the spiritual realities of your lives, then you
will see the kingdom of heaven right there in front of you. God is at work.
Jesus also said, “Listen.” If your
ears are willing to disconnect from the latest political dramas, the talk that
sabotages your well-being, or fears that burden you, then you will hear the
good news of God. Just “look” and “listen” Jesus told his followers. The
kingdom of heaven is right here in front of you. Can you see it? Can you hear
the good news of God in the cacophony of voices that is surrounding you?
Apparently
Jesus often used parables to invite his listeners into a deeper and wider
understanding of God and our responses to God and others.Today’s parable about
the sower, the seeds, and the soil is famously entitled “The Parable of the
Sower” for that’s where it all begins. “Who is the Sower of these seeds,” we
may well ask? Is it God? Is it Jesus? Is St. Matthew? Is it me in this pulpit
today? Or perhaps, more importantly, is it you?
I
know there are many gardeners here at Redeemer, and let me confess right away
that I am not one of them. While I may have a green thumb as a Celtics fan, I
tend to kill plants. In fact, I have never carefully placed any little seeds
into a small patch of soil in order to watch it grow. A plant whisperer, I am
not; and while I appreciate the hard work of gardeners, I don’t like gardening.
Indeed if I were a sower of seeds,
I would be like the one Jesus described in today’s parable. I would throw my
seeds carelessly everywhere, wherever I walked, disregarding the terrain, and
not caring, nor even seeing where the seeds have landed. And so, I wondered,
why would Jesus portray such an irresponsible sower, someone who is like me, as
a lesson for his listeners?
Every time I hear this parable, I
remember my short-lived occupation as a sower of seeds which I have told
frequently. Paul and I had just moved to Glastonbury, Connecticut, a town which
is known for its many farms that produce berries, corn, fresh vegetables,
pumpkins, and Christmas trees. Oftentimes you can pick your own products in the
fields on their farms or buy them fresh off the shelf at their shops along the
roadside.
When we began looking for a house,
our realtor wisely guided us away from a new housing development on land which
had previously grown tobacco. Chemicals were known to infiltrate the water
systems and could be harmful to your health. Despite the flat terrain, the
beautiful red drying barns that populated the landscape, and the very green
grass that was growing around these new houses, this location was not a good
place to raise children nor to grow organic fruits and vegetables.
So
Paul and I bought a home that had been owned by two professionals, a
pediatrician and a teacher, who were also environmentalists. They loved to
create gardens and grow plants, flowers, and vegetables on their property. In
one corner they had created a garden for vegetables, enclosed by a fence, where
the sun and shade were well balanced. Paul was excited to sustain this garden,
planting his own vegetables of tomatoes, green peppers, and squash.
And, truth be told, I was not. Initially, I
didn’t want to become involved in this gardening endeavor; for I knew my
history and track record with gardening. Besides I was starting a new job as
the rector of a parish and I was excited to plant my spiritual seeds of love
there. When Paul asked me why I wouldn’t want to be engaged with God’s creation
at our home, I responded arrogantly. “I care for the seeds of new life in God’s
garden at the parish all day long, and I’m too tired when I get home.” And yet,
Paul, who also worked long days in his own job, responded, “But so do I.”
And
so I agreed to participate, albeit reluctantly, and certainly not
whole-heartedly. I was wary of some history between us. He would start projects
and I would finish them. He is an entrepreneur and I am a day laborer. So I
decided to start my own garden, on a much smaller scale and closer to our
house. I wanted the boundaries, responsibilities, and the ownership of our gardens
to be crystal clear.
I placed my plants in a raised bed
next to our side door, on the sunny side of our house, right next to the water
hose. Trying to minimize my labor, I planted only green beans. Unprotected by a
fence, my green beans became a feast for the rabbits. Because I was closer to
the garden hose, I thought that I would be more attentive to watering my
plants, but I didn’t. The sun scorched my green beans.
In passive aggressive resistance,
I did nothing with my own garden. Sure I sowed those new seeds; but I didn’t
water them, weed them, or protect them. I trusted that God and Mother Nature
would do all the work; and secretly, I hoped to eat the fruits of Paul’s garden
and his good labors, unwilling to put in the hard work, or the daily care that
was required for my own. My heart wasn’t really in it, and my actions betrayed
my words.
Truth
be told, we both learned from our Sowing Seeds ministry. The busyness of our
day jobs became the hard path upon which our good seeds fell; and so nothing
grew in certain spots of both our gardens. Neither of us, in our haste, had
prepared the soil well. There was too little soil in mine and his soil had been
overused and was lacking in nutrients. Weeds, pests, thorny roots, not to
mention New England rocks, hidden below the surface, often crowded out or
strangled our plants.
Look and listen, Jesus told his
followers. We are busy, rocky, thorny, shallow people; and so God’s seeds don’t
always land on the best of our soils. At various times in our lives, at
different stages in our growth, whether we’re at home, at work, at school, in
our parish or the community at large, we will find ourselves tired, hurting,
struggling, and less than enthusiastic about caring for our gardens.
Preoccupied with physical, mental, and emotional challenges, we may let our
spiritual lives languish.
Jesus
reminds us that God is the Sower of all seeds, perhaps irresponsibly, but
surely God sows God’s seeds of love extravagantly, indiscriminately, and indeed
even with radical generosity. Unworried about where they land, God knows that
even if they die, these seeds will rise again in ways that we cannot see, nor
even imagine.
When life gets too hard, when the
sun gets too hot, the rain seems relentless, creatures appear to be dangerous,
and the weeds overpower us in our daily lives, it’s time for us to turn back to
God, to remember that Jesus is our Master Gardener, and the Holy Spirit is always
at work, even when we’re asleep. No matter what path we’re on, or in which part
of God’s garden we live, God will always plant new seeds of faith, hope, and
love to sustain us.
So trust the Sower of the Seeds.
And then sow a little of your own with that very same Spirit: extravagantly,
indiscriminately, and perhaps even with radical generosity.
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