Proper 10 2014

Proper 10 2014

This year, if you’ve noticed our yard, was a pretty productive one for our vegetable gardens. Personally, I had very little to do with the process, as I apparently have the touch of death with plants.

All the same, Charity and the crew were able to plant and cultivate a number of great vegetables and herbs, which we’ve all enjoyed quite a lot. And while I know very little about caring for plants, one thing I do understand is that when planting, it’s important to carefully sow the seeds. Otherwise, the plants will choke themselves out—and while seeds are easier to come by today, I would imagine seeds were a precious resource in the First Century.

With that in mind, I think the parable in today’s Gospel reading gained a whole new dimension for me.

We’re told that Jesus sat down with a large crowd and began telling them that a sower was sowing seeds. Some of the seeds fell on the path and were eaten by birds. Other seeds landed among rocks where there wasn’t a lot of soil. And even though they sprang up quickly, they burned up in the sun because they didn’t have deep roots. Some other seeds fell among thorns, and were soon choked out when they started to grow.

  

However, there were some seeds which landed in good soil, and they, of course, flourished and produced ridiculous amounts of grain…which I suppose is only good news if you’re neither gluten free, nor using the Adkin’s diet… But I digress.

The point is, if you haven’t already deduced it, is that the gift of a spiritual life is offered in abundance. I suppose this is the reason that the sower is portrayed as just tossing seed all over the place.

But, as is to be expected in both sowing seeds and in receiving the gift of a spiritual life—we know that there are any number of environments and circumstances into which such things can fall. And, based on the parable, we would hope that seeds would land in soil which can support growth.

However, there’s more to it than simply having fertile soil, because we also know that the other necessary characteristic for successful growth are deep roots.

So what does all of this mean for us—all of this talk about seeds and growth? Well, I think for us, just as was the case for those who were hearing the parable originally; we should take serious what it means to have a spiritual life. In other words, it’s not enough simply to have a plant; but for it to have real worth, it needs to provide nourishment.

  

Likewise then, our spiritual lives should not be strictly understood as our own, but need to bear fruit in the form of service to God and service to others.

Now, of course (if we take this parable as our model), we know that we really have no control over where the seeds fall. In other words, we can’t completely control whether or not the gift of spiritual life will immediately take deep root and grow. I think the wisdom of this parable is well taken in this regard—that people, all of us, find ourselves in life circumstances that are either more or less conducive to cultivating a spiritual life. Some of us really have had lives that have made us a little too tough—something like the path where the seeds can’t penetrate, and are quickly stolen away by birds.

Others of us may be able to sympathize with the rocky ground. We have a place in our lives that could easily support a life of faith; but there are things in our lives: experiences, memories, whatever which keep us from being able to really allow our faith to grow. And, of course, when difficulties arise, faith might not be a place of solace for us.

Still some others may better resonate with the thorny ground. Maybe there are just too many external issues, things that have crept up around us, that make it impossible (no matter how hard we try) to grow our faith. So, even though faith may root and begin to grow, those externals begin to steal away the nourishment that our faith needs to thrive and grow.

  

Whatever the case, the reality is, not everyone is automatically equipped to receive a fruitful spiritual life… And rather than finding this reality to be discouraging, I think we should instead keep in mind that just like soil can be made arable and ready for planting—hearts can likewise be made more fertile for the cultivation of spiritual life.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes that Jesus has set them free from the law by embodying a faithful life lived to God, not by over-emphasizing the law, but rather by embodying the kind of life that the law was originally meant to teach. This was, of course, necessary, because the law outlined specific “things that ought not to be done.” And so, because humans are human, those who received the law began to live in a way that just tried not to do those “things that ought not to be done.” Subsequently, those who were supposed to be really good at not “doing those things which ought not to be done,” (namely the religious elite); They began to build in safe-guards to keep people from ever even getting close to doing “those things that ought not to be done.” 

What emerged from this mess, then, was not an overly safe society. Instead what emerged was a society which had become stifled—even oppressed—by all of the extraneous additions to the law.

In a manner of speaking, the religious authority tried to build high walls so that nothing could harm the spiritual growth of Israel. But, in doing this, they blocked out the air, the sun and the rain; all of the necessary elements that allow for growth.

This, I think is what Paul is referring to when he talks about the law leading us to death. Because in the end, all of the extra stuff stifles growth.

But, as we should expect, this isn’t the end—and there really is good news. Because, through Jesus we not only have seen the limits of the law—Jesus obviously demonstrated that living too rigidly in the law obscures God’s glorification, and the spread of God’s call to redemption. Not only this, but Jesus also pays the cost of humanity’s shortfall in living lives acceptable to God.

Where all of this comes together for me, is that we need to understand that while not everyone may have the inborn grace to be able to support and cultivate a vital, fruitful spiritual life—we can, however, be made able to.

See, if we take what Paul says about the Spirit of Christ being the life of those who have it—we could also say that it is the work of the same Spirit—even the Holy Spirit which is responsible for making our hearts more ready to receive the grace of a fruitful and rich spiritual life.

What is required of us, however, is that we begin by making ourselves open to the work of the Holy Spirit. However, the most difficult part of doing this is that it requires that we relinquish control. It means finally giving up whatever claims we think we have on our own lives, and do our best to offer ourselves to God. And the reality is, all of us (whether we have a fruitful spiritual life or not) will always need to keep up the practice of giving ourselves up to God: over and over again. It’s just that over time it seems to make more sense as to why we’re doing it.

Now, this doesn’t mean that many of those issues which have made spiritual life difficult in the past won’t still be there—however, it may well be that we find ourselves more ready and able to either allow ourselves not to be held captive to such things. Or, in other cases, we might even find that we’re finally granted the strength we’ve needed to seek the extra help that we need to live beyond the difficulties in our lives.

The point is, Jesus makes it clear in this parable of the sower, that the one who is sowing the seeds does so with generous abandon. Casting seed that will be relied upon for food would not have been spread around so recklessly. But then, because the seed that is being sown in the parable is also the word of the Kingdom of God; we can trust that it will never be lacking, even though it is precious; and that it will always be given in generous abundance, no matter where it might land. And if we’re willing to be open to the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts to receive that seed; we make ourselves open to the potential of not only deep roots of faith and a fruitful spiritual life; but a more whole and fulfilling life besides.