Why How We Believe Happens?

7 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 10, July 16, 2023

Isaiah 55:10-13 Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14
Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Lectionary Link

Science is based upon statistical approximations observed and charted.  Innumerable tests of boiling water at sea level measured by mercury thermometers graphed on a chart led to the conclusion that water boils at 212 degree Fahrenheit.   In science we like controlled conditions so that replication of results can be verified and a law can be stated from the conclusions.

When sociologists and psychologists attempt to have success in predicting outcomes, like what  happens in the natural sciences, the observed behaviors of human beings do not conform to same standards of control and replication.  To present a range of probable behaviors does not have the same exactness as what happens in the experimental predictable outcomes which render a scientific law.

The Gospel parable of the sower of Jesus might be called a story form sociology of why we come to believe in the way that we come to believe.

The inexactness of why we come to believe what we believe and how we believe means that an allegory is language science to present the very vague mystery of why and how we believe what we believe.

The parable of Jesus uses the allegory derived from the ancient science of agriculture.  And for modern farmers, it would be regarded to be very bad agricultural practice.

If the best yield of the crop includes a good seed, and ideal growth conditions, it is the imperative that controlling the quality of seed and the growth conditions be the main farming task, and the modern farmer can do precise planting, create a greenhouse and employ irrigation so as not to be vulnerable to the weather conditions of the growth season.

The sowing technique of casting seeds to the wind and letting them fall where they may fall, seems to be very inexact and indeterminate farming, even bad farming.

But the parable is not really about good or bad farming, or ancient or modern farming, it is addressing the sociological questions of the early Jesus Movement.  And what was that question?  Why do some people believe and what is the nature and the duration and outcomes of such belief?

And the parable of the sower provides a very vague answer.  Belief depends upon the conditions of the believer.

A person may believe for a short period of time, and they may quit the practice of a belief?  Why?  There may be other things to do, like maintaining all the responsibility of having wealth.  "I don't have time to practice faith because I have to take care of all my life assets."  Competition of other persuasive goals determines the quality of the practice of belief.

If one has to suffer for one's beliefs, then one might decide the cost of belief is too difficult.

So, God, the timing of circumstances in my life is not favorable to the practice of belief.  I have too many other attractive and competing choices, or there is not family and social support to make belief an easy choice, so I decide that it is not worth the persecution or the suffering.

But then there are ideal conditions; the message hits the spot at the right time to become a fully ingrained practice of belief.

So how precise is the sociology of belief as presented in the story insights of the parable of the sower?

Not very precise, if the answer is that belief depends upon the conditions.

So what can we say about the why and the how of our belief today?  It involves good timing, bad timing, serendipity of situation, the quality of the message, the strength of will, the community support, and the conditions for maturation.

Why do we believe what we believe?  First it involves being drawn to what we regard to be the highest and best for our lives.  In biblical divine agriculture, the seed of God is the divine image which is planted within creation and most poignantly upon each human being.  What are the conditions which allow the divine image to rise to its best and highest effect?  Good mentors and exemplars, freedom to practice our lives toward what is best and highest, good orchestration between all alternative belief practices, and finally the strongest condition of probability which is implied by Jesus and the Gospel preachers, namely, the free will of each person.

The free will of each person is operative in the events of competition of belief ideals, the nature of nurturing influences, and the kinds of challenging environments.

The Gospel of the Parable of the Sower is to remind us about the pairing of the hybrid seed of God's image planted upon us and the personal freedom to always choose toward the image of God no matter what happens to us, including the many failures, suffering, and competitions that we have in the process.

Today, let us live the mystery of having faith as we ever learn how to respond in excellent ways to the image of God, which is the seed that has been planted in our lives.  Amen.