Understanding the Crisis of Relevance

6 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 10, July 16,2017
Isaiah 55:10-13 Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14
Romans 8:1-11  Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Lectionary Link

Probably the most original school of American philosophy is called Pragmatism.  It is associated with such philosophers as one of the James Brother, William James.  It is associated with John Dewey and Charles Sanders Peirce.

Pragmatism means that something is true partly because it has functional value.  What functional value is there in knowing how many angels can dance on the head of needle?  Aside from the entertainment for persons interested in irrelevant arcane speculation, not much.

We need to be pragmatic interpreters of the Bible.  How do we do that?  By reading the Bible and asking what would be the function of this writing within a community of people?

You and I can look at the function of the Parable of the Sower for the people who are responsible for collecting, writing, editing and re-editing the Gospel of Matthew.

Parables are presented in the Gospel as a favorite teaching method of Jesus.  A parable is a story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson and it provides insights into one situation by looking at a parallel occasion in nature.

The Parable of the Sower is relevant to us today at St. John’s because we are all interested in the secret of relevance.  How can what we do be effectively relevant to the lives of people?

Why is ministry of St. John the Divine relevant or effective to the lives of some and not of others?  Why do so many people find it so easy to avoid ever entering this church?  Why do some people seem to be 90 day wonders in their religion and then suddenly are absent and gone?

The crisis of relevance is a recurring crisis in the life of a person or an institution.  What I had of hair turned gray very early in my ministry because of facing the continuing crisis of relevance.  Does anything I do in ministry have sufficient relevance to engage the lives of enough people to keep a parish alive and well?

The message of Jesus Christ had enough relevance to create quite a historical movement but in the early days of the movement, there was discussion about the crisis of relevance.

What were the questions of relevance?  What does the message of Jesus have to do with me?  Why is the message of Jesus Christ successful in the lives of some people and not in others?  Why have the Gentiles become enamored with the message about Jesus Christ?  Conversely, why have members of the synagogue rejected the teachings of Jesus Christ?  And why have some people been very active in the Jesus Movement and then suddenly or gradually quit and left the movement?  Why have Jews who once embraced the message about Jesus suddenly changed their minds about Jesus and have returned to the synagogue?

The Parable of the Sower is a parable in the early church which addressed the crisis of relevance.

We might expect the parable of Jesus to give us an air-tight answer about the cause of the success or failure of the message of Jesus in the lives of people.

But what is the insight given by the Parable about the success of the word of God in people’s lives?  Why is the Gospel successful in someone’s life? The conditions are right.

The conditions are right.  That sounds like the universal cliché answer for why anything occurs.  Why did it happen?  Well, the conditions were right.

A farmer or gardener knows that plants will grow and do well if the conditions are right.  What can a gardener control?  The seed or seedlings.  The preparation of the soil.  The amount of water through irrigation.  The weeding, the thinning, the pruning all can be controlled by the farmer.  What cannot be controlled is the climate and the general weather conditions, or grasshoppers and other pests.

Why is the message of the Gospel successful or not?  It depends on the conditions.

What insights can we learn from the Parable of the Sower?  Any life condition includes influential factors out of our control and things in our control.

The Sower in the parable is a broadcast seeder.  The Sower throws the seeds toward the intended place of growth but this is not a very efficient way of planting seeds.  The wind can carry the seed away to fall on the path or on the rocky places.  The seed is the universally hybrid and winsome Word of God.  The rather indiscriminate casting of the seeds is a metaphor for the Word of God being offered to everyone, always, all of the time.

The seed arrives in a variety of conditions.  People can lie about the identity of a seed so that it is not understood.  Rising stalks of corn can be called useless weeds if people don't know their food value and therefore of no use for food.  A seed may not grow because it does not get buried; it remains on the surface to get burned up by the sun or eaten by the birds.  A seed can be crowded out by many other weeds that there is not enough soil nutrition for the seed to become a successful plant.  But the seed can also land in good soil and have different levels of crop yield.

The most important aspect of the Parable of the Sower is the quality of the seed.  The prophet Isaiah wrote that the word of God is infallible and ultimately irresistibly winsome.  God's word goes forth and will not return as empty.  God’s word will ultimately be relevant to everyone's life.

The early preachers of the Gospel believed that the Good News was winsome, infallible and irresistible, even while they recognized that everyone was not yet convinced.  The early preachers of the Gospel knew that there was competition; there were alternatives to Gospel in the lives of people.  The weather, the climate and pests are factors in farming.  What happens to us are factors in how we embrace and express our faith.  Some events can support and encourage our faith while there are events of shame, persecution, loss and disappointment which can discourage or impede our expression of devotion to Christ.

St. Paul, in the letter to the Roman church wrote a spiritual psychology.  He wrote about how we could understand ourselves and prepare ourselves to find the relevance of Jesus Christ in our lives.  St. Paul said that we needed to find what was infallible and perfect in our lives.  The Holy Spirit is infallible and perfect and we need to find and know the infallible and perfect to deal with everything in our lives which is imperfect and changing. 

St. Paul wrote about the conditions of the flesh being a wrong relationship with desire.  We can focus our desire on so many things that compete with what is worthy and perfect. Experiencing the Holy Spirit as underneath our desire and directing it to be expressive of love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, meekness and self-control is the goal expressed in the spiritual psychology of St. Paul.

So what do you and I do with this Gospel cliché today?  Things happen in the way in which they do because the conditions are right.

As we consider the right conditions today, let us remember:  The message is universally offered.  The message is perfect, infallible, irresistible and winsome.  God the Sower is patient.  The conditions may not be right now, but in the patience of God, they ultimately will be favorable to the universal relevance of God in our lives.

What is our responsibility in enhancing our receptivity to the Word of God?  I think it is well expressed in what is called the Serenity Prayer: God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Today, let us be encouraged to do all that we can to have a favorable hearing of God’s Word in our lives.  Let us be convinced of God’s infallible Spirit within us.  And let our community build a spiritual ecology to support the very best outcomes for the success of the life Christ with us and in our world.  Amen.

Sunday School, July 16, 2017 6 Pentecost, A proper 10

Sunday School, July 16, 2017   6 Pentecost, A proper 10

Right conditions for success

What is needed to successful boil water?  Heat  water to 212 degrees.

What is needed to be successful at sports or dancing?  Some skills and lots of practice.

What is needed to get good grades in school?  Lots of study

Jesus told a parable to help people understand why the good news of God becomes successful in the lives of people.  He told the parable of the sower who planted seeds that landed in different places: on the pathway or road, on the rocks and in good soil.

A seed grows best in good soil.  There is the best chance for a good harvest when the conditions are right.

How can the conditions be right for us to understand God’s plan for us?

We need people who teach us what is right and support us to make good choices.

We need to be able to survive difficult challenges without losing our faith.

We need to say no to the things that compete with doing what God wants.

God is like a farmer who has created this beautiful world.  But there is freedom in this world.  We have the freedom to arrange our lives to honor God or forget God.

The word of God is the good seed in this world.  It is planted in our lives as a place to grow.  So we need to arrange our lives in such a way so that we make our lives as good places for the word of God to grow and be successful.

How can God’s word be successful in our lives?

By studying God’s word, by praying, by gathering with others to help support doing the very best, by loving and caring for our neighbor.

We are responsible for preparing our lives like a well-kept garden so that God’s word can be successful in the right conditions of our lives.

Sermon

What is the beginning of a tree or a plant?  How does a tree get started?  How does a flower get started?  It starts from a seed right.

  So I have some seeds.  And seeds are really small.  They are so small, it seems like magic that they can grow and become very large plants or a very large tree.

  So I am going to plant some seeds.  And there are some good places to plant them and some bad places to plant them.  If I plant a seed on this chair, is that a good place?  If I plant it on the concrete floor, is that a good place?  What if I planted it in this little planting pot that has some soil in it? And I put some water on it?  Will it grow?  It has the best chance to grow in the soil.

  Jesus told a story about someone who planted seeds.  And this farmer who planted seeds threw seeds.  Some of the seeds fell on the road.  Some of the seeds fell on the rocks.  Some of the seeds fell among the thorns.  And some of the seeds feel in some good dirt.

  And where did the seed grow the best?  In the good dirt.

  And Jesus said, the message about the kingdom of heaven is like a seed.  If people are going to understand the message of the kingdom of heaven, their hearts and minds have to be in a certain way to be understand it.  So just as a seed will grow if it is good soil, so the message of the kingdom of heaven will be understood if our hearts and minds are ready to receive it.

  And what is the message of the kingdom of heaven?  The message is this:  God is our creator.  So we belong to God.  God loves us and cares for us.  And God wants us to love him and care for each other.

  But if we think that we made ourselves.  Or if we think that we own the world ourselves, then we will not be able to accept the news about the kingdom of heaven.  And so our hearts and mind will not be ready.

  We come to church to prepare our hearts and minds to receive the message of the kingdom of heaven.  And what is that message?  God created the world.  God loves us.  God wants us to love him and each other.

  That’s a very good message.  And if we learn this message, then we will know that we are in the kingdom of heaven.  Amen.

Young Child friendly Eucharistic Liturgy using the option found on page 400 of the Book of Common Prayer

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 16, 2017: The Sixth Sunday after  Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah, The Foolish Man, Be Still and Know, Awesome God

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song:  Thy Word, (Renew! #94)

Refrain: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path

When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way, still you’re right beside me.  And nothing will I fear as long as you are near.  Please be near me to the end.  Refrain.

I will not forget your love for me, and yet my heart forever is wandering.  Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side; and I will love you to the end.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans

But you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 119

Your word is a lantern to my feet * and a light upon my path.

I have sworn and am determined * to keep your righteous judgments.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"  "Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: The Foolish Man and the Wise Man (Christian Children’s Songbook, #250)

The foolish built his house upon the sand.  The foolish man built his house upon the sand.  The foolish man built his house upon the sand.  And the rains came tumbling down.  Oh the rains came down and the floods came up.  The rains came down and the floods came up.  The rains came down and the floods came up.  And the house on the sand, went “Crash!”

O, the wise man built his house upon the rock.  The wise man built his house upon the rock.  The wise man built his house upon the rock.  And the rains came tumbling down.  O, the rains came down and the floods came up.  The rains came down and the floods came up.  The rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the rock stood firm.

So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.  So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.  So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.  And the blessings will come down.  The blessings will come down as the prayers go up.  The blessings will come down as the prayers go up.  The blessings will come down as the prayers go up, so build your house on the Lord.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Be Still and Know  (Renew!  # 10)

Be Still and know that I am God, be still and know that I am God.  Be still and know that I am God.

The Lord almighty is our God.  The Lord almighty is our God.  The Lord almighty is our God.

The God of Jacob is our God.  The God of Jacob is our God.  The God of Jacob is our God.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Awesome God  (Renew! # 245)

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above.  With wisdom, power and love, our God is an awesome God.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist:    Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People:      Thanks be to God! 

  

Broadcast Seeding before Jethro Tull

5 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 10, July 13, 2014

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

Lectionary Link

        Today, I would like for us to consider farming before Jethro Tull.  And what does Jethro Tull have to do with farming?  Jethro Tull is the rock band which produced Aqua Lung and stars the flautist, Ian Anderson.  But the rock band is named after Jethro Tull, a progressive farmer who in the early 18th century perfected the method of seed drilling.  This involved dropping seeds through tubes and planted in nice rows, easy to thin and cultivate.  The more ancient method of seeding was called "broadcast" seeding, throwing seeds to the winds and letting them fall where they may.

  If one tries to rationalize the business of farming then one wants to increase the odds of seeds germinating and coming to full fruition and being accessible to harvest at the right time.

   The parable of Jesus which we have read today is not about Jethro Tull farming; it is about broadcast seeding method.  Slinging the seeds to the wind, falling willy, nilly upon a hopeful place to germinate and grow.   One might even say, it is kind of hit or miss farming.  And what kind of actuarial genius is God if the divine one does "hit or miss" farming?

   This parable was generated and it maintained itself by being repeated and elaborated and then finally written down with a subsequent interpretation because the parable is honest to the mystery of success.  It really does not explain why particular success happens; it only highlights that the conditions of freedom make success a continuous process of nature.  This sort of explanation can be very disappointing, because we want actuarial certainty in the explanation of things.  We want guaranteed success in all of our ventures.  It is a universal and inspired question continually to be asking about the success of things and the failure of things.  We often have plenty of each in our trial and error lives and we want to develop theories of probabilities to increase the odds of success and decrease the odds of failure.

  I think that the common wisdom of life is what would be called "probability" living.  It means we learn from living the likelihood of the conditions that contribute to success or failure in our ventures of life.  And so we have to take into account the dynamic mixture of nature and nurture which comprise any situation in life.

  Jesus and his followers were those who had questions  about the success and failure of the Gospel Movement.  The implied questions that everyone was asking and the ones which we ask are:  Jesus how can we have success?  How can we be guaranteed success?  Or what are the reasons why some things are successful?  Why are things sometimes just "ninety day" wonders, reaching a faddish success only to fizzle out?  Why don’t the effects of the Gospel message endure in the lives of those who hear it?

  The parable of the Sower provides us with some insights about creative advance in our lives.  The first insight is that the Sower is the one who owns the planting field.  God owns all of creation and God wants to impart this knowledge to humanity, who for the most part has lost the meaning and knowledge of being owned by God.  God does not want to lord it over human beings; God wants to remind humanity that if they acknowledge being sons and daughters of God then their lives would be more successful, because the knowledge of God’s love, God’s grace and God’s forgiveness and God’s justice is the good news which can bring success into the lives of people.

  Now one could make a negative judgment upon the farming abilities of the sower?  Why would God be one to do indiscriminate broadcast seeding with such a wonderful message as the message of the kingdom of God?  This indiscriminate broadcast seeding method is represented in other Gospels sayings about the impartial nature of God.  God is like the sun which shines upon the just and the unjust.  God is like the rain which falls upon the good and the evil.  The broadcast seeding method as seen in the parable of the sower is an indication that the good news of God's kingdom of love is freely given to everyone.  The seed arrives into every human condition and it is a good seed, it is a hybrid seed.  The seed of the kingdom is about how we belong to God as God's sons and daughters.  It is about how God loves us and forgives us and invites to grow in grace, love and justice.

  This wonderful message falls into the conditions of life experience of many people.  And not everyone is ready to receive and understand the benefit of this wonderful message?  Why?  Because the message is not forced upon anyone.  It is but a freely offered persuasive lure given as an invitation to everyone to come to know God's love.

  The unevenness of the human conditions means that everyone is not able to even know how to receive good news into one’s life.  The uneven human condition of the souls of people in significant ways determines the success of how we are converted to the good things offered to us in life.

  The parable of the sower represents the fact that Jesus honored the freedom present in the success and failure of how things happen in life.  Sometimes we do not become open to growth or change unless we have suffered some crisis of loss or change.  The gates and doors of our perception have to be cleansed continually so that we can see and understand the new creative advance which is offered to us.

  The genius of the parable of the sower is not that it explains success or failure but that it acknowledges the mystery of success and failure because all things are subject to the freedom of the process of nature and nurture.  But included within the processes of nature and nurture is the freedom of our choice.  Each of us has significant freedom in the play of nature and nurture for the success of creative advance in our lives.

  So what is our response to the parable of the sower today?

  We ask God and each other to help us have insights about the condition of receptivity of our lives today for making creative advance toward more just and loving outcomes.  And as we understand our condition of receptivity for more good news, we also are challenged to use our freedom to act deliberately towards the next step of creative advance.

  The parable of the sower reveals to us that life is not just about nature or about nurture, it also includes our willingness to determine the things which we can through wise action.  And so we ask today for insights and discernment about the process of nature and nurture in our lives, but we also ask for strength to become deliberate agents of changes towards what we know is better for us, our families, our parish, our community and our world.

  The parable of the sower is valid illumination for us today because it acknowledges the mystery of the nature of life even as it encourages us to exercise deliberate freedom toward creative advance in our lives today.  May the words of Jesus give us encouragement in our continuous efforts to advance in the art of living today.  Amen.

Is God a Good Farmer with Indiscriminate Planting of Seeds?

Lectionary Link

4 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper10, July 10, 2011

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

Text:

    So here we are living close to some of the most productive farm enterprises in the world.  Agrabusiness is not really a hit and miss kind of business.  This is the age of Monsanto and Archer Daniel Midlands and genetically altered seeds, specially design to produce maximum yield for the conditions of the land.

  So how do we in the age of agribusiness return to the sort hit and miss farming of the parable of the sower as told by Jesus?  Well some us do some hit and miss amateur gardening at our homes and can get real proud of our tomatoes and squash, even while we don’t mention all of the other failures to produce fruit in our gardens.

  We have read the parable of the sower and its explanation.  I really think that the explanation was an effort by a later community to try to specify what the original parable meant.

  What was the purpose of the parable?  I could see Jesus being posed with a question like: Rabbi, why is it that some people are following you but not everyone?  Why are we attracted to become your disciples but why do you seem to be irrelevant to other people?  Why don’t they have the same excitement about your good news?

   And Jesus answered this question with the parable of the sower.  And his parable respects the mystery of why some people come to faith and why some do not.  Why do some people come to understand and accept the Gospel?  Well, the conditions for it to happen are just right.

  That seems to be the meaning of the parable of the sower.  People come to their faith expression because the conditions are right.  Why do fisherman catch fish some days and none on other days?  Well, the conditions have to be right.   How do you like such a vague answer?  Couldn’t one say that about anything that happens, “Well, the conditions have to be right?”

  I think the follow up explanation of the parable was given by people who wanted to make some precise applications as to what conditions are favorable or unfavorable as it pertains to accepting the good news of the Gospel.

  The conditions have to be right.  Is that too vague of an answer to be satisfying?  Certainly in today’s agribusiness, the goal is to make the preparation and the adjustments for the conditions to be right for every crop to be a bumper crop.  Modern science and modern farming is all about having the knowledge to be able to intervene to control the quality of the crop.

  What insights can we gain from this parable even in our age of wanting to have as much scientific control of outcomes?

  The parable of the sower can still give us some insights about God and about having faith.  The unwritten assumption of the parable is that the sower already owns the land on which the seed is planted.  In faith application, this means that God as creator already owns the world, but the world of people do not always know this or acknowledge this in the way in which they live.  Since people are oblivious to God’s kingdom and ownership of the world, and because people live with the presumption of a world without God, there needs to be intervention.  The sowing of the seed of good news, of God’s kingdom, of God’s love and forgiveness, has to be done for people unaware of the possibilities for their lives. 

  The sowing of God’s good news is “indiscriminate.”  What wise farmer would toss seeds onto the path and into rocky places?  The sun shines on the good and evil.  The good news is offered to every situation and circumstance, even when logic would tell us that the seed has no chance to grow.

  Before building a church building at a former parish in Texas, we rented a store-front building in the downtown area.  Outside at the back of the building in a corner to which the parking lot asphalt reached, there was a tree that just seemed to grow out of the side of the building.  I would cut it off, and in a few months, it would be growing again.  I often thought that if I tried to plant that tree in the middle of my yard it would not grow, but for some odd reason, it kept growing out of the side of the building.

  What nature reveals is that the uncanny happens in the mix of nature, nurture and the degree of freedom that each person has.  In the mix of human freedom, the social conditions and the individual nature, the possibility of coming to faith happens.  And with evangelism, we try our best to be “wise” farmers to promote the very best hearing for people to be able to come to faith, even while we must rely on the mystery of conversion to work to see people come to faith.

  I believe that God gives us a task of evangelism; God asks us to be a part of the sowing of the good news of God’s kingdom, God’s love and God’s forgiveness.  We need to learn how to be used by God to be creative lures to draw people to their better selves.  And they know their better selves when they can acknowledge God as the owner of life and when their lives can be motivated by love and forgiveness.  They become their better selves when they realize that the hybrid seed of God’s Spirit is a reality to be discovered within each of us.

  The parable of the sower invites us to ask ourselves the question:  How has the seed of the good news of God’s kingdom done in our lives?  This is a question that St. Paul struggled with in his life.  St. Paul discovered within himself the law of the Spirit of life.  He discovered that God had called creation good because the Spirit of God is the hybrid factor of excellence in our lives.  God’s Spirit within us is the guarantee that we can come to fruition in our lives.

  I believe the parable of the sower invites us to some questions of internal assessment today:  How is the good news of the Gospel doing in our lives?  Are we making the choices to enable  God’s love to be successful in us?  Are we discovering the winsomeness of God’s Spirit within us?  Further, are we making ourselves available to create the conditions that make it attractive and inviting for other people to know God’s love through us?

  Let us remember that our lives need to be witnesses of the success of God’s love.  And so our lives need to part of the right conditions for helping other people know the presence of God’s kingdom and the love and joy and the peace of Christ.  Amen.