Matthew
13:1-9, 18-23
I
planted a plot of vegetables in the community garden out back of the church
this year. It’s doing alright, and I’m
not complaining, but Tom and Kirtus and Connie and AnnJoyce have done
better. Not that it’s a competition. I barely notice how a certain person’s beans
have grown full and leafy or how someone else has done a great job staking up
their vine crops. Okay, I admit that it
can be a little embarrassing at times. But
– hey, there’s always zucchini.
I
started my own bean plants inside in April.
They did really well; too well.
Some of them were six to nine inches high and we were still getting
frost some nights. The first day that it
looked good to do it, I went outside and dug the ground and put them in. Two days later we had heavy rain and three
days later they were gone, washed out.
Fortunately, I had planned ahead.
I had a second flat of bean plants that were two weeks behind, along
with some zucchini seedlings. I waited
for the ground to dry out a little bit and the following week I stuck those
in. Two days later the rabbits had
eaten the new set of beans. At least they
left the zucchini.
I
realized that could happen again. I have
heard that if you plant onions around the edge of a garden, it helps keep the
rabbits out. I also noticed that there
was a lot of onion grass growing there already, so I figured the soil would be
good for the real thing. I knew it was
late in the season to plant onions. Onions
go in on St. Patrick’s Day. All the
same, I dug all the way around the garden and put in white and red onions (for
variety) and gave it another two weeks.
Then, since the United Methodist Women had
their plant sale going on, I took my coupons up to the nursery and bought some
healthy bean plants, which planted, surrounded by onions. Not long after that I discovered that maybe
rabbits hate onions, but squirrels or some other creature around here loves
them. I also learned that the folks who
mow the lawn don’t know the difference between onion grass and onions. So no beans this year, and only a few onions. On the other hand, nothing has touched the
zucchini.
Since
then I’ve added a lot of other vegetables, but right about the time I did that,
things got a little bit crazy. It rained
a lot in May, generally on the days when I would have had time to weed a lot
more. On the days when it was beautiful,
I was tied up. Eventually came the day
when I got out there and found myself pushing undergrowth aside and muttering,
“I know there are peppers here somewhere.”
So
this morning I hear the words of Jesus, and my heart goes out to the farmer in
his story. Poor guy! If my eggplant shrivels up and my cucumbers
do nothing and the sweet potatoes just grow leaves aboveground and no roots
below, I’ll live. Hey, there’s always
plenty of zucchini. The man in the
parable is someone who lives on what he plants.
It matters greatly to him. It
matters to him that
“as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and
the birds came and ate them up.” [Matthew
13:4]
It makes
a big difference to him that
“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.” [Matthew
13:5-6]
He would
have been worried because
“Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns
grew up and choked them.” [Matthew
13:7]
He would
have been incredibly relieved, even joyful, that
“Other seeds fell on good soil and brought
forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” [Matthew
13:8]
It would have meant everything to him. Therein lies the heart-wrenching aspect of
this parable.
In
practical terms, we all know what happens to people’s spiritual lives, and the
parable is descriptive.
“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.” [Matthew 13:19-23]
We all have seen people whose lives fit each of
those descriptions. Maybe we’ve seen
them in the mirror. But what about the
One who gives life in the first place, and who watches what happens not just to
one person or to a family or a local church or a people as life unfolds and as
time rolls onward? What about the
gardener who does not have the heart to shrug and to be content with the
zucchini (which we all know can yield a hundredfold or sixty or thirty)? What about God?
Somehow,
the sower goes on planting, and never gives up the way that we do. Somehow, God goes on, scattering seeds of
faith in all kinds of soil. Somehow, God
continually reaches out to people in all kinds of situations and with all kinds
of personalities and with all sorts of lives, because it is his nature never,
ever to give up on us. Does that make
sense? No. That’s why I’m so thankful about it. Isaiah said,
“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him
while he is near; let the wicked
forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon. For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. For
as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until
they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to
the sower and bread to the eater, so
shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for
which I sent it. For you shall go
out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the
cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for
a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” [Isaiah
56:6-13]
Meanwhile,
thank the Lord of all for zucchini.
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