My father said when I was a really young child that I wanted to be the first lady bishop ever. What if I had become a bishop? Here is a sermon I wrote imagining myself to be a lady bishop.
Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ, the parable of the sower also known as the parable of the soils is given in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. After narrating the parable to his disciples Jesus explains the meaning of the parable as though he is a teacher of English literature. Jesus said this parable to the disciples while sitting in a boat while all the people stood on the shore. This sermon was not preached in a church with stained glass windows. This sermon was not preached from a pulpit with the latest gadgets to amplify the preacher's voice. Perhaps the only sounds that interrupted the words of Jesus were the sounds of gently rolling waves or the cries of the sea gulls. Perhaps Jesus had to brush aside from his face the wind whipping his hair. Perhaps Jesus had his gaze fixed on the motley crowd of people yearning for goodness and truth. And the crowd consisting of men, women, and children of all ages strained to hear the words of Jesus so they would not miss a single syllable. This is the only parable the meaning of which was explained by Jesus to His disciples because they could not understand the parable on their own. It is interesting that Jesus who was raised by a carpenter father does not use a lot of wood working or carpentry metaphors in the parables he related. On the other hand Jesus uses a lot of agrarian or farming metaphors in his parables. The parable of the sower is replete with agrarian imagery. It conjures up images of concepts intrinsic to farm life such as seeds, sowing, soil, plants, sapling, growth, fruit, harvest etc. The parables about seeds are easy to understand because seeds are part of our lives in 21 st century as well. Even if we do not lead a particularly agrarian life we are all familiar with seeds. Every time we eat a fruit or vegetable we encounter seeds because seeds are present in most fruits and vegetables. Seedless fruits and vegetables are a new fangled phenomenon. In spring and summer garden centers and grocery stores have racks dedicated to different types of seeds. We can buy seeds of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Potting soil is available in large sacks which can be used for planting seeds. Seeds carry within them everything they need to grow fully into that which they are a seed of. Thus an acorn has everything within itself to grow into a mighty oak tree. But the seed is vulnerable, fragile, alone, and small. Open to attacks by birds of prey. How it grows or if it grows at all depends on where it lands when the farmer throws the seed. In the parable of the farmer scattering seeds Jesus talks about the challenges posed to the seed in its journey. As the farmer scatters his seed, Jesus says, it falls on different places. A lot of perils are posed by the environment to the defenseless seed when they embark on their growing journey. If the seeds fall on the foot path or side walk it can be stolen by birds. People walk on the foot path or side walk and do not notice the helpless seed. the footpath is made of concrete and the concrete is made of a mixture of cement, sand, water, and rocks. The seed can be trampled by people going about their business. A bird flying about can consider the seed a source of food. Rain falling on the seed can wash it away. Snow falling on it can freeze it. Seeds can fall on rocky soil. In rocky soil the seed can actually turn into a sapling. The sapling is very tender and needs lots of TLC. At first the tender sapling may grow but when the sun comes up the harshness of the sunlight causes the sapling to wither because they have no deep roots. Two words crucial to understanding the plight of a tender sapling trying to grow in rocky soil is "wither" and "deep." Wither means to become dry and shriveled, cease to flourish, fall into decay or decline. And deep means extending far down from the top or surface. The function of the roots is to absorb water, food or nutrients from the soil, anchor the plant in the soil, and transmit the water and nutrients to the stem. In rocky soil, the roots of a plant are unable to grow because there is no depth to the soil. The rocks in the soil prevent the root from growing. If the roots are not strong then when the sun comes up the plant will wither because there are no roots to absorb water from the soil to transmit it to the stem. The hardness of the rocks and the pressure they exert on the sapling's roots will prevent the roots from performing its functions of bringing water and nutrients to the stem and thus cause the sapling to be crushed. If deep roots are formed the deep roots will somehow find water and nutrients and bring it to the stem of the plant as well as prevent the tree or plant from falling over during a heavy rainfall, storm or hurricane. Deep roots also grow into the soil and finds places with water and nutrients and transmits it to the stem and prevent the plant from withering. That is why deep roots are important. If the seed falls amidst thorns, the thorns can choke the seed. According to Jesus, thorns represent worries of this life, the lure of wealth and desire for other things. Worries, money and distractions all contribute to the inability to bear fruit. Choke means to have severe difficulty in breathing. Worries, money and distractions cause us to have severe difficulty in breathing or be choked. Breathing is essential to life. Let us not invite into our lives worries, money and distractions that may cause us to have difficulty in breathing which may cause snuffing of those things within us which help us to have life and breath. It is interesting that Jesus classifies worries, money and distractions all in the category called thorns. Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ, let us refuse to worry, and let us not wish to earn more money, instead let us be content with what we have. This too is a way to bear more fruit for the kingdom of God. And finally dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ let us not desire anything other than Jesus and all that he stands for--Holiness, purity, Godliness, goodness, kindness, generosity, grace and mercy, gratitude, contentment, discipline and diligence.
The gifts given to us by our parents are our talents. It is up to each one of us to nurture the seed of talents given to us and produce a crop. Let us endeavor to produce a 100 per cent so that we may be able to be a blessing to this world. Jesus describes the soil that nurtures the seed best as a good and noble heart. It is only a good and noble heart that can nurture seeds and grow seeds. It is only good and noble hearts that perseveres in the face of adversity and protects the seeds. Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ sometimes we can be ridiculed because we attend to our seed and do not participate in debauchery and corruption. Sometimes we feel isolated because we dedicate our time and energy towards our talents. But nurturing the seeds in us requires discipline and dedication and these in turn protect us from the frivolity and meaninglessness in this world.
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ let us allow the seed of Christ's kingdom to take root in our hearts. Let us grow in the likeness of Christ. Let us grow in godliness, goodness, purity and holiness. Let us grow in discipline and diligence when it comes to our god given responsibilities in life. Let us yield a hundred percent of goodness in every area of our lives.
The most important lesson of this parable is that seeds need a conducive environment. Seeds can be crushed if the conducive environment required for growth is not there. If we are parents let us provide for our children a conducive environment in which they can grow and flourish. We also have a responsibility toward ourselves to grow the seeds of talents within us. Let us provide for ourselves too a conducive environment in which we can grow. If we grow we give our children more blessings.
The seed is not a bludgeon that invades a territory not their own. The soil that the seed falls on has to nurture the seed and nourish the seed. The soil full of nutrients but porous enough that deep roots can grow is the good soil. Porous soil is soil with lots of gaps. Gaps give space. The time we have at our disposal is our porous soil. If we are working, the few hours we get after a hard days work is our space. Our work day will be packed with activities and events beyond our control, but the few hours that is our own, on a day is the gap where we can nurture our inner selves.
A daily schedule that gives us structured time and unstructured time is essential to every individual. Structured time gives us discipline. Unstructured time gives us space to explore our creative selves, our interests, etc. Only the right combination of structured and unstructured time can result in the growth of the seed into a fruit bearing plant or tree. Too much structured time can cause us to become workaholics and we can be burnt out. Too much unstructured time can cause us to become undisciplined. As parents it is our responsibility to raise children who are deeply rooted not only in the love of Christ but also in the principles of Christ. We are to be the real life examples to our children of principles like love your neighbor as yourself, forgiving 7 times 77, turning the other cheek, integrity, uprightness, keeping the ten commandments, grace, mercy etc. Jesus is our good soil. The roots of a plant are anchored well in good soil. Good soil provides nutrients, water as well as space. When we go through difficulties in life we can think of Jesus and then our roots will become more anchored in Jesus. In a way Jesus while narrating this parable grapples with a question that forms the subject matter of most psychology text books--that of nature vs nurture. Then as parents let us nurture our children and their natural personalities so that they can grow to become all that they can be. Let us also nurture ourselves so that we can become all that we possibly can become.
No comments:
Post a Comment