prayer

Working the Vineyard (Sermon October 5, 2014)

Matthew 21:33–46 (NRSV)

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

(Mk 12:1–12; Lk 20:9–19)

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴ When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

http://wallpoper.com/wallpaper/france-vineyard-426800

⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is amazing in our eyes’?

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. ⁴⁴ The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Allegory is probably one of my favorite dramatic, and literary forms. Allegory is very similar to a parable or a fable because it is a story that has a message to it, but it is different in many ways because allegory has layers of meaning. Most people are aware of the great allegorical works of C.S. Lewis from reading the Chronicles of Narnia, but there are several other storylines that apply this concept. The great science fiction novel Dune has elements of allegory, as does The Lord of the Rings (although Tolkien would argue with you about that since he claimed he despised allegory. Even some movies are filled with allegory, the movies that make us think and ponder contain plots that are built with allegorical elements, movies like Star Wars though very entertaining can provide lessons for life. There is even a religious movement based on the concepts presented by the Jedi of this series, with over 8000 members in fifteen different branches. Why mention allegory? Because often Jesus spoke in parables, but sometimes he spoke in allegory. The parable of the wicked Tenants is an allegorical story that is layered with meaning, and probably the one parable that challenged the religious leaders to the degree to seek the elimination of the divine rabbi.

The interesting thing about this story is that no matter what era of history we read it in it seems to apply. The ancient Fathers of the Church who interpreted pretty much everything as an allegorical message to Jesus, saw layers that could be applied not only to the contemporaries of Jesus but also to the culture and society of their day, and oddly enough most commentators through the ages have continued to read this story in much of the same way.

Jesus speaks of a landowner that planted a vineyard. The interesting thing about a vineyard is that vineyards are a lasting investment. They take time to establish and time to become profitable. Most varieties of grape vines take a minimum of 3 years before they produce fruit, and often do not produce an abundance of fruit for another few years. So one does not simply decide to plant grapes on their property like they would wheat, they must plan and budget so they will be able to survive for the duration. But once the vines are established, if they are properly maintained, they will survive for generations.

It is not hard to recognize that the vineyard that Jesus speaks about is the Kingdom of God, which during this time frame was mainly thought of as the nation of Israel, but I have mentioned that allegory is layered with meaning and as the concept of the Kingdom of God expands so does the story.

The second thing mention is that the land owner builds a fence around the vineyard. Fences are defensive devices used to keep things in as well as keeping things out. Vineyards are a high risk high profit agricultural investment, not only today but throughout history. People that operate vineyards are some of the most protective people in a community and rightfully so. Grapes are very sensitive and tasty. The fence was to keep a variety of beast from intruding into the vineyard uninvited, a wide variety of animals would do whatever they could to gain a taste from the vine and often do great damage to the plant. But the worst beast of all is humanity. Greed and jealousy have been part of the human condition since Cain and Abel, it has continued to grow since and cultures have attempted to temper this through various means. Things like a fence were not only to keep animals out but also to provide a deterrent to theft. Let us think about the fence some more. Fences in ancient times were not like fences today, wire in ancient times was so difficult and time consuming to produce that it would not be used something such as a fence, but for jewelry. The drawing of metal into wire started in ancient Egypt but would only be done with the softer and more beautiful metals such as gold. It was not until 19^th century that the technological advancements in drawing metal into wire became feasible for uses as common as fencing. Ancient fences were basically walls, and the more important or valuable the contents inside the fence were the taller and thicker the walls became. So as we imagine a fenced in vineyard, we should imagine a fortress and not a pasture. We should imagine stone walls or tree trunks driven into the ground fortifying and protecting this land. Since trees were fairly scarce in Israel it would most likely be a stone wall taller than a man, and it would probably be capped with clay embedded with sharpened ceramic shards to provide greater protection from the beasts that seek to destroy.

God has provided a means of protection for those that follow Him. The ancient Laws handed down from Moses are like a wall to protect the followers of God. Things in those law when investigated deeply we can find scientifically what exactly God was protecting the people from. Things like parasites that can be present in foods that are not properly cooked or stored, allergic reactions, even the threat of molds and mildews we hear about so often today were included in the Laws of Leviticus. Also included in those laws are conceptual ideas that benefited the community as a whole laws about protection of people on you property, how one should treat resident aliens, and even debt. Many of these concepts history cannot prove were ever fully followed, but when tried the community grew and justice prevailed for all people within.

Next the owner builds a winepress and a watch tower. These items provide added value. A tower provides early warning to danger as well as greater defense. The wine press provides the ability to add value to the produce of the vineyard. Like the fence this protects the livelihood and wealth of the community.

Then after the landowner builds and establishes this vineyard he went off to another country leaving the land under the care of tenants. When harvest came he would send servants back to the vineyard to collect his portion of the produce. It is difficult for most of us to understand this portion of the story because many of us are not involved in agriculture. But most agricultural land is not owned by those that tend to the crops. Even today’s farmers rent large portions of their farms. When one rents land there is payment, today payment is generally a cash value and the farmer can keep the total crop, or the rent is a fraction of the produce. The story Jesus tells is alludes to a fractional rent concept. The Land owner comes by at harvest time to collect his portion of the crop. The tenants began to think that the owner was asking for too much, so they mistreated the servants, killing those that he sent. To the point that the owner sends his son to collect what is rightfully his. The rebellious tenants then kill the son thinking that they will liberate themselves from the land owner. Jesus then asks, what will happen to these rebellious people? The people first listening to this story tell Jesus that the land own will forcefully remove the tenants and give the land to others that will give what is required.

The allegory of this story is that it is layered. The concept applies to agricultural relationships, as well as cultural and religious concepts. Like I said before the vineyard is the kingdom of God, the fence or the protective force surrounding the kingdom is the law or the church, the wine press and tower are our lives, and the tenants are the leaders within. Think about that for a moment. The lessons that Jesus applied to the leaders of Israel 2000 years ago, are still very relevant today.

God has established this world and has set us up as stewards of his creation. He has given us boundaries to live within and as long as we stay within those boundaries our lives are generally protected. But often times we take matters into our own hands and begin to think we are in control. We rebel. We begin to think that we are the masters of our own destiny. When this happens our lives become more complex and complicated.

Greed and jealously creep in, and we cut corners instead of being honest. This happens at every level, in corporations, and in families. Children think that they deserve cookies and they will take them without asking, greed. Corporations wish to make more profit so they use inferior products that cheat their customers out of money, greed. Those that work begin to think that others are keeping them from success and they demand more, jealousy. Some even go so far as to take matters into their own hands and take what they think they deserve, which is both greed and jealousy.

These are the things that devour culture, these are the things that the very laws of God were given to protect us against yet from the beginning of time we have rebelled against them. Empires have fallen because of the elements behind this story. We no longer hear about the great Assyrian empire outside of history class because they fell due to greed and jealousy. We no longer see Pharaohs sitting over the Kingdoms of the Nile because of greed and jealousy. The sun now sets on the British Empire because of these very same elements.

We are no different. We as a church are no different. We as a culture are in the very same place as so many before us. God has given us a simple life to live. He calls us to love Him with all we are and with everything we have, and to love our neighbors. He can make this call because he is the land owner all we have is really his and he can make those sorts of demands. And when we rebel, he will take what is perceived to be ours and give it to others. Isaiah cried out in his vision from God saying, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

We live among people driven by greed and jealousy, we often times get caught up in the very same things, but God is calling us to something better. He is calling us to become a people that live a different rhythm of life, one that makes it their custom to worship Him that will withdraw to isolated places to spend times in conversations with Him in prayer, and will listen to His words and minister to the needs of those around them. This is the rhythm of life that Jesus himself lived while he was among us, the very son of God sent to call humanity back to God. But often we want to live a life of selfish rebellion. And instead of embracing the life within God’s loving arms we instead want to control everything for our own personal profit. What does that give us?

Today, like every day, we can make that choice to turn from the pathways leading to destruction and begin to journey down the pathway with Christ. Today, like every day, we must choose to be a person and community that will live for God or live for ourselves. We can be rebellious tenants or faithful friends. Today we can begin to build a community that is loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit and living the love of Christ with other.

As we enter this time of open worship and holy expectancy, the time of communion with God as Friends, let us each reflect on this multi-layered story, let us put ourselves inside and walk around for a bit, and ask ourselves and our God where we can improve as individuals and as individuals within our community and culture as a whole.

Lord Save Me! (Sermon August 10, 2014)

Matthew 14:22–33 (NRSV)

Jesus Walks on the Water

(Mk 6:45–52; Jn 6:15–21)

²² Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Bazzi Rahib, Ilyas Basim Khuri (1684)

²⁸ Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

This has been a whirl wind of a week for many of us. For some the primary elections were adding stress to our lives, not just for those running but the issues that were included for many to consider. Then we hear the stories around the world: War in Israel, War in Ukraine, War in Iraq, Iraq extremist bringing a new reality of persecution into the minds of Christians, and our nation flirting with the concept of entering into a new Cold War with Russia. It is about enough to make anyone question the point of everything, because if you were to just watch the news you would think the world was on the verge of collapse. But we forget that that is the point of the news, they want to break the latest big news story and the one to be the first to break the news of the collapse of the world is the one that wins.

Truth in most cases has taken a back seat to perception. Ideas are planted in our minds and then those ideas are being constantly fed by endless cycles of ideas working us all into a frenzy. To be honest it has been extremely difficult for me personally to not get caught up in the frenzy of the day. I read stories on the internet that break my heart for the people of Iraq as their nation and communities that have been in existence for a millennia have been destroyed by people claiming to be the hand of God. It works me into a near state of rage when I hear what has been done to the women and children. The inhumanity of it all actually puzzles me. What could cause a person to treat another as if they were garbage? Then I had to step back and consider myself and my own attitudes for a bit. What is my response? Am I calling out for vengeance? And could I participate in something nudging the line of inhumanity?

I bring this up because I feel that often we get caught up in this whirlwind of media and we often forget that there are real humans on the other side of the controversy. Humans that are caught in their own whirlwinds of trouble that are not the same as ours but just as real to them.

Life is filled with troubles and whirlwinds. That is why this scene in the gospel message is so important. Just after the greatest miracle the disciples had ever seen Jesus send them out on the boat, and a storm begins to rage around them. I want us to first think of this scene as we reflect of this passage. The waves are crashing over the edge of the boat, the disciple are bailing water out as fast as it comes in with the constant threat of everything ending at any moment as they are trying to pull the oars through the water to bring them to safety. Their very lives are at risk and where is Jesus?

Can you identify with these disciples? Their promised messiah was supposed to come in and take away all their troubles. Reestablish them as a great nation, a nation flowing with milk and honey so they would not have to struggle and toil. They had eaten manna from heaven coming from the hands of their teacher and friend. Yet the waves are crashing in, they are soaked and their muscles and bones ache from the wind chilled air. They looked into the face of their salvation and now they stare into the face of death.

How often do we feel like we are on that boat? Feeling like everything we have worked and hoped for is on the brink of destruction and we ask ourselves, where is Jesus? Where is Jesus, when the world all around us seems to be falling apart? Where is Jesus when children are being killed and displaced by a war they know nothing about? Where is Jesus when nations are being ripped apart by political ideology and the people they claim to protect are being left to fend for themselves? Where is Jesus when your health dwindles and your finances are shot? The waves of life crash all around us threatening to engulf us as we struggle to make it to shore.

Where is Jesus? I imagine the disciples crying this very question out to the howling winds. Where is Jesus? The very question so many today scream out in desperation.  Jesus sent these guys out into that storm, while he dismissed the crowd and went to the mountaintop to pray. Jesus sent them out onto the sea to face the storm, He sent them out there to struggle. I want you to think about that for just a moment, Jesus did not remove them from the struggle.

Now let us go to the mountain with Jesus. Jesus had just performed a miracle that would get people talking. Five thousand families just ate a meal that began as a ration for a single individual, those that were in the crowd had an idea of the future beginning to form in their minds. Their troubles were going to be over they might think. God was going to provide for their every need. Imagine the excitement, imagine the struggle Jesus must have had dismissing that crowd. Also remember that Jesus is still mourning the loss of his cousin, which is why he was in this particular place to begin with.  Jesus was emotionally and spiritually drained, but He knew what he needed.

There are always going to be struggles threatening our well-being, how we respond to those struggles are what makes the biggest difference. Jesus had a rhythm to his life that we can recognize as we walk with him and his disciple through the pages of scripture. Jesus made it his custom to worship in the synagogue, he took time to praise and encourage the faithful in the worship of the one God. He also would withdraw to an isolated place to pray, spending time in a deeper more intimate setting where He could commune with His Father. He would then go out into the community to minister to the needs of the people, healing the sick and encouraging the marginalized of the culture that they were not forgotten by God. This rhythm of life, this life of discipline that Jesus shares with us is one that will give us strengthen in the storms of life, it will give us direction, and allows God to walk with us.

The disciples are struggling in the midst of the storm and where is Jesus? Jesus is participating in a holy lifestyle of constant communion with God. The disciples are struggling through in their own strength while Jesus calmly walks in confidence with God. The disciples are living in fear and self-preservation where Jesus is focused on the rhythm of life. Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and loving and ministering to others.

The disciples are rowing for their lives as the wind is tossing them around the sea and Jesus calmly walks out to them. They scream in fear that death himself was walking to take them to their final resting place. Jesus calls out to them to, “take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Easy, right, just not be afraid as the waves are crashing all around you and someone is walking on water. This is an interesting image though. Waves crashing and Jesus calmly walking through the turmoil. Peter cries out to him, “If it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Imagine the faith in that statement. Jesus grants Peter the command and Peter gets out of the boat. Imagine the confusion as the others watch this event unfold before them.

Peter with his eyes on Jesus walks out to him. The storm rages on but Peter walks. But the winds pick up and distract Peter from Jesus. His eyes once again move to the world and the chaos around him and he begins to sink. He takes a step, the wind picks up, the next step he descends a bit into the water but he takes another step as he looks around and again his foot goes deeper and deeper, slowly as he walks he descends until he is nearly under the raging surf and he cries out, “Lord Save ME!” The passage implies that he did not quickly sink but slowly, as his eyes were more and more distracted from Jesus he sank deeper.

Lord save me, Peter cries. He cries out because even in his lack of faith he knows that Jesus stands firm where others fail. Peter knows that Jesus has the strength and power to reach him before the waves overtake him. But still he doubted. He doubted that He could do what Jesus called him to do. He saw the waves around him raging on, and he doubted that if he was called to walk on the water that Jesus would provide the power for him to do so. But in the doubt he still believed that Jesus could provide the help he needed. Jesus reach out and caught Peter’s hand and they made it safely to the boat and the storm was silenced.

Do we doubt that Jesus is able to provide the strength and power necessary for us to do what we are called to do? Do we doubt that Jesus is able to provide for us even though the storms rage all around us? Do we allow ourselves to be distracted by the waves instead of keeping our focus on Jesus? I so often sink beneath the waves. This is why it is so important to participate in meetings for worship. Because it is in worship that we are reminded and can help each other stay focused on the one that can accomplish through us what we are called to do. Worship is our time to encourage one another to look past the waves and whirlwinds of life and stay focused on the one that calms the raging seas. When we neglect meetings for worship we begin to sink, each step we take we slowly step deeper into the sea, deeper until we are nearly overtaken by the waves.

Worship encourages us, but prayer deepens our faith. It is in prayer that we converse with the divine and develop a relationship with the God who loves us. It is in the moments of prayer that we are inspired to take the step out of the boat into the chaotic world around us. It is in prayer that we learn and experience the grace and salvation of Christ, knowing that His hand will grab hold of ours when we need help.

And it is in ministry where we live the love of Christ with others. It is in our ministry where we become Jesus’ hands and feet for others. Lifting them out of the waves and into the calmness of the kingdom of heaven.

We often get distracted by the chaos around us. The politics of our nation distracts our attention from our callings to be the hands and feet of Jesus to a world drowning in sin. The wars raging on our planet cause us to forget that Christ is the prince of peace. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ, to become the instruments to bring the will of God on earth as it is in heaven. This is the full gospel, that God is all around here today as he will be tomorrow, and God lives in and through the lives of those that participate in that holy rhythm. It is through this rhythm that the miraculous happens, and we are able to see beyond the waves into the very eyes of God.

As we enter this time of holy expectancy, as we enter a time of communion and prayer with each other and God, let us imagine this seen through the eyes of the disciples as they struggle against the raging storm. Then let us look at the waves through the eyes of Jesus. What are the distractions that we have around us keeping us from experiencing the calm that Jesus wants for us? Let us look beyond those waves and step out of the boat and into the hand of Christ, who came to show us and give us Life more abundantly even as the chaotic storms rage around us. Let us become the people He has called us to be, a people Loving God, Embracing the holy spirit, and living the Love of Christ with Others. And let us become the hands and feet of Jesus that are willing to reach into the waves to pull friends to safety.

Working the Soils (Sermon July 13, 2014)

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

There is something powerful about a story. Stories have a strange power that can transport us from one place and time in to a totally different universe. This is why so many of us enjoy a good book or movie, those stories take us from our living rooms and transport us to worlds far in the future, or deep into history. A good story often has a theme that encourages us in some way. There is usually an obstacle of some sort that the main character must overcome. Or there may be some sort of ethical issue in which the story teller is prompting us to consider through the facilities of imagination. This is why some of the greatest teaching Jesus has are not in the explanation of scriptures, but the seemingly entertaining metaphorical stories he tells.

The seeds, it is a story that we have each listened to so often that I wonder if we really listen to it any more. But imagine you had not heard it. You came to the seaside to listen to this traveling teacher and the crowd is so large that to be heard the teacher gets onto a boat and floats out a ways using the terrain as a natural amphitheater. You are anticipating the message you are about to hear, and you are hoping that you will be able to see a miracle.

Jesus looks out at the crowd and begins to speak. There was a farmer that was scattering seeds, the seeds fell in various different places. Some fell on the path where the birds came and ate them, others fell in rocky soil and grew rapidly but quickly withered. Some of the seeds fell among the weeds and were choked out and others fell on good soils and produced an abundance. Then he looks out at the crowd again, says “Let anyone with ears listen,” and he sits down in the boat. The teaching is over because he has now turned his attention away from the crowd and is focused only on his closest followers.

Consider that for a moment. That was the entire sermon that Jesus gave at that moment. No further explanation, no deeper discussion explaining the metaphors to the masses, He simply told a story and left it hanging there in the air. Concluding by saying “Let anyone with ears listen.”

Often we think a story is just entertaining and fun, but often the deepest and most meaningful expressions of faith come from the simplest stories. These simple stories of overcoming obstacles and finding a pathway through a struggle our culture yearns for from the deepest parts of their beings. This is something that humanity has always loved. The story of your life is one of the most powerful things this world has ever heard. The story of how you struggle and found hope even in the darkness, is often a balm for the wounded hearts attached to listening ears.

The sower and the seeds. For many of us is a simple story of a farmer, but in ancient times it was not as simple as we might think. Notice the first illustration that Jesus uses, “Some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.” The words used in this phrase to a listening ear is packed full of spiritual imagery. Although some birds were used as symbols of grace, and used in temple worship, birds were often seen as robbers in the culture. When a farmer had an infestation of birds their livelihood was stolen from them. As Jesus explains later to his disciples, the path is a heart that has been hardened so even though grace and mercy is scattered over that heart the hearer of the words do not sense it. Quickly the minions of evil rob that person of the words of life before the grace even has a chance to germinate. To go a bit deep the phrase, “ate them up,” is a term that is also used for devour, exploit, or to take advantage of. If we were to consider that for a moment we get a very different picture of these hardened people.

A path is a place where foot traffic has compacted the soil. A hardened heart is a heart that has been exploited and used, it is a person that has been abused by its culture so long that it resists any and all mercy. We each know these types of people, when you talk to them they are immediately skeptical and pessimistic.

Jesus continues, “Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, where they did not have much soil…” Rocky soil is a soil of transition, it is either in the process of being trampled and packed or nurtured to become productive. There is something there that responds to the seeds of grace, but Jesus says the sun comes out and they wither because they have no root. These rocky hearts are extremely vulnerable. They often respond to encouragement but can also be quickly turned away. I fear for these types of individuals, because often they can get caught up in the emotionalism of a moment but when their life experiences do not meet their expectations they can quickly become hard.

For example I was in a conversation with a leader of another denomination, this particular leader made an observation that there was a great deal of turnover in leadership among their group and he was reaching out to other Christian leaders for advice. This particular group was one that based the majority of their teaching on excitement, emotions, and blessing. In this leader’s group they would have leaders rise and fall away within a couple of months, leaving him questioning why. Groups like this are vulnerable to the rocky soil believers, they get excited about ministry and life with God and as long as there is not any struggle in their life, they continue to participate, but as soon as they encounter a difficulty they question everything about their faith. They enter into pastoral leadership, but they run into financial difficulties and resign, they begin to lead bible studies but then they have marital struggles and suddenly they question if God even exists. Many of these people then become hardened to the gospel because they tried it once and it did not work, they tried God and He did not bless them and in many cases they left in worse shape than they began.

Jesus continues to speak about the seeds that fell among the thorns and were choked. These are lives that are filled with various worries and distractions. Lives that have so many demands on time and attention that there is no room for anything else. These people by in large are good people, these people if you were to ask them actually say that they believe in God, but they are just unable to grow in their faith because the soils of their life are filled with other things. Our culture by in large is filled with people like this. We are a busy people. We juggle multiple jobs and our family. We have debts that need repaid and mouths to feed, even when we have a few hours to relax we fill that time with things that are equally as demanding as everything else. We like the idea of God, but a relationship with God is just something that will have to wait.

Jesus is teaching to people that understand agriculture. Those listening to this story, if they themselves are not a farmer, know someone who is. They have each observed each of these sorts of situations. They experienced birds robbing them of crops by eating the seeds, they have seen plants quickly taking off and withering away as the temperature rises, and they have seen the weeds choke out the plants that they hoped would feed their families. They also know that the earth is constantly changing and that with proper and intentional care any field can become productive.

Often when we listen to this story we look at it from a position that all soils and all people will not or cannot change. That is not the case. Good soils can become bad and poor soils can become good if we work with them according to their specific needs. So we must then consider what we as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus should do to prepare lives for the seeds of grace? The goal of our efforts is to harvest of the planted seeds. We first keep that goal in mind, but we also have to recognize the situations around us. Jesus is saying to these listening ears in this simple story, that just like a farm a relationship with God takes a lot of work. This is the reason Jesus came to live among us, to show us how to tend the fields of life. It is through the life that has joined into the spiritual rhythm of Jesus’ example that we are able to tend the fields of our community. The rhythm of worship, prayer, and service are similar to the efforts a farm employs in the fields.

The work first begins in our own lives, because we cannot share with others what we ourselves do not possess. When we enter into the spiritual rhythm Jesus has shown, we remove the weeds as we learn through worship and prayer what areas of our own lives can be simplified, and as we simplify our lives we can then encourage others to simplify theirs as well. When we intentionally make time to pray we quickly recognize all the things that are making demands on our time, examine those demands and weed out the ones that are distracting us from the goal of a harvest.

We also may observe not only weeds but rocky areas that prevent deepening roots, things that may threaten our very faith. What do we do to remove these rocks? Rocky soils are everywhere on earth. Ireland is considered to be the Emerald Isle, but the field though rich were also filled with rocks left buried after the glaciers of the Ice age receded from the land. For the farmers in Ireland to use the land to grow crops they had to dig into the ground and pull these rocks out, and they would then carry them to the edge of the field and stack them up. Eventually they removed so many rocks they build walls between the fields, walls that have become monuments to the persistence and dedication of man to survive. In our lives rocks could be many things. They can be addictions or choices that we may not be able to overcome on our own. This is where the church is so important, because it is in the church where we find others that have had similar issues and are willing to help us dig and carry the stones to build monuments of grace. To remove the rocks from the soils of our community requires the Disciples of Christ to become vulnerable and open to others. We become willing to share the areas of life that we have struggled and are willing to help others if asked. It also requires us to be willing to ask for help when we see a need in our own lives.

Prayer and worship assist us in removing the weeds and the rocks of our lives, but it also opens our eyes to be able to see the areas of our community where the seeds of grace are being devoured by the wild birds of the evil one. In the spiritual rhythm Jesus taught and showed us that worship and prayer leads us into service and ministry to the ones least in the community. These are the people that have been exploited and trampled and are so hardened in life that they cannot even begin to contemplate God. But hard soils can be remedied. It requires us to get out into the community to constantly work the soil, using the gifts and tools that God has given us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help cleanse the ones that are unable to help themselves. These are the ones that will despise us and persecute us but they do that because they have hardness in their hearts and the grace and love of God is being snatch away before they have a chance. To break through the hardest soils requires time and work. Breaking up the soil in to chunks and then letting water seep in, then as it dries up you work it again until you get just enough soil that the seeds of grace can begin to take root.

It is those hard areas God wants us to labor. These are the ones God is calling us to share our lives and our stories to. Those are the ones we invest our time into, and expend our gifts. Working back and forth, up and down, always laboring even if we never seem to see any results. Then suddenly after a while we may see little glimmers of hope, and little shoots emerging in the cracks.

Let anyone with ears listen. Each of us have areas of hardness and areas of goodness. There are areas in our lives where the seeds of grace rapidly take hold and wither away and areas where they yield much fruit. Let us not forget that there is always room to improve. Let us not neglect our own spiritual lives and allow the weeds to encroach on us and begin to choke out our life. And let us be willing to engage our community even though we may face persecution of various types. Working in those hard areas showing and living the love of Christ even among those whose lives have been trampled and exploited in various ways. Soils change, and Christ is calling us to labor in His fields. Getting into the fields to pull the weeds, dig out the rocks, and break down the hardened pathways.

As we enter into a time of open worship and communion as Friends, let us examine our lives and identify the rocks and weeds keeping us from enjoying the abundant life in Christ. Let us also be open to the Spirit’s leading and see where God may want us to focus our time and talents in the lives of the least in our community. Let us have ears to listen.