Pastor Tom Johnson, June 17, 2012
You no doubt have noticed by now that the color of our paraments are green. Green is the color for the liturgical season we are in: the Time of the Church. Many of our readings are about Christian growth and maturity. During this time we receive a lot of the teachings of Jesus—particularly about the Christian life and the nature of ministry. Just as we see green things growing around us and maturing at this time of year, so God wants us to grow and mature. And we adorn the sanctuary with green.
One of the most encouraging things about being a member of First Saint Paul’s is a genuine desire to grow and mature. That desire flows from the heart of God. It’s what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel reading this morning. He says the Kingdom of God is like someone scattering seed, sleeping restfully for days on end, and then finally reaping the harvest with his sickle. The ministry of the Church—the work of this congregation is like a gardener:
The Kingdom of God is like a garden. The gardener takes her seed for all the various plants she wants to grow. Even all together, the seed could easily fit in her cupped hands. She has been gardening for years. She breaks up the soil with a spade. She gives each seed the space it needs. Some plants are easily smothered; others enjoy the crowd. She knows what depth of soil to plant each variety. Some plants like to go deep into the soil; others are satisfied near the surface of things. No soil is easily overlooked. Even the more shady areas are places of growth for certain varieties. Others like to be fully exposed to the light as much as possible. The gardener scatters her seed widely and thoroughly. And she waters the soil.
When she is done, she puts away her spade, trowel, gloves, and garden hose. She gets a drink of water. She gets something to eat. She washes up. And with nothing else to do for her garden, she lies down, turns out the lights, and goes to bed. Her sleep is sweet because her body has been well exercised. She rests in heavenly peace because she knows that she has done all that she can do. Day after day she sleeps well and wakes up refreshed because she knows the results are in the Lord’s hands. As the Apostle Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor 3:6).
She is a wise and experienced gardener but does not have a PhD in botany or agriculture. She doesn’t need to know the details about the microbiological world hard at work day and night in the soil. They will do their job without her help or worry. She doesn’t need to know exactly how those tiny seeds are genetically preprogrammed to work. Somehow the seeds feel the warmth of the sun baked soil and begin to drink in the moisture knocking on their miniscule doors.
Somehow those seeds wake up from their slumber. Somehow the seedlings know to stretch their roots down and out. Somehow they know to reach for the sky. How it all works, the gardener does not know. Even the scientist marvels at it all—always learning and never arriving at absolute knowledge. If they are honest, the more they discover the more questions they have about the whole process. That is part of the joy of the journey. Being amazed, intrigued, and making another discovery is what makes it interesting and fun.
The seed sprouts and grows. It’s invisible until it peaks out of the soil. The plant thickens and lengthens. It puts out its solar panels and stores the energy. Then it flowers and the fruit first appears. The fruit also grows and changes color until one day the gardener can enjoy her sweet and nutritious reward. How it all works, she does not know. She is wise enough and humble enough to not take full credit but trusts in the One who “gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater” (Isa 55:10; 2 Cor 9:10). But she has participated in the miracle of it all.
The harvest has come. What was once a barren landscape is now a field of tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, peppers, mint, lettuce, carrots, melons, and potatoes. Doesn’t it make you feel like gardening—or at least participating in some way? Jesus wants to draw us in to the work of his Kingdom—the harvest and garden of the ministry of the Gospel.
He wants us to continue to scatter the seed of the Gospel even more widely—to share the good news with as many different kinds of soil all around us—to do so realizing we need to go deep some more than others—being sensitive to know when some seedlings are smothered and need their space.
Thanks be to God that it does not depend on us. But we can lay ourselves down to sleep—we can rest easy knowing God is at work beneath the soil and the heart of the seed. We can relax and trust in the finished work of Jesus who sowed his own body in the ground and reaped forgiveness and resurrection for the whole world. And it is just pure pleasure to see things grow to maturity. It is a rich reward to know that we can not only participate in the miracle growth of the Kingdom but also share in the spoils of encouragement, fellowship, and joy.
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