Addressing the General
Synod of the Church of England some time ago, the Lutheran Bishop of Copenhagen,
the Rt. Revd. Peter Skov-Jakobsen offered some thoughts on today’s Gospel
reading, saying, “We are not dealing with
a God who desperately wants to change the world before he gives all of Himself.
God is not waiting for the world to be ready. He is generous.”[1]
And I would add that God is more than generous. Indeed, true to character, God
is outlandishly lavish.
These words are more than
appropriate to introduce us to Jesus, the lavish farmer, intent in sowing seeds
of life and hope in places that would return a good crop, but also in places where
no one would expect growth and where no one can see any future. And yet, He
keeps planting. Who would discard a precious seed on stone-hard ground or on
land with soil so thin that scarcely would cover the seed? Surely you only sow
where you can harvest! And yet, Jesus keeps at it, seeding in hope and in
trust.
The Gospel is, by
definition, the good news. But, we must admit, at the same it is challenging
and even provocative good news.
It is challenging because it
challenges us to examine our preconceptions about the ways of God, and our own
ways. The Gospel, challenges us to examine all the ideas and concepts that we
have made about "How should God
act" in the world. Why spend precious seed on worthless land? Why
throwing away good seed on a place that it quite obvious that nothing could
ever grow? Indeed, the lavish farmer challenges all the assumptions that we may
have made about how God acts just to cover up or to sanitize our own ways.
The idea of a Christ who
generously comes to pitch his tent among us and starts planting the seeds of
his Kingdom in the minds and hearts of common folk is also provocative – How is
it possible to be so foolhardy – or lavish – to go about planting among undeserving
folk – Samaritans, sinners, and tax-collectors? Shouldn’t they clean up their
act before a precious seed is wasted on them? Who are those who the Church is
called to serve and to bless – only those who turn back the favor?
So, perhaps, to gain a
better understanding of the Parable, we may ask ourselves, “Why God is so extravagant and lavish?”
Let me suggest that the
reason why God can afford to be so lavish is that the true and fertile seed
that Jesus is planting is none other than God in Christ himself, offering his
life willingly and freely, as “a fragrant
offering and sacrifice” (Ephesians 5:2).
Jesus willingly offers his own life for the sake of creation knowing
well that, for the grain to bear fruit, first it has to die (Cf. John 10:17,
12:24). God’s love for creation and for his creatures is, like the life he
offers to us all, abundant to the point that it will never run dry.
The Psalmist describes God
as the One who is “generous to a fault,
lavishing his favor on all creatures” (Psalm 145:16). And, of all images we
may create of God, one that would be impossible to create would be one of a
Scrooge-like tight-wadded divinity.
As Clarence Rempel, a
Mennonite Pastor in Kansas remarks, “God
lavished beauty, complexity and grandeur in creating the world.”[2]
And, the Psalmist wonders, “When I look
up at your skies, at what your fingers made— the moon and the stars that you
set firmly in place— what are human beings that you think about them; what are
human beings that you pay attention to them?” (Psalm 8:3-4). And through
the prophets, we hear God’s voice proclaiming that He would never stop doing
good to his creation… Indeed, the Prophet says, God “will rejoice in doing them good” (Jeremiah 32:40-41). Again,
Pastor Rempel writes, “Why such grandeur,
such beauty, such intricacy in God’s creation? And God says, ‘I made it for you
to enjoy, to contemplate, to fire your imagination and to saturate your soul’” of
my love and generosity.
Such generosity is
entrenched in God’s love for his creation. Jesus, the lavish farmer, generously
offers the seeds of his life to be spread on the good soil of the receptive
soul, on the thin soil of the explorers of futility, and even on the hard
parched land of souls quartered by the pains and the adversities of life. Jesus
spreads his life generously, never waiting for the soil to be ready. Christ
didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ourselves ready (Cf. Romans 5:8). Jesus
plants out of love.
Among us, we have been
witnesses of the good seeds that our generous Lord has planted among ourselves.
Samantha.
Samantha has been a true blessing to us by her presence and by allowing herself
to be a channel of God’s love among us and our neighbors. She has uplifted the
fundamental and essential servant ministry of the church, and by being our
voice and our hands in the neighborhood she indeed has been God’s voice and
God’s hands tending love, concern, and mercy. Though she will be leaving us at
the end of the month, the seeds of grace that she has planted will bear fruit,
abundant fruit by God’s grace. It is an honor and a privilege to have been part
of her life and ministry here at St Paul’s.
Yancey.
She has embodied Christ’s words, “Let the
children come unto me” among us here at St Paul’s. Yancey’s ministry among us has been caring,
committed, and life-giving. In a way she is a living proof of the power of the
life-giving seed which is Christ himself. She has been a sign of the generous
spirit of a God who seeks to embrace us in his tender arms. And also, let me
say, she has been an inspiration to us all here, serving quietly and
faithfully. And we cannot to be but
extremely thankful to God for having planted Yancey among us. We pray that as
she goes to College, she may continue planting the Good Seed of Christ love.
Deacon
– and soon to be your next Priest-in-Charge Liz. I believe that here the words of our Savior
asking the disciples to consider the fields freshly plowed as “ripe for the harvest” are most
appropriate. Those of us who have had the chance to know a little bit about
Deacon Liz’s life experiences, her Christian witness, and her willingness to
respond to God’s call by going to Seminary and by offering herself to serve among
us, cannot be more than grateful to the generous God who has planted her among
us. I know, in fact I am certain, that in good time, we will see the abundant
crop, a hundred-fold crop perhaps, of her ministry among us.
And the so many of you who
have accepted the call to serve the Lord here at Paul’s in different
capacities. The Vestry, the Choir, Musicians and our Director of Music, Ushers,
and Acolytes. You too have been God’s seeds of love, hope and grace in this
place. And what to say about the Preschool? Certainly it is a field to plant
the Good Seed, but certainly, the wonderful ministry that teachers and staff
carry on, and even the children themselves with their smiling faces and the
chirp of their laughs are also signs of hope and joy that the good Lord has
planted among ourselves.
In fact, the list includes
all of you that one way or other have made St Paul’s their home. Be it a
one-time visitor or a regular communicant we recognize all of you, all of those
with whom we cross our paths as seeds planted by God. By virtue of their
baptism we recognize in them Christ’s spiritual DNA. Let us pray that our
ministry may be like a shower of blessings unto them, so that the Good Seed may
bear abundant fruit in their lives. Let us pray that we, in turn, may be open
to receive the blessing that Christ’s life in them may bring to us.
So, as we think and pray
about evangelism and our mission here at the Crossroads and beyond, we should
remind ourselves of God’s generosity. There never is any reason to be fearful
or even stingy, because all God is asking from us, his fellow farmers of the
Kingdom, is to plant the seed of Christ in people’s hearts. The abundant and
eternal life which is Christ himself will never run dry – even if we believe it
may be a wasted effort, nevertheless, we should take courage from the lavish
farmer, willing to spread seeds of life even in inhospitable soil. For his hope
is not in the soil, by in the life-giving power of the Good Seed.
How do we go about
planting seeds of life and hope, of love and healing grace?
By acknowledging and
honoring Christ life-giving presence in ourselves and by being present,
available, and willing to plant the Good Seed that is Jesus Christ himself. All
we are asked to do is to plant a seed of hope in the heart of a coworker, to
offer a simple prayer for those who are hurting, to act in our professional and
civic life in a way that reflects God’s care and concern for his creation, and simply,
“to do what is right, to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). In doing so, we will be planting
Christ’s life in the hearts of those whom we meet in our daily and corporate
life, we will be building up the Reign of God, and preparing the Table of the
Kingdom.
Slightly paraphrasing
Bishop Skov-Jakobsen, I would suggest that as the church we have one task: to
tell the world that God loves the world generously and to strive to look the
signs of Christ lavish grace everywhere, for our faith has not been built for
us to withdraw from the world, but to go out into the world planting the
life-giving seeds of Jesus Christ.
Goodness
and mercy is God’s name. As St Paul writes in our Epistle, the Good Seed of
Jesus has been planted in our hearts in the living presence of the Holy Spirit.
And, so being empowered by the power of Christ’s life and resurrection, we are
assured that whatever we commit ourselves to do in his name will bear the fruit
of his life.
Be a lavish farmer.
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