It's Easy, If You Try

“I’m not called.”

“I can’t go.”

“I’m no hero.”

“Who, me?”

The excuses we give to The One, the one we claim to follow, our Risen Lord, must, in turn, amuse and frustrate The Divine beyond all reckoning, if amusement and frustration are part of The Divine’s landscape.  Not to anthropomorphize, but I suspect they are.

Does God sometimes ponder the wisdom of creating beings with the gift of vast imaginations who so limit themselves to only that which they themselves can see?

I suspect the main difference between those among us we think of as heroic and the rest of us is the ability, or better, the willingness, to trust that gift of imagination.  

The rest of us, it seems, either cannot or will not (I suspect the latter) imagine what is possible, or in imagining, will not or dare not trust our imaginings for the divine gifts they are.

John Lennon, with a very different message in mind, perhaps captured it best when he wrote, Imagine . . . it’s easy, if you try.  

For in all the imagining in the world, there is much wonder and the chance of endless possibility.

“Who me?”  

“Who else,” answers the God of superlative imagining.

Sower, Seed & Soil - Part 2

A parable of my own: When my son Ben lived with me, there came a time when I begged him to plant some tomato and pepper plants for me.  Ben is a good gardener – he inherited his Grandmother’s thumb.  He absolutely refused: I will not waste a moment of my life on planting anything for you, Ma. 

Imagine my hurt when I asked him why.  Because you won’t do the necessary work and we both know it.  You’ll ignore it and leave it to its own devices and it will die.  I won’t do it.  And you can’t make me.

That’s how I remember it, anyhow.

All the conditions were excellent for a good crop: good soil, plenty of sunshine, an easy source of nearby water in the form of the water hose; a willing and able sower, good seed.

What was missing was a gardener – someone to nurture and tend what was sown.

And without a good gardener, the crop would fail.

People are like the plants I wanted to plant but had no interest in maintaining: telling someone the Good News, preaching at them about what they should do, without being willing to go the distance with them, without being willing to do the hard work of persisting throughout their ‘season’, they have virtually no chance.

We cannot preach someone to heaven.  We have to walk alongside those – including ourselves – in need of God’s Word.

For how long?  For as long as it takes.

Just like Jesus.


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Ben was right, of course – I would have been too unmindful to even drag the garden hose the few feet necessary to water my imaginary plants.  It’s not easy when the son becomes the teacher, let me tell you.

Sower, Seed & Soil (Part 1)

Matthew 13 (NRSV):   “Listen! A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.  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.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  Let anyone with ears listen! . . . 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.”

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Sower, Seed & Soil (Part 1)

In Jesus’ parable, we are left with three ‘groups’: 1.  The sower; 2.  The seeds; and 3.  The soil.

The trick of the parable, perhaps, is to recognize that we ourselves, as well as God, can play any or all of these roles.

We operate as the sower when we bring the Word of God to others, whether with our words or with our deeds.

We operate as the seeds when the Word of God works (or doesn’t work) upon us.

We operate as the soil, offering ground fertile or infertile – that is, the space in which God’s Word either finds root or does not – for ourselves and for others.

Some things to know about sowers:

1. We are all sowers.  We are all proclaimers of God’s Word.  We are a priesthood of believers, each and all of us called and charged with the gift and responsibility of sharing what we know with others.  There is no professional priesthood that gets laypeople off the hook.  It is not my job; it is ours, this proclaiming business.  It is ours.

2. The sower’s job is to sow the seed – that is to proclaim God’s Word with our words and most importantly, with our lives.  The response of the seed is not within our control – when we sow, we do the best we can and leave the rest to God and the other person.

3. A sower sows.  A sower does not tell the soil it is unworthy of the seed.  A sower nurtures the soil if nurture it needs.  A sower clears the soil of rock before sowing rather than complaining that the soil is rocky when seed fails to take root.  A sower works with rather than against the soil.

4. Sowers persist.  A sower knows that sometimes the seed simply will not take root and germinate.  The results are not within the sower’s control.  Sowers sow.  It is the seed which must do the growing.  This is why a sower does not abandon tomatoes as a crop merely because of one bad year for tomatoes.

5. A sower knows that depending on the crop, he may never live to see the fruits of his labor; yet the sower trusts that fruits there will be.

Some things to remember about the ground, dirt, soil that we are:

1. Sometimes soil stays the same; mostly it doesn’t.  Wonderful beds of soil have been made or lost over time to due changing weather patterns, changing river ways, to management and mismanagement.

2. What lays under the top soil isn’t obvious.  You’ve got to do some digging to find out about the true value of the land.

3. Sometimes only time will tell when it comes to what we put in the ground – sometimes you just have to wait and see what will grow.

4. Soil is often affected by things beyond its control – chemical pesticides, weather (wind and rain) caused erosion, the formation of gullies (which travel uphill rather than down).

Finally, seeds might do well to remember that:

1. The germ of life lives within you.

2. The desire to respond to good soil and water and sun – to nourishment – is innate to who you are – you are a seed – you were made for growing.  And like the caterpillar, who you are now looks nothing like who or what you will become.

3. You are a crop seed, which means that when you grow, it will not be – or not only be – for your own glory, but for the nourishment, the sustaining, of others.

As followers of The Way, we are all sowers, soil and seeds – sometimes for ourselves, sometimes for others.

Being a sower means being patient, diligent and persistent. . . and knowledgeable about the soil and seed. The farmer who quits the first time a crop fails isn’t much of a farmer.  Likewise, a sower of God’s Word who gets discouraged at the first rejection isn’t going to be much of a sower.

A good farmer is one who understands the particular seed he works with, knowing in what conditions it will best grow, understanding the soil he’s dealing with.  Likewise, a good sower doesn’t beat the soil or condemn the seed.  Rather, the good sower does all he can to nourish the soil, remove the rocks, establish a rich top soil to give the seed the best possible chance to grow.

And being the seed is just doing that which we were created to do: grow.

Some Snippets on John 14

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me.  

At the time of their last gathering, when Jesus has washed the feet and the meal has been had and Judas has run off to do his dirty work, Jesus (1) tells his disciples he’s leaving and they can’t go with him and then (2) gives his followers their last and most important marching orders: Love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this [loving] everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

After pointing out how the grand claims to love will ring empty (Jesus’ prediction that Peter will betray him three times) Jesus’ very next words are but don’t worry about that.  Just believe.  Believe God.  Believe me.


In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  

Jesus speaks of relationship with God as a home place – a place already ready and waiting . . . a place for you . . . where the sheets are clean and the bed already turned down, where your name is set in a place of honor . . . where you will be made not merely welcome, but at home . . .
.

And you know the way to the place where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. 

I am . . . the way . . . the truth . . . the life . . . Jesus could just as well have said I am your way, your truth, your life . . . walk as I walk . . . live as I have lived . . . proclaim as I have proclaimed . . . this is your journey and your destination, all wrapped in to one . . . do not worry, for you really do know . . . you have seen me and in seeing me, you have seen the face of God and lived . . . keep seeing me and you will keep living, keep loving . . . for the fact is, you really do know the way because you know me.


No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

This is not a creedal statement of our faith; rather, this is Jesus’ statement about his own identity.  This is Jesus’ own proclamation that he is The Divine.  Jesus is making it as clear as he can to his disciples that they have seen God (the Father) because they have seen Jesus.  They are one and the same.  Philip’s question and Jesus’ answer make that even more clear:


Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  

The very voice of God speaks now directly to Philip: Here I am, standing right before you.  Philip, I’m right here.  Right here, right now, you can be satisfied, made whole, filled . . . for right here, right now, I am.


Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 

To make this be about miracles is too limited, too small, a claim.  Jesus is speaking here to one of his disciples, one who has lived, eaten, walked alongside, slept with, listened to, this Jesus.  Philip has seen the private face as well as the public one and thus is uniquely qualified to know Jesus through and through.  This is about knowing.

This isn’t about faith.  This is about understanding – about knowing the nature, the character of God . . . of knowing what kind of god God is.

And there is God, standing right in front of Philip and declaring, here I am, your exhibit A – know me and know what kind of God I am . . . know me and be comforted . . . know me . . .

This, perhaps, is the most surprising thing about the entirety of the New Testament: God is a god who wishes to be known.  Like you know your best friend known.  Like you know your lover known.  Like you know your husband or wife of 50 years+ known.  Like you know every crevasse of your baby’s body known.  Like you know the back of your own hand known.

There is a poignancy to this plea of God’s, this almost begging desire to be seen, to be understood, to be known.

And there, in that exchange with Philip, is the sum of our faith: behold your God . . . see your God . . . in the face, in the words, and especially in the doing, know Jesus, know your God.


Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 

And in this seeing, in this knowing, there is an unleashing of great things where wonder walks the earth . . . and maybe, just maybe, he speaks of miracles and wonders . . . and maybe, just maybe, we were made to heal and also to upset the social order the way Jesus upset tables . . . maybe, just maybe, we were made to preach and proclaim and also to care about and from our caring feed the thousands as he did . . . maybe, just maybe, we were made to tell stories and also to sweat out our prayers like blood and pray reality into existence as he did . . . and maybe, just maybe, we, like Jesus, are here to love and in our loving, to make the God who so desires to be known be obvious to a world looking so hard for a little love.


I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Whether we say so or not, all that we do, we do in his name, under his authority, his claim upon our lives.  All that we claim, we claim in his name, under his authority, his claim upon our lives.

Jesus answers for us because we are his.  Simple as that.

This life we live, these things we do, we live and do not on our own behalf, but on behalf of the one in whose name we come.

And so do we pray in Jesus’ name not as a magical incantation, as if stamping Jesus’ name on the end of our prayers guarantees their answer to our satisfaction.  Rather do we act in Jesus’ name in recognition that what we do and how we do it, which includes our prayers, we do only within the identity of Jesus as the Risen One, as God’s very self.  Thus do we merge into the God that God is, becoming one as God and Jesus himself are one.

It is an incredible gift and an incredible responsibility.

And it is all wrapped up in one simple sentence: my house is yours.  Where I live, you live.  Where I go, you go.  Where I am, you are.

Amen.

All My Children*

Photo by Ken Mayer at flickr.com

Jesus wasn’t merely making conversation on that walk to Capernum.  He was giving his verbal last will and testament to his children:

Listen to me; this is important. . . way more important than who gets Mom’s pearls or Dad’s shotgun. . . I’m leaving soon and there are things you need to know . . . Dad loves you . . . don’t ever forget that . . . don’t fight when I’m gone – there’s nothing to fight over – haven’t I always taken good care of you?  There’s plenty for everyone.  You’re all my favorites, so stop fighting about it and grow up.  Keep learning like you’re in school . . . keep loving like I’m your dad . . . keep trusting that I’ve got you in my arms . . . take care of your kids like I’ve taken care of you . . . and remember – they’re all your kids because they’re all my kids.

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*Excerpt from last Sunday's sermon reflecting on Mark 9.30-37, where Jesus speaks of his own approaching death, the disciples' desire to be 'first', and children.  The whole scene reminded me of times when sisters and brothers fight over who gets what when their parents die, as if the thing somehow proves the love, the life, the bond, of the parent who has died.