Tending
Read Mark 4:1-20.
It's the last day of my vacation, and it's a warm one, almost a summer day. For me, that means it's time to get some plants in the ground...or at least in pots...so that by mid-summer, we'll have some fresh produce...straight from our back yard. I don't grow nearly as much as my Dad does. When we were kids, we had a huge garden and one of my least favorite chores was going out to weed it. But I liked (and like) the fresh produce! So at our house we plant a few things, something manageable, and reap the harvest in the summer.
I typically, though, don't buy seeds. I let someone else get a head start on me! But as I buy tomato plants, I'm aware that someone, somewhere, had to plant the seeds and carefully tend them until they were just the right size for transplanting...and for planting in my small garden. The tending is the key. Anyone can plant a seed, but it takes a special kind of patience to nurture its growth into a healthy plant.
Jesus is using that same imagery when he speaks of spiritual growth. The seed is the Word of God, which is planted in all sorts of places, all sorts of hearts. Sometimes it grows, and sometimes it doesn't. Part of it, according to Jesus, has to do with the type of soil/heart it's planted in. If the soil/heart is hard, the seed/Word isn't going to take root. If the soil/heart is full of weeds, the seed/Word will only grow a little bit. But if the seed/Word finds good and receptive soil/heart, if the soil/heart has been well prepared, the seed/Word will take off, grow and shape the life it's planted in.
But we also know from agriculture (then and now) that for a good seed/Word to grow, the seed/Word and the soil/heart must be carefully tended. Jesus tells other parables about pruning and caring for the plants that grow. Without tending, the seed/Word may die a quick death.
I thought of this yesterday as I sat in worship as a worshipper rather than a leader. Ahead of me and beside me were groups of children—what a great thing, to have so many children in worship! But then I noticed that they weren't worshipping. They weren't engaged in the service. They weren't even listening when the songs were sung or the Scriptures were read. They all had electronic gadgets, playing games while the worship service was going on. No doubt the adults with them found that easier than coming alongside them and helping them learn to worship. But what was being planted in their soil/heart? No doubt those same children will find, as they grow, there is no root that keeps them connected to the church.
I get it—kids are energetic and sitting for an hour or so is hard to do (though these kids were all old enough to be in school, where they have to sit for an hour or more). And my kids were far from perfect in worship services when they were little. As the father of a ADHD child, I remember well when he would run up to the pulpit to help me, or talk back to me and "correct" a story I was telling. But our goal as parents was not to have perfect behavior. Rather, we set out to make room for the seed/Word to take root. How does that happen if they are distracted by the technology of our day?
Am I sounding like an old curmudgeon? I hope I sound like a pastor whose heart is deeply concerned for the next generation. I've watched it happen before in the life of a child whose parents let him have the run of the church during worship because they didn't want to be bothered with him. He went from stealing snacks from the Sunday School rooms to bullying at school to I don't know what else. How will the seed/Word take root in the soil/heart if we are, even unwittingly. planting other things? (The same is true, by the way, for our own soil/heart, when we choose Facebook over reading Scripture or watching Netflix rather than spending time in prayer. Maybe that's why we're told to "guard our hearts"!) (Proverbs 4:23).
Good soil must be tended. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors and everyone: we are the tenders. Plant good seed. Water it well. Help it grow. And watch it bloom for Christ.
It's the last day of my vacation, and it's a warm one, almost a summer day. For me, that means it's time to get some plants in the ground...or at least in pots...so that by mid-summer, we'll have some fresh produce...straight from our back yard. I don't grow nearly as much as my Dad does. When we were kids, we had a huge garden and one of my least favorite chores was going out to weed it. But I liked (and like) the fresh produce! So at our house we plant a few things, something manageable, and reap the harvest in the summer.
I typically, though, don't buy seeds. I let someone else get a head start on me! But as I buy tomato plants, I'm aware that someone, somewhere, had to plant the seeds and carefully tend them until they were just the right size for transplanting...and for planting in my small garden. The tending is the key. Anyone can plant a seed, but it takes a special kind of patience to nurture its growth into a healthy plant.
Jesus is using that same imagery when he speaks of spiritual growth. The seed is the Word of God, which is planted in all sorts of places, all sorts of hearts. Sometimes it grows, and sometimes it doesn't. Part of it, according to Jesus, has to do with the type of soil/heart it's planted in. If the soil/heart is hard, the seed/Word isn't going to take root. If the soil/heart is full of weeds, the seed/Word will only grow a little bit. But if the seed/Word finds good and receptive soil/heart, if the soil/heart has been well prepared, the seed/Word will take off, grow and shape the life it's planted in.
But we also know from agriculture (then and now) that for a good seed/Word to grow, the seed/Word and the soil/heart must be carefully tended. Jesus tells other parables about pruning and caring for the plants that grow. Without tending, the seed/Word may die a quick death.
I thought of this yesterday as I sat in worship as a worshipper rather than a leader. Ahead of me and beside me were groups of children—what a great thing, to have so many children in worship! But then I noticed that they weren't worshipping. They weren't engaged in the service. They weren't even listening when the songs were sung or the Scriptures were read. They all had electronic gadgets, playing games while the worship service was going on. No doubt the adults with them found that easier than coming alongside them and helping them learn to worship. But what was being planted in their soil/heart? No doubt those same children will find, as they grow, there is no root that keeps them connected to the church.
I get it—kids are energetic and sitting for an hour or so is hard to do (though these kids were all old enough to be in school, where they have to sit for an hour or more). And my kids were far from perfect in worship services when they were little. As the father of a ADHD child, I remember well when he would run up to the pulpit to help me, or talk back to me and "correct" a story I was telling. But our goal as parents was not to have perfect behavior. Rather, we set out to make room for the seed/Word to take root. How does that happen if they are distracted by the technology of our day?
Am I sounding like an old curmudgeon? I hope I sound like a pastor whose heart is deeply concerned for the next generation. I've watched it happen before in the life of a child whose parents let him have the run of the church during worship because they didn't want to be bothered with him. He went from stealing snacks from the Sunday School rooms to bullying at school to I don't know what else. How will the seed/Word take root in the soil/heart if we are, even unwittingly. planting other things? (The same is true, by the way, for our own soil/heart, when we choose Facebook over reading Scripture or watching Netflix rather than spending time in prayer. Maybe that's why we're told to "guard our hearts"!) (Proverbs 4:23).
Good soil must be tended. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors and everyone: we are the tenders. Plant good seed. Water it well. Help it grow. And watch it bloom for Christ.
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