18How Are You Like A Seed In A Cultivation Box?
Good Morning Friends,
The Bible is full of images of plants, vines and branches. The Kingdom is like a mustard seed. The lilies of the field are taken care of by God. The wheat is white and ready for harvest. Along this image of thinking today I am contemplating the garden project the youth in Immokalee are engaged with as a way of giving back to their community and I cannot help but think there is a connection with the Bread of Life. I cannot help but think how the containers of nurture are designed with a reservoir of water to facilitate root development. So, How Are You Like A Seed In A Cultivation Box?
Scripture: And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for* those who make peace.
James 3:18 (NRSV)
26He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’ 30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’ 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Mark 4: 26-34 (NRSV)
Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:6 (NRSV)
18Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’
Luke 12:18-21 (NRSV)
Message: People want it now and want it to be easy and well in some ways that is the way of sowing. It’s easy to sow and though the very planting is disruptive it does turn the complex into something very simple. The challenge comes in filtering the data of very different outcomes after the planting. The challenge comes in leveling up to solve a harder problem realizing that we may not be smart enough to solve it without being held hostage by the experts that by their very nature are enemies of learning and finding solutions. There are patterns though in the cultivation of Christ in our character and culture. It is all like the miracle of a growing seed. Here the hard seeds of trust, love and obedience seem to disappear, and a few months later a crop is ready for harvest. A miracle takes place but we do not see it happening initially. There is a wisdom from above in the process and a great power that is in the seed that is not intellectual but behavioral. Plant a peach seed and you get a peach tree. Friends, the biggest fool is one who knows the truth of this and fails to apply it. The power of the seed is what is within. It is not a matter of how much one knows but of how much one trusts, loves, and obeys the Lord. Friends, God requires us to sow spiritual seeds of the Kingdom, seeds of our time and effort, our being, and seeds of our finances, the fruits of our labors. As Christians we are not required to grow the seed but to sow it. Storing up love and faith and trust is a waste. Leaving your Bible on the shelf is a great waste as well. Friends, it is simply this: like the planted seed, God’s Word has great power when in planted in our lives. It grows within us, changing us into God’s image, and producing within us the fruit of the Spirit—the characteristics of God. It is not every day trying harder and harder to be like Jesus. You and I grow in our Christian faith, as the Word powerfully works within us in and through the lives of others. This is good news for those of us who are tempted to reduce the Christian lives to a list of things we must do to see the harvest. I have to be kind. I have to read my Bible. I have to pray… I have to spray and fertilize and weed. Still the good news is that Christian growth has more to do with allowing the Word of God to be planted in our lives, than it does doing great things to be like Jesus. God’s Word is planted in our lives when we worship. Personal devotions and Bible studies enable God’s Word to be planted in our lives. Fellowship and Service expose us to God’s Word, too. When God’s Word is planted in our lives it takes root and grows. God invites us to stop trying harder, to be cultivated in his arms and be transformed.
Pray the seed of love is given and grown in our good soil to produce a harvest of abundance. Pray we realize that all seed eventually belongs to God. Pray we sow the seeds of faith by giving to the Lord. Pray the Word of God be like a seed in our Spirit that sprouts and grows into a big tree. Pray
that we each nurture the seeds of love and goodness planted in our lives. Pray these seeds are strengthened by the Word so that our faith takes root, thrives and grows strong. Pray that in God’s time, by His grace and for His glory we develop deep roots. Pray we hear the message of patience and hope. Pray we rejoice in the promise of the harvest. Pray we bear fruit with seeds for the ongoing sowing of the Word. Pray we be of a seed sown from heaven but also be of some earthly good. Pray we sow seeds of hope. Pray that our faith grows like a mustard seed. Pray that we prepare our hearts and minds so the seeds of love might grow in us. Pray we rejoice in the Bread of Life…the seed of Mary’s womb broken for us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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