Grounds For Expansion

Matthew 13: 1-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘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!’

After hearing this gospel, my natural inclination is to examine myself and try to determine: what kind of soil am I? Am I the infertile pathway, trampled and worn with too much traffic running over me? Am I the rocky ground planted with grand plans, exciting ideas and inspirations that never seem to go anywhere and die quickly when things get difficult? Am I thorny, proud and cynical, never able to really commit myself to really believing in anything? Or am I good fertile soil where the planted seed becomes a dependable source of good fruit or healthy grain?

We all hope we’re in the good rich soil category; that would be our desire and our intention. However, it’s not that simple, is it? If I were honest with myself, I would see that I carry within myself patches of all soil types. I am a microcosm, one that isn’t always being sustained in a healthy way. Our inner beings are reflections of the world at large so if we have a tendency to point fingers at the more obvious rocks and thorns we see ‘out there’, we need to stop and realize that whatever is ‘out there’ is also ‘in here’. When we look closely at the various soil types described in the gospel, we can easily identify other people that we think fit into each category. That’s easy. The difficult trick is to see how we maintain the same soil conditions in our own hearts.

Funny, isn’t it, how weeds can grow and flourish anywhere, even in the hard pavement of sidewalks and pathways? Do you find it easy to identify those weeds in your family or church community? Do you know of people who are martyrs, ones who do what they are asked but are always letting others know how busy they are, how much they are doing and how little thanks they get? These people aren’t always easy to be around. Even though they are always in service mode, it just doesn’t seem like their service is life giving. They bring to mind the old adage: the only person who can live with a martyr is a saint. 

Now look within yourself.  Do you allow yourself to be trampled upon and then lay little guilt trips on those around you? Are you passive aggressive? Do you say yes to every request until you are worn out, worn down and have little or no time to allow God's water of life to soak into you? Do you feel like the seeds that do come your way get pecked away before there’s time for them to take root?  Are the seeds that are able to take root actually weeds of resentment and self-pity poking up through the hard-pack surface of your heart?

We all have unproductive pathways running through us that are hardened from constant traffic and busyness. Often, along the side of the path are little signs that say things like, “Jesus is coming. Look busy,” or “Everything that you are asked to do is a direct request from God. If you do it all, maybe God won’t blame you for your failures.” The trouble with that last one is that we can never do enough. We’re way too busy to spend time with a loving God and we always feel guilt and pressure to do more and more. Meanwhile the seeds we receive wither away from lack of care and we blame others for our weary dryness.

Have you observed spiritual trends and ideas that have come along and have grabbed the attention of groups of people causing a great stir of exciting inspiration? Have you then watched these promising movements eventually die out, leaving people seeking the next latest and greatest idea or theology to fill the empty gaps? Did you notice that though these movements seemed promising, they didn’t always inspire people to go deeper or further than the next spiritual high? You may also have perceived that some people find it very difficult to adjust to a life where there isn’t always something exciting and inspiring on the horizon.

Now look within yourself. How many spiritual books have you read or speakers have you listened to that you just had to share with other people because the ideas that were expressed were so amazing and inspiring. How much of any of those inspirations can you actually remember? How successful were you at taking any of those spiritual precepts and making them a deep integrated part of your spiritual life? How often did a fantastic inspiration get completely lost in the grinding heat of everyday life?

We all have patches where the soil is shallow and where inspiration springs up with great promise but just cannot be maintained. There is always the hope that the next book or the next homily will hold the magic key to an amazing spiritual life. We forget that there are no magic keys; there is only relationship with the Lord. This relationship requires us to dig deep, plant deep and water often or else our spirituality remains on the surface, vulnerable to the hot sun and drying winds.

Do you know of people in your community who always seem to be angry and opposed? It doesn’t matter what the church is endeavoring to undertake or how it’s trying to encourage growth, these people have seen it all, seen it fail and know it’s going to fail again. They might be disillusioned with the system – it’s become too conservative or too liberal. Things aren’t like the good old days or the church is too slow to change. There’s always something wrong and always something to criticize.

Now look within yourself. Are there pockets of disillusionment? Were there times in your life when things didn’t turn out the way you wanted or expected? Did someone in authority ever hurt you? Did this cause you to put up walls of cynicism and criticism in order to protect yourself from further wounds? How often do you find yourself criticizing and tearing down rather than commending and building up? Is your inclination to look for the best in people and situations or to expect the worst? We all have walls of thorny bushes that have been cultivated in order to protect ourselves from disappointment and wounds but the problem is they also inhibit the implantation of good seed.

We all have these patches of unproductive, infertile soil. It’s called being human. We also have areas that are made of rich loam full of nutrients and life giving minerals. We have soil that is dry and shallow and soil that produces good abundant spiritual crops, enough to feed others and ourselves. We have barren stretches of arid desert and inviting groves of lush fruitful beauty. The point is not to get stuck in the mud of guilt over the parts of our innermost beings that have resisted the planting of the seed. The point is to be aware that this journey we are on is the great Soil Reclamation Project. Bit by bit, little by little, God’s goal is to reclaim the stony hardness of our hearts and expand our arable and fruitful land.

May your inner soil be brought back to the fertility of the First Garden where the earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. (Genesis 1.12)

And may God see that it is good.