Back in June, one of our parish youth told the Parable of the Sower from the Godly Play curriculum as part of our summer formation series for all ages. (If you aren’t familiar with this parable, you can read it in all of the synoptic Gospels: Matthew 13:1-12, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15). This parable was told in Part One of our summer series, “Putting God at the Center.” The theme of this entire series has been “Lives Shaped by God.” The summer seems like an odd time to explore this theme. It’s a season of vacations and travel. Many people are away, and parishioners are coming and going. But there was indeed some intentionality in settling on the topic of this series. Regardless of travel plans and the summer instability in church attendance, our summer series has been intended to make a point: the summer is not a period of decreased focus on God or ministry activity. Perhaps more than any other season, it’s a time during which we might most need to reflect on what is at the center of our lives.
The Parable of the Sower is an engaging story, and it’s a profoundly challenging one. As Jesus interprets the parables to his “inside” group of disciples, the parable can be read as an exhortation to be “good soil.” The good soil is capable of nourishing the seeds of God’s word, so that they can put down deep roots. In short, Jesus warns his disciples that while we may have the best of intentions in receiving the word of God and in walking in the ways of God, we will be tempted (often by ungodly forces) to remain as or deteriorate into shallow soil or soil incapable of nourishing the planted word.
The intention of the Christian life nourished in a particular community of faith is, ultimately, to cultivate good soil. Spiritual practices and disciplines are intended to enrich the soil of our lives. They fertilize the soil, if you will. Through fertilization, the Church gives space for God’s seed to grow. It grows only by the power and grace of God, but our responsibility is to cultivate the soil for good growth.
If we press Jesus’s parable a bit further (recalling that parables are multivalent and analogies break down at some point!), we will be conscious of the many competing interests/forces in our lives that make it challenging for God’s word to flourish among us. The first seeds sown on the path are simply left on the ground and easily snatched up by birds. In what ways are our lives shallow receptacles for God’s word? Who and what are the birds that get to God’s word before it can sink into our lives? What are the thorns among us that choke the word? Is our overzealousness about a certain cause a thorn? Or is another thorn our need to control how God is active in our lives?
I read Jesus’s teaching in the Parable of the Sower to be principally a caution against living as shallow Christians. These days, we can see far too many Christians obsessing about theological “orthodoxy” and living as if they have never read the Gospel injunctions towards mercy. Others profess to be Christian with their lips, but aren’t willing to do the hard work of discipleship. To use words from the Letter of James, we are to be doers of the word, not merely hearers. It’s very easy to say we’ll do something or intend to do something, but it’s much more difficult to follow through. There’s something of the way of the cross in this: to follow Jesus in word and action involves a posture of humility, discipline, and commitment. It involves sacrifice.
Trends seem to show that churches that demand something of their members are growing. Flashy trends and gimmicks are reside on the level of the shallow surface. But churches that are rooted in worship, formation, and service are thriving because they are incubators of “good soil people.” These Christians stick around for a while and have a long shelf life. They are “all in,” so to speak.
The word “discipline” is unpopular these days, but seen through the lens of the cross, we should know that what seems restrictive is really the way to freedom and eternal life. Sometimes cultivating rich soil—going deep, as it were—means narrowing our activities or practices so that we can give them due attention. To use a musical analogy, rather than taking on violin, piano, flute, and cello, maybe violin itself is enough. One good, fruitful spiritual practice is better than ten. And making the time for practice—especially when it feels like an inconvenience—is the only way to advance beyond scales to sonatas. It’s no different in the spiritual life.
To be people of good soil requires commitment and discipline. It demands shaping all of our lives so that God comes first. The summer is a wonderful time to practice being “good soil people.” Many distractions vie for our attention, so prioritizing worship, prayer, and spiritual practices will be something of a challenge. We should name this and then seek to move past it. Our age is quite adept at finding legitimate excuses to avoid spiritual habits, and we should be aware of false dichotomies. As we approach a new program year, we might begin to consider prayerfully how we can distill the activities of our busy lives to make room for God.
All this talk about worship, prayer, and spiritual practices is sometimes labeled as inward-looking or even as a waste of time. I’ve heard some clergy themselves express that they’re too busy for the Daily Office or some other discipline. But to choose between prayer and service is one of those false dichotomies we should eschew. When we deepen our spiritual lives, we’re equipped as mature disciples, ready to go outwards into the world in service. Any true contemplative (just read Thomas Merton, for example) will tell you that the root of social action is worship and prayer.
We live in a confusing time when Christians are struggling to find meaningful ways to respond to social injustice and to minister to those in need. Our deepest response will emerge when our lives are molded around God. In the remaining weeks of this summer, whether you’re traveling or at home, I encourage you to find ways to make God the center of all you do. What we have frequently said in our stewardship discussions applies as much to money as to the rest of our lives: when we give to God first, amazing things happen.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle