Pastor Chris
Over the past few weeks, we have been hearing Jesus’ parables about the kingdom of heaven, when he compares the kingdom of heaven to seeds sown in a field – first, sown in different types of soil, and in another example sown in a field that is then sabotaged by an adversary, and later a mustard seed (usually thought of as a nuisance to farmers) planted in a field.
As I mentioned this past Sunday, the parables that Jesus used were designed to connect with a particular audience that isn’t the same as our current community nearly 2,000 years later. Growing up as a farm kid, some of these parables made a bit more sense to me than they might to someone who has never touched a crop outside of a grocery store. One thing it made me think of, however, is that no matter how careful a farmer is, there are always things outside their control.
One year, early in the spring, our part of the world was experiencing a stretch of unusually warm weather for that time of year. The previous fall harvest had been difficult, as long stretches of rain pushed the harvest to the point where frost had begun to affect the crops coming out of the fields. Worried about a late harvest again the following year, some of the farmers in our area chose to take advantage of the early spring and plant their crop a couple weeks earlier than they typically would have.
Unfortunately, in Illinois, a lot can change in a couple of weeks, and the weather is notorious for being fickle. At about the time that planting typically would have started, our area received several days straight of significant rainfall. Fields were washed out. Those who already had planted their crops lost the vast majority of those young plants due to flooding. Fortunately, insurance covered the cost of replacing the seed for most, and many were able to replant what had been lost. What strikes me to this day, however, is how even in responding to the best information available, things did not go according to plan.
Sometimes (probably most of the time), life is like that. It doesn’t matter how well we plan. It doesn’t matter if we have the best of intentions. Sometimes things just seem to go wrong. Sometimes we don’t know when the storm will hit – and if our careful cultivation that we have worked on so hard will withstand the storm. And when the storm hits, when things don’t go according to plan, we don’t always know how we will adapt or recover from the uncertainties that have developed in our lives.
The good news: God is the one who is responsible for the harvest – not us. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:7, “… neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” It is true for the faith that we grow into as members of the body of Christ, and it is also true for so much of our lives. Everything that we have comes as a blessing from God, who indeed gives growth, even when the harvest seems meager. All the same, we are not passive observers of God’s grace. Paul continues in the following verses, “The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose … for we are God’s coworkers, working together.”
Family of God, I’m not going to tell you that everything will be good all the time. Much like a farmer in a field, life doesn’t give us many guarantees. But the promises of God remind us that even in uncertainty, God is present, working alongside us. God promises that there will be a harvest, even if it is not the harvest we expect. God is doing good things through us, and God through Jesus Christ promises us a harvest in eternal life that is far beyond anything we might receive here in this place.
So I invite you all to trust that even in uncertain times, God will continue to provide for all of us. The true harvest, however, is still being tended to through the Holy Spirit, and we all will abide in God’s promised blessings no matter the storms we face.
Pastor Chris