When I was a little girl, I loved to play in the dirt. My sister and I loved to make mud pies which we presented to our mother or grandmother with great delight. Our speciality was chocolate mud with privet hedge berries. Instead of a sand box, we had a dirt pile where we played. Virtually all the land in our area was used for row crops, so I was surrounded by dirt. In fact, we had to travel 4 miles on a graveled dirt road to get from the highway to our farm and house. In the rainy winter after crops were harvested, it seemed like all we we could see outside the oasis of our yard was dirt and mud.
That little girl on the farm, liked to plant seeds in the dirt, flowers and vegetables. She liked to watch them grow, to tend and weed them, to pick the produce and help in the kitchen to preserve it. Even now, as a woman of mature years, I like to play in the dirt, to touch the earth, to plant and tend and harvest; to get dirt under my fingernails. In fact, a few years ago I composed a little haiku while working in my garden:
Purity and (w)holiness
of highest order.
3 He (Jesus) said many things to them in parables: "A farmer went out to scatter seed.
4 As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn't deep.
6 But when the sun came up, it scorched the plants, and they dried up because they had no roots.
7 Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked them.
8 Other seed fell on good soil and bore fruit, in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one.
9 Everyone who has ears should pay attention."
In the verses omitted from the reading, the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables, why did he tell stories. Jesus replied that the people were not ready to hear and understand the deeper truths, but they, his disciples were ready, so he explained to them.
18 "Consider then the parable of the farmer.
19 Whenever people hear the word about the kingdom and don't understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what was planted in their hearts. This is the seed that was sown on the path.
20 As for the seed that was spread on rocky ground, this refers to people who hear the word and immediately receive it joyfully.
21 Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away.
22 As for the seed that was spread among thorny plants, this refers to those who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the false appeal of wealth choke the word, and it bears no fruit.
23 As for what was planted on good soil, this refers to those who hear and understand, and bear fruit and produce—in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one."
I've had the opportunity to think about this parable from some different points of view as I prepared for today. Growing up in a farm family, I naturally identified with the farmer when I was young. On our farm, most of the crops, including the kitchen garden, were planted in long straight rows, with seeds precisely placed and spaced in furrows. The rich topsoil of the Mississippi Delta was many feet deep, deposited over the ages by floods. It was flat, fertile and easy to till. Wheat, oats and rice were planted closely with rows just inches apart. Seeds were not wasted on soil that was not prepared or that could not be harvested. I thought the farmer in this story seemed wasteful of precious seeds. By identifying with the farmer, I idealized myself in the place of the “Good Christian” who is scattering the seeds of the Gospel, sharing the Jesus story all around. It was “those other people” who played the role of the seeds. I'm not sure I even considered the dirt. Where have you put yourself in this story?
Jesus said that only those who are prepared to receive His word will bear good fruit. If I'm the farmer, scattering the seeds here, there and everywhere, what does that mean for me?
But this parable is not about the sower. As Jesus makes perfectly clear, this story is about the dirt. We would have to assume that all the seeds are alike; all are good seeds able to grow if given the chance. The difference is the dirt. I think He is asking us to consider: “What kind of dirt am I?” Now my younger self, you know, the one a few weeks ago before I started thinking about this story, would have said: “Of course, I am the good dirt! I am a good Christian ready to hear and produce fruit.” All of us are here today, physically or virtually, because we have at least some desire to be, as Jesus said, “those who hear and understand, and bear fruit and produce...” But if I'm honest, I know that I am not always the good dirt, not even most of the time; in fact, hardly ever.
I ask you today to imagine yourself as the dirt that Jesus called you. What kind of dirt are you, which one am I?
Am I like that gravel road, hard-packed dirt, beaten-down, so tired of coping with all the stuff life has throw my way that I cannot absorb one more thing, not even a well-intentioned word of encouragement from a friend; not even a word of hope from the Lord. All those good seeds just bounce off the hard shell of my weariness or stubborness. Are you that path, beaten down, unresponsive and unrecptive? Can't we all say at one time or another, “Been there.”
Am I the rocky ground where the soil is shallow? When we moved here almost 50 years ago, one of the first things we did was rent a garden spot from a neighbor who had tilled up some bottom land on their farm. The soil there was good and deep and ready to plant. Even though we arrived June 1, we had a successful garden that first year. The next year, we had a garden spot plowed and tilled for us on the farm where we lived and where I still have a garden. All my prior experience of gardening had not prepared me for anything like the rocks in that garden. Rocky Top, indeed! After almost 50 years, rocks still surface, albeit smaller ones now. Those first years when I attempted traditional rows of vegetables like I was used to, my hoe would literally bounce off the ground. The topsoil was shallow and deep plowing just brought up clay and more rocks. The seeds grew, but didn't thrive. They needed a lot of extra nutrients added because the good dirt was so shallow. Is that me? Sometimes my shallowness surprises me. How easy it is to make judgements about others based on superficial characteristics like clothing, hair, piercings, tattoos, skin color. How easy it is to criticize without considering the other person's situation. How easy it is to offer cliched phrases about “God's will” to someone suffering. Or tell them to just “get right with God and everything will be okay.” Those shallow phrases may sound good at first, but do they reflect a faith that is deep enough to sustain us when the going gets tough, when the weather is dry and soil is shallow. Jesus says, “As for the seed that was spread on rocky ground, this refers to people who hear the word and immediately receive it joyfully. Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away.” Are we the shallow, rocky ground whose faith is not deep enough to provide nourishment or sustain us?
Or are we the weedy, thorny ground. I fear that is me most of the time. Both my garden and my daily life are sometimes overrun with weeds. I can get lost in those weeds! I'm so busy that I don't know if I'm coming or going. I say yes one time too many. While most of that busyness is good, it doesn't leave much time to rest in the Word, not enough time for contemplation and reflection. So the purpose of the good works can get choked out by the busyness. Yes, I'm often the weedy, thorny soil. Are you? Is it hard for you, too, to find time to read and THINK about God's Word, to grow as a disciple who can be fruitful? Is it hard for you, too, to find time to “Be still and Know that I am God.” Think of the years and centuries that it takes nature to build deep, rich soil. It also takes our time and effort to become good soul soil, to nurture our discipleship.
Where do you find yourself in this story? What kind of dirt are you? I find that I am all of those types of dirt at one time or another. And sometimes, with God's help, I am the good dirt. Sometimes I can find the space and time to let the garden grow, to produce good fruit and an abundant harvest.
You probably have heard to phrase dumber than dirt. We are not dumber than dirt, so we know that we can choose what kind of dirt we are. It is not pre-ordained or set in stone. It has been worth my time time and effort to build good soil in my garden, amending with rich organic matter. So it is with my soul. It is worth the time and effort to nuture our souls, to enrich ourselves with worship, reading the Word, Holy conversation, prayer, contemplation and service; to become the deep soil where those seeds fall, to produce a harvest worthy of our Master.
And as a church, don't we want to be the sower, scattering the seeds of the Gospel far and wide, indiscriminately, wastefully, praying that some will land on good soil and produce fruit. It is also our task prepare the good dirt; to be the place where people can come to be nurtured, to grow and to be fruitful.
I will offer you another of my little garden poems as a closing prayer:
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