Plant it and forget it horticulture?! (Mark 4:26-34)

Last weekend I attended the Virginia Synod Assembly. The big topic was reaching out into our neighborhoods, redefining community, and addressing evangelism through missional work. Many perspectives were proposed and discussed. One speaker asked how we could best present the beauty within the walls of the church so the world outside could see it. 

The analogy left me a little cold. I couldn’t help but picture the church as it stands today as a stale jelly donut. Tasteless and dry on the outside with a sweet hidden filling. While I understood the concerns shared by many of the voices, I was concerned about the central issue that was being indirectly addressed. 

The central issue has been expressed through articles found in religious publications and blogs such as “How to win back millennials” and “What young people really want from the Church”. Regardless of one’s religious affiliation, hip new age preachers and pastors seem to have all the solutions. If not the new hip clergy than certainly stadium seating, rock bands, and big screens give us the most viable options for outreach. I have to admit, despite proposals from articles and discussions, Jesus’ advice in today’s Gospel has rarely been cited, if at all. 

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The Gospel for today gives us some very peculiar advice concerning horticulture. You could call it the “Plant it and forget it” strategy. I am not sure how well this would work in our neck of the woods. Last summer I inadvertently gave this a shot, I ended up with a window planter full of dead begonias and a miniature maple tree began to sprout up in their place. 

So, how does the sower do it?

We can over analyze this text and discount the parable as a parable inspired by the lush land surrounding the sea of Galilee, where Jesus is sharing this parable in today’s Gospel. We could also consider the lush farmland just outside of Jerusalem as the inspiration for this parable. But even in these lands, “plant it and forget” methods of farming were not successful. There are specific methods of farming found in Deuteronomy that were enforced for not only religious reasons but as methods to sustain an agrarian economy. So apparently, Jesus is going to end up with a window planter like mine, huh? Perhaps our misinterpretation of this text is why the window planter we call the church is growing a tiny maple tree instead of lush begonias?

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In Jesus’ third parable, our first in the Gospel today, it points to a sower that we all too often picture as ourselves. Especially among those in ministry; and we seminarians? Oh boy, do we think we know how to farm this here church? Corner a young pastor or seminarian and we will tell you, the church has a problem and I am THE solution!

But that’s not the case in this parable for today. 

We talked about John 3:16 the last Sunday I was here, if you can recall. 

Pastor N recited the verse with the congregation; “For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

What kind of farmer could ever have that kind of confidence in their planting with any certainty? 

After working on a farm and killing numerous plants since, I honestly could only see THE Creator as the Sower in this parable. But that doesn’t really give us much control now, does it?

What about our tractors, our big screen tv’s, our pesticides, our stadium seating, our specially formulated soil, our rock bands, our specialized irrigation systems, and of course; our hip preachers?But that doesn’t seem to be the way here in the Gospel today. 

The recipe for success is THE Sower and THE Seed. 

THE Seed of THE Word made flesh

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In 1854 the Bishop of Zealand, Denmark; Bishop Jacob Peter Mynster died. At his funeral, the new Bishop, Hans Lassen Martensen proclaimed that Mynster was “one of the most authentic witnesses to the truth of Christianity since Apostolic times”

The renowned Danish Theologian, Søren Kierkegaard, criticized Martensen’s assessment publicly, to which Martensen replied by more or less asking Kierkegaard if he thought that he himself was the truest example of a Christian. Kierkegaard responded by proclaiming that one can never claim to be a Christian but only aspire to become one. 

You see? For Kierkegaard it is clear that humanity is the most infertile soil for such seed. 

We, sisters and brothers are the tainted soil, upon which the Sower scatters the Seed of Christ, the Seed of God’s Word. It is for this very reason that we cannot look in the mirror for the “solution” to our dilemma of the “missional church”. Because it is not in our gimmicks and plans that the Seed grows, it is in our willingness to grow ourselves from the Seed sown in us. The Kingdom of God is not in some far often distant cloud but it is here and now in each of us. That seed was planted in you today because of the Word that has been read, the story that has been shared, in the Body and Blood that will be shared at the altar, the confession we make, the absolution received, the hymns we sing, the prayers we raise, and the creed we confess. This is how the soil of our lives is tilled, this is how that Seed is planted, and it is in your response to the Sower and the Seed that the Seed continues to be spread far and wide. 

It’s a great parable. 

It really is. 

There is one problem with it, though. 

I don’t get credit…….

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Yep, you heard me right. The new vicar with his brand new seminary education, fresh views, and full head of flowing hair…..

It’s not me, it’s not Pastor N, it’s not you, it’s not the Bishop, the Pope, the hip TV preacher, or the brand new multiplex church with the big screens and stadium seating. It’s God. God is the Sower, the Missional Leader as we say in the ELCA these days, God is the substance of the message and with that kind of substance who needs gimmicks? We have the Seed, the Word, Jesus THE Christ. But we love to get credit, yes, even in the church. We love to be recognized, we want to be seen for the success we have gained. The unseen rather than the seen, as Paul says and even alludes to in the second lesson today. 

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Back when I played Little League one of my favorite movies was Field of Dreams. In the movie, Kevin Costner plays a farmer by the name of Ray. One day Ray hears a voice in the fields on his farm that tells him “If you build it, he will come”. Ray mows down half his field of corn and builds a baseball field, subjecting himself to financial ruin.  

Everyone in the town thinks he is crazy, even his family begins to ridicule him. But he keeps his faith in the word he has heard. As the plot moves forward he finds that the deceased baseball players from his beloved 1919 Chicago White Sox team he admired in his childhood, step out of the cornfields and onto his baseball field for one more game. Oddly enough no one else can see them except those who start to believe what Ray claims he sees. 

At the end of the movie, Ray’s unintended but new friend; Terence Mann - who has done nothing more than accompany Ray by force on his journeys - is invited by Shoeless Joe Jackson to disappear into the cornfields with Shoeless Joe, Buck Weaver, and other ghost-like baseball players from the past. 

Ray protests his friend’s invitation frustrated by what he has sacrificed, proclaiming “Wait a minute, why him? I built this field, you wouldn’t be here if it weren't for me!”

To which Shoeless Joe Jackson calmly responds by saying simply “But you’re not invited”

Prompting Ray to question; “Not invited? What do you mean, not invited?! That’s my corn out there, you guys are guests in my corn! I’ve done everything I’ve been asked to do, now I didn’t understand it but I did it and I never asked once what’s in it for me!”

So Shoeless Joe responds by asking “What are you saying Ray?” and receives Ray’s response 

“I’m saying……. Whats in it for me!?”

Wisely, Shoeless Joe redirects Ray asking him honestly; “Is that why you did this; for you?”

The question shames Ray into silence. 

It’s the same question that should shame us into silence when we plan and plot our new age of Christianity. 

Sisters and brothers, following Christ is not about how we package our faith, who gets credit for our development, who brings the millennials back. It is about the Seed, the Seed that has been sown in us by THE best Farmer in all of creation; The Sower, The Seed, and The Holy Ghost. It’s God’s farm not ours, we are just the soil, so let’s truly take in the Seed of God’s Word into the soil of our lives today and everyday. 

It’s not about us, it’s about sharing the Seed we receive; the Word, Jesus the Christ.

Amen

Sources

Kierkegaard, Soren, and Howard A. Johnson. Kierkegaard’s Attack Upon “Christendom” 1854-1855. Translated by Walter Lowrie. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1968.

Robinson, Phil Alden. Field of Dreams. Universal Studios, 2012.

Romans 8:18-27 This isn't cloud coo coo land.

 

“If God is for us then who can be against us!?” This isn’t just a quote from Romans 8:31, it was scripture cited by Ray Lewis at the conclusion of super bowl 48 as he stood surrounded by microphones and cameras announcing not only his own victory but his retirement from the NFL as well. 

I’m not sure which translation Mr. Lewis used that day but I am also not sure if he fully realized the context of those words. I still remember Pastor Phillip’s frustrated tweets and posts following the game. The verse cited at the conclusion of that game was the second half of Romans 8:31 in what I would assume was the implication that God put 40 bucks down on the Ravens that night. I disagree with that implication and not just because I too, like Pastor Phillip am a Steelers fan but because Mr. Lewis should have checked out what Paul wrote leading up to that conclusion. 

But Paul’s letter to Rome appears to be addressing a team that isn’t spiking the ball in the end zone. In fact, it doesn’t sound like they are playing a game here. Paul and the church in Rome seem to be discussing a very real sense of agony, pain, suffering, and groaning. We may be many centuries removed from this context but things have not changed that much have they? 

We have and continue to suffer and we are still groaning out. We here at Epiphany over this past year have suffered loss, sickness, and tragedy and it isn’t over yet. Paul doesn’t deny this and neither will I, because just like Paul I have no choice, I cannot deny the reality of it. Just as Paul clearly states WE, sisters and brothers, KNOW that the whole creation is groaning and suffering in agony and it still is at this very moment. 

Paul takes the road a little less traveled in this letter. He doesn’t pull any punches, he calls it like he sees it; yes, we are suffering. But what should we do about our suffering? Do we resign to it? Maybe we should try to cover it up or numb ourselves to it? Is that what we are called to do in this place?

One of my dearest friends watched the Lego movie last year while we were working at VCU as chaplains. There is a scene in the movie where the Lego version of Batman, who accompanying his fellow protagonists, takes refuge in a place called “cloud coo-coo land” where a character called “Princess Unikitty”, a unicorn Lego cat, explains the rules of cloud coo-coo land. The rules include no frowny faces, no negativity of any kind, and no consistency along with a few others allusions to what Unikitty envisions as the perfect place to live in community. As they are being given the tour of this tacky brightly colored realm of cloud coo-coo, Lego Batman pauses with a dinosaur and a clown dancing on either side of him as he stands on a fluffy cloud. In a dark and brooding voice he exclaims, “I hate this place”. 

The following day my dear friend immediately took me by the arm and advised me that based on my dark and brooding demeanor as well as my comfort level with the emotional lows of the hospital…. 

 I was Lego Batman

For the record, I don’t think I’m alone. 

This isn’t cloud coo-coo land, this is God’s Church, and this is where all are welcome especially those who suffer and groan. We share in one another’s suffering and groaning; it is what we do as a faithful community and don’t let Unikitty fool you, there is no escape from suffering, it is part of the nature of our existence. 

Is our faith just something we want to use to pacify ourselves in order to endure our suffering, or is it something that truly makes us existentially different, new people, new beings, truly children OF God? Is it something that makes us closer to how God intended for us to be in relationship to God?

Man, I just let the bottom drop out of this one didn’t I? If you came to worship this morning seeking out Jesus sliding down a rainbow into a fluffy pink cloud I am sure you didn’t anticipate watching him slide down a metal slide in mid July wearing a pair of shorty shorts into a pile of dirt. But what is the context in which we cry out for a savior? Isn’t it in our suffering? Why do we have to deny it? Hide it?

Do we want to be a church that heals the pain of the suffering or do we want to just numb the pain by medicating it with smiles and the reassurance that “if God is for us then who can be against us?” Taking words out of context, abusing theology, and presenting a false God that is no better than a genie in a bottle?

Sisters and brothers, trust me, I want that Genie in a bottle myself. Tomorrow I will walk to section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery where 5 of the Marines and Corpsmen that I went to war with are buried. I will face their parents, siblings, wives, and friends knowing full well that their love ones came home in a box and I… I just came home. There are still times when all I want is that Genie, I want to rub the lamp and bring them all back. 

I try not to ask for that as often anymore because it is in the acceptance of that pain I have come to realize something; The Spirit that comes to us as our advocate in the Pentecost story is not called to be some theological or spiritual dopamine drip, nor is the church called to be the earthly embodiment of a divine anesthesiologist. The Spirit and the Church are called to strengthen and renew a cold, broken, and weary world full of cold, broken, and weary people. 

Paul never claims that the Church will heal ALL suffering. 

Jesus doesn't allude to such notions either, whether through the Spirit or the Church. What we are reassured of is hope. The hope in a new creation through Jesus Christ, which WILL heal all suffering and wounds, ONE DAY. We are also reassured a change in our nature as one body, the Church, strengthening one another and the world by the change that continues in us, as Christ’s body 

Paul talks about a glory that will be revealed to us, we the ones who have and continue to receive the first fruits of the Spirit. It is there sisters and brothers in that light, that Spirit, that glory. Paul doesn’t distract us with his depiction of cloud coo-coo land. Paul assures us that the change is now and the change is in us here in the midst of all our pain right now. 

Paul knew that the cross didn’t end with Christ; the very roads he traveled were frequently lined with those who had been crucified by the authorities of Rome throughout the lands where Paul’s mission occurred. 

Peter and Andrew certainly knew the cross was a continued reality since they themselves were reportedly crucified as well. 

So then why? What’s it all for? What was the point? 

Christ didn’t abolish the literal cross, so how on earth could Christ take our crosses away from us today? Here is the bad news for today, he didn’t. We still carry those crosses, we are still nailed to those crosses, we still die to those crosses. It’s why we have one hanging right in front of us here in worship today. What I have always been proud to say is the centerpiece of worship here at Epiphany.

Now, how about the good news? About time, right?! 

Jesus Christ is crucified and killed because it is in that moment that we are reassured that from that day forward regardless of the crosses we bear, we do not bear those crosses alone. God bears the weight of our crosses with us. When our arms are outstretched on the wooden plank of our crosses, God lifts us up off that cross providing the comfort to take that deep breath that our collapsing lungs are being deprived of. And when that moment comes that we cry out “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me”? That is THE God that stands at the foot of the cross through Christ Jesus. 

We no longer suffer alone in the dark; we now suffer by the light of a candle that grows ever brighter in the hands of the God who will not abandon us. What’s more is that light kindles the flame of that glory that we receive in Christ Jesus in us. It changes the very nature of our being as children of God. It is the unseen hope that shines the brightest in the darkness moments of our lives. 

This past year a letter was released following news of the death of a young woman being held in captivity by Daesh, or ISIS as they are most commonly referred to in the media. 

The humanitarian aid worker had been captured traveling between Turkey and Syria while attempting to provide aid to Syrian refugees. Kayla Mueller’s letter to her family left me in awe when I read it this past February. Her mother released the letter in hopes of depicting her daughter as more than a victim but as a model for others. In one portion of the letter Kayla writes: 

“I remember mom always telling me that all in all in the end the only one you really have is God. I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator b/c literally there was no one else…. + by God + by your prayers I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall. I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see that there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it. I pray each day that if nothing else, you have felt a certain closeness + surrender to God as well + have formed a bond of love + support amongst one another”

Kayla was reportedly killed in a Jordanian airstrike in Syria following the dispersion of a group of hostages. Kayla was just 26 years old but her letter gives us a powerful interpretation of what Paul is talking about. 

Paul and Kayla both address the change that occurs through us in Christ. It is a change that is taking place by the Spirit, and much like Kayla, we can trust in that unseen hope and free fall into such a change. By participating in that hope one can be truly free of the shackles we have bound around the whole of God’s creation and strive that much closer to being as God intended. 

It is the change that takes place in us because we are not alone. In Christ that is the change and the comfort no one can take from us is that we are never alone in our pain. In the darkness of our pain Christ is the glory and that Spirit is the light that shines in you. It is that faith in the unseen hope of Christ Jesus that reverses the course of human history away from the consequence of our fallen world. 

So let’s revisit that quote from Romans again with what we have just considered; 

“If God is with us, then who and what could be against us?”

Because there is NOTHING in this world that can snuff out that light, that love of the One God, our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…..   

Amen. 

Faith from the reigns of a Christmas Sleigh?

         I am a bit crotchety when it comes to theology and biblical studies. If you scroll back to one of my first blogs from Christmas last year (shameless plug, “Bah-Humbug”) I offered some commentary concerning the way we view the birth narrative of Jesus the Christ this time of year. To be honest I thought I took the cake when it came to being crotchety at Christmas until I came home to be confronted by my wife concerning our continuing open invitation to our obese and jolly old friend; Mr. Christopher Kringle. My wife had read several articles and blogs condemning or revoking his welcome into this holiday season. The reason for this proposal is because Mr Claus draws attention away from Christ and offers up a mythology which disheartens the young views of our own Christian stories that contain problematic contradictions and mythological components themselves. The proposal was simple; if you offer up a mythology that will later be discredited then that will plant a seed of doubt that will pollute the truth we receive in Christ. There are other objections centered on the pagan roots of the tradition and the “fairy tale”, as some describe it, which surrounds the tradition. It was odd to hear my wife so concerned about such criticisms. She is a wonderful wife and a good mother but she seemed to be questioning the impact of this tradition on our children along with her judgment as a mother.

        Well, first of all I was a little surprised. My wife doesn’t ask for my opinion on things theologically all that often, nor does she ask me for my opinion on how we care for our children. Most often we agree to disagree or she just ignores my theological ramblings. Just the fact she looked to me for my opinion made me concerned but it also raised my own concerns regarding our open invitation to our obese cookie eating friend who also drinks a beer or two on his way out the door every year. Perhaps we should revoke his pass? Maybe it is time for us to demythologize Christmas, as one of my dearest mentors and teacher advised me after I showed him a picture of my children sitting on Santa and Mrs Claus’ laps last night (yet, another red flag for me considering my great admiration for this brilliant theologian and mentor).

         I have and continue to explore our options for this tradition as objectively as possible. What I have found is that if I continue to pick at that loose thread on my tacky Christmas sweater the whole thing is just going to unravel into a ball of green, red, and white yarn on the floor. You see, the whole thing is grounded in something less than “truly” Christian. Pope Gregory hijacked the winter solstice along with other pagan holidays in order to evangelize to those outside of the Christian faith. It gave them the opportunity to find a bridge between their own traditions while finding a new hope in Christ. Essentially Pope Gregory adopted traditions that can be truly defined as pagan in order to permit a much more comfortable transition and conversion to the Christian faith. This is one of the many reasons I refer to our family Christmas tree as our pagan trophy case every year (again, this does not please my wife). It’s all a hijacked tradition, from the date, to the decorations, to the manner we give and receive gifts. So which parts should we sanitize and whitewash out of our holiday season? It seems like the one we are most frustrated with is ol’ Satan Claus. It reminds me of the old Dana Carvey SNL Church Lady skit from years back when Carvey's character rearranged the spelling of Santa to spell Satan.

         This all leads me to a realization. Perhaps we should take a page out of Pope Gregory’s book? With the decrease in church attendance and the constant complaints from church leaders concerning the draw away from Christianity into the secular, today I wonder what our condemnation of the “fun stuff” at Christmas says to those outside the doors of the sanctuary. I am finding that both fundamentalist Christians and progressive Christians are coming full circle and finding themselves of like mind regarding this condemnation of Santa Claus. So there is certainly hope that agreement can finally be struck somewhere I suppose, but here of all places?

        

         Paul Tillich spent a great deal of time discussing the power of symbol. Tillich believed that Jesus was in fact most powerful when held up as an existential symbol for all and I agree with Tillich. Tillich spent a great deal of time exploring the possibility that the Holy Spirit could work through all things to create traces of God through symbol, drawing attention to the truest of all symbols; Jesus the Christ. At one point Tillich claims that the Spirit can manifest itself in the secular and the superstitious stating; “In this way the Spiritual Presence has used antireligious media to transform not only a secular culture but also the churches.” He implied this positively.

         Tillich’s point aside let’s consider for a moment what Santa actually does. He gives gifts to children without regard or credit for himself, on the day set aside to recognize the birth of Christ. It would be safe to assume that Santa Claus does this in honor of the birth of Christ thus Santa Claus is associated with Christmas rather than St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) in most American homes. We can claim this is due to the close relationship between Odin worship in German pagan culture, Washington Irving’s imagination, or even Coca Cola’s commercialization of the holiday. I would argue, however, that in this tradition we find an example of selfless giving that transcends the mythology and provides an example for children in a world increasingly devoid of such examples that most certainly point to qualities of truly Christian living. Within our American mythology and folklore there may be no greater example of Christian living than in Jolly Ol’ St Nick himself. Take it any way you want, if that is a sad commentary on the state of the church today should we really be blaming Santa?

         Might I make a suggestion? Let’s decorate our Christmas trees (pagan trophy cases), hang our stockings above the fireplace (thank you Washington Irving), hang our wreaths (circular greenery for the promise of the cycle of life), and kiss under the mistletoe (sacred druidic plant). When we are done why don’t we let Santa point to the door of the sanctuary for all our secular, atheist, and agnostic brothers and sisters and tell them another story. In the absence of a cross or Bible in many homes these symbols and signs point to the doors of the worship space, as Tillich seems to suggest. Maybe there they will enter those doors where we can share the gospel and show them another way the Spirit is present in this world at Christmas.

        
          Instead of tearing down and demythologizing why don’t we leave up these signs and show people exactly what the signs point to? As Christians we are called and sent to share the power of the story soaked in the irony of the incarnation. The true King is born into a bed of filth, a shell of flesh, to suffer an agonizing and brutal death for the sake of a creation groaning for God’s reversal. Christmas isn’t pacified by decorations and mythology; Christmas is pacified by our failure to lift up the story being pointed to.

         But the day will come when our children will claim that St Nick is no longer welcome. They will question his existence, perhaps even his intentions. What if we used him for the very purpose he has always been there for when that day comes? What if we used Santa to point to Christ? What if our children, on that day, took the opportunity to take the reigns of that sled for their sibling? What if they took the reigns of the sleigh for a hungry family or classmate? Leaving an anonymous gift without the expectation of reward or recognition as they sneak away whispering with you at their side “Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!” That, my friends, is the true meaning of Santa and he learned from the best; Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God among us. 

         Santa Claus, take it or leave it. It’s up to you. I would suggest we be wary, however, of our self righteous claims upon those who already feel alienated by both fundamentalist and progressive Christians alike. Instead maybe we should let the Spirit work through any and all means that give hope for a broken humanity that is in desperate need of the joy Christmas brings and the celebration that indeed points to the One who first loved and died for us.

          The myth of Santa Claus gives Christians an opportunity to exercise the deeper meaning of belief. Without a doubt there is scant trace of the "historical Santa". The references to his historical roots are blended and shaped to formulate what is nothing more than a human holiday construct. It is in this undeniable myth that we can confront the difficulty many face concerning the historical Jesus. If we can use the myth of Santa to teach our children as they grow to wrestle with a deeper existential meaning than what surrounds the commercialized, fictionalized, characterization of Santa, perhaps we can wrestle with bigger questions. I hope my children can take the opportunity to reclaim Santa Clause and when they sit upon his lap I hope he can point to the Christ. Not pointing to the objective certainty of the historical figure but pointing to the certainty of being IN Christ. Belief is deeper than a historical meaning and it changes our world if we let the most powerful of all beliefs to change us.

Yours in Christ

Moore, Clement Clarke. The Night before Christmas. First paper-over-board edition. New York: Harper, 2011.

Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.