A few months ago, when it became apparent that all of us were going to be spending a lot more time at home, Ginger and I started working on our tiny backyard. At the time it was nothing but weeds, and holes dug by the dogs.
But Ginger started levelling out the holes and getting rid of the weeds, and we purchased some nice chairs to sit in and a propane grill for cooking dinner on warm summer nights.
My contribution came when I moved a bunch of bricks around, laying them on the ground to create an expanded patio. This, in turn, exposed a long, narrow strip of dirt along our fence, which, I knew, would be a great spot to plant… something… but I didn’t know what.
So I asked around.
When it comes to plants and gardening and landscaping, the two best people I know to ask for advice are my friend John and my Aunt Cindi. And they did not disappoint.
John had some excellent suggestions regarding which plants to plant, and in fact, it was his suggestion that helped us decide.
But first, before we planted, we had to follow Aunt Cindi’s advice. Because Aunt Cindi said that, before we did anything, we needed to prepare the soil.
“Work the soil,” she said. “That’s where it starts. Before you plant anything… start by digging down 18 inches and turn the soil. Then work in good compost. Fluff it up. This takes a lot of work and some time…”
Aunt Cindi referred to this process as “playing in the dirt.” She also said: “Don’t plant in a rush. It’s a process…” And finally, she repeated: “Always start with the soil.”
Aunt Cindi’s advice was good and helpful - and not just for the work Ginger and I did in our backyard. Her advice was also good and helpful for the work we all are invited to, as we hear and interpret today’s scripture reading.
Start with the soil….
Usually when I hear this parable, I start with the farmer, and the seed the farmer is planting. Maybe I do this because modern Bibles often title this parable “The Parable of the Farmer,” or, “The Parable of the Sower.”
But when I hear Aunt Cindi’s advice: “Work the soil. That’s where it starts,” it makes me think that perhaps a better title is “The Parable of the Soil.”
Here's what happens if you make the mistake - as I did - of starting with the farmer and the seeds...
The seed represents the gospel. The Word. The truth. And if I start by focusing on the farmer and the seed, I end up picturing myself as the farmer scattering the seed; I see myself as the one in possession of the gospel. The word. The truth. I have what others need. I need to give it to them. They need to receive it.
Do you see the problem with reading the parable this way? It is a very privileged way of reading this parable. It is a way of reading scripture that leads to colonization and patronization and exploitation, because it assumes that I and I alone possess the truth, the word, the seed; and it assumes that other less fortunate, less enlightened, less civilized people than I are in need of the truth that I alone possess.
This way of reading scripture allows me to think of myself as superior, and to think of others as inferior.
It’s a way of reading scripture that is completely lacking in humility.
It’s a way of reading scripture that leads one to walk arrogantly, rather than walk humbly, with God.
It’s a way of reading scripture that can justify every atrocity imaginable; even genocide.
Right? Because I have the seed, I know better, I am better. I can tell others what to do and how to behave...
That's what happens when you focus on the farmer and the seed. And when Christian leaders and institutions read scripture this way, the results are catastrophic.
All the worst forms of colonization and oppression committed by Christian governments and Christian leaders throughout history have come from reading scripture this way.
The crusades, the inquisition, the subjugation of indigenous people, the misguided missionary efforts of the 20th century… and so much more, are the result of thinking that we - and we alone - possess the truth, the gospel, the seed.
But, if we start with the soil, and work with the soil, we’ll find a good, alternative, more wholesome way of reading this scripture, a way of reading that will bear much good fruit.
To work with the soil, we have to humble ourselves...
Working with the soil is not glorious work. Working with the soil, you get your hands dirty. Working with the soil brings you down to the ground.
And when it comes to Christian faith, that’s a much better place to start than someplace high and lofty and far removed from the dirt and the grime.
What if I’m the soil? Not the farmer with the seed… What if I’m the soil? What if I’m the dirt?
If I’m the soil, then that raises the question: How do I prepare the soil so that what is planted can grow, thrive, and produce good fruit?
How do I prepare the soil that is me? How do I prepare myself to receive the gospel, the Word, the truth? So that good fruit can spring forth from me?
What is it that can loosen me up - fluff up the soil, as Aunt Cindi said? What is the spiritual compost that I can add into my life that will help make me a more receptive, more nurturing place for the seed of truth to be planted? And what in me needs to be dug up and turned over? In other words, what habits, practices, and ways of thinking do I need to change, so that the seed can grow in me and produce good fruit?
Just wrestling with these questions is a good place to start. We’ve got our hands in the dirt now, we’ve humbled ourselves, and we’re seeking and searching for answers.
That right there puts us in a good place already. It’s so much better to be wrestling with the questions than it is to assume you already know everything and have all the answers.
And we can pray about it. Prayer like Jesus described - prayer that is sincere, prayer that is humble - loosens the soil. As long as we’re not making showy prayers on street corners, using our prayers as a way to boast about how good we are - as long as we’re sincere and humble, then the very act of praying is how we work the soil, making it loose and soft and receptive.
Things like pride and arrogance harden the soil. They pack it down, like a well worn path.
At one point in its history, Israel was prideful and arrogant. Israel thought it was better than all the other nations. Israel thought that it alone was blessed by God.
God saw this, and God knew that Israel needed a lesson in humility. So God allowed Israel to be taken into captivity by the Babylonians.
This unimaginable calamity completely shocked Israel. In their arrogance, the people of Israel didn’t believe such a thing was possible. They believed that they alone had what was good. They alone had the seed. The gospel. The truth.
But then it was all taken away.
The U.S. today is a lot like Israel was then. American exceptionalism has put us in the exact same position. It's all about lifting ourselves up, even if we have to trample down everyone else to make ourselves higher.
We forget that every person - every person - is the image of God.
We forget that we are called to humble ourselves, to love and serve and to be a blessing to others…
And we have that same sense of invincibility that Israel had. Nothing bad can happen to America, which - by the way - is a name of a whole hemisphere that we’ve arrogantly appropriated for ourselves.
And we see way too many who believe that they are somehow better than others because of their skin color or their status in society; because of their nationality; their language; their sexuality or gender identity… and these ways of thinking are thorns that choke out the truth.
To get rid of those thorns, you must consider yourself no better than others. You must recognize the divine spark in them that mirrors the divine spark in you, uniting both of you as beloved children of God.
There has never been a time when it’s more important to start with the soil than now. When you start down low, on the ground, with your hands in the dirt, you see the many others who are down there with you. You see the poor - the 140 million people living in poverty in this country.
Down there in the dirt, you see the effects of racism and white supremacy. And you notice that some soil is polluted, and the soil that is polluted is usually found in the neighborhoods where poor people live, or where people of color live.
Down there in the dirt, you see that people are dying because of the pollution, or dying because they can’t afford health insurance, or dying because the insurance they do have won’t approve the treatment they need, or dying because, for some reason, our country hasn’t been able to control this pandemic the way other countries have.
People who aren’t willing to get down in the dirt don’t see these things. They can afford to look away. They scatter their seeds on hard, rocky soil, like a president tossing paper towels to hurricane victims. It looks like they’re doing something, but it’s not going to do any good. It's not going to produce any fruit. Because they didn’t leave their place of privilege, and get down to the ground and work the soil.
In my prayers, I ask: How do I prepare the soil (that is me) so that what is planted (in me) can grow, thrive, and produce good fruit? How do I do that?
And in response, I hear a voice; a voice that says: He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what is required of you: Seek justice. Act with great love. And walk humbly with God.
That's it. Micah 6:8. It's our mission statement. It's how we prepare the soil.
Seek justice. Act with great love. And walk humbly with God.
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