Mt 13:1-9 Seeds Keep Falling
“A sower went out to sow.”
The Lord always sows. He never stops. He keeps throwing and throwing until finally his seeds take root and grow. He is the giver of life. No one else can give it. The humility of the Lord comes in the fact that he is only the seed - not the soil, not the birds, not the sky, and not the sun. He could be in everything and do everything. But he lives as he sows, freely. He gives freely. He receives freely.
There are a lot of dangers in this world, but there is nothing more dangerous than decisions, especially my very own decisions. I can choose who I want to be, where I want to be and with whom I want to be. I can make labored decisions that last a lifetime, or split-second decisions that endure forever. There is much that I can do, but it always starts with a seed.
Decisions turn into actions; actions turn into habits; habits turn into character; character turns into destiny. We are creatures of habit. What do I habitually do with God’s seeds? When I pray and am moved by the Holy Spirit to take a leap of faith, what do I do next? When I experience a moment of remorse, how do I handle it? When I feel called to act, to make a move, to respond, to get involved, what do I do?
God throws seeds! This is what he does. He loves to create, toss and mix! He made a world full of variety! He loves to place fruits with vegetables, turn dinosaurs into oil, and place cats and dogs beside children. He gives, and it is natural.
What God does is good, always good. That is the only guarantee we have. What happens next is not always good. The Lord’s seed is not always well received. In fact, it can fall into enemy hands, hardened hearts, and murderous thieves. It can be twisted and manipulated by the evil one. It can be left out to hang and starve. God’s word can be stolen and used against him! The best intentions can have disastrous consequences.
In the last one hundred years, human freedom and intelligence has been used to enslave others, brutalize others, and sterilize others. In the past fifty years, we have used our intelligence to re-engineer and replant God’s seed. That is, take his word and use it towards our ends. Today, we can see, better than ever, the fruits of our labor: It is no longer natural that man was created to be with woman. It is no longer blessed to be fruitful and to multiply. It is no longer deemed unholy to separate what God has joined together.
And we have all the reasons to give. We are very good at giving reasons but not very good at giving the real reason: OUR PRIDE AND SELFISHNESS.
When the going got tough, the children of Israel preferred Egypt rather than a promised land; they preferred milk and honey rather than heaven-sent manna and quail; they even preferred a Pharaoh rather than the Prophets!
We do not need to reinvent the wheel. What we need to do is strengthen the wheel. We do not need to re-engineer the world. We need to take care of the world that has been given to us. We do not need to redefine gender, sexuality, marriage and family. We need to embrace and protect the seed that has been given to us. We have all the right reasons to do so. It has provided and produced for thousands of years.
