Good Soil

Sermon for July 13 --

At the moment two books are guiding my life. The first, of course, is the Bible. And the second is The Garden Primer. I’ve been dreaming of a big garden for years. When I lived in North Dakota the little patio of my townhouse was always stuffed full of containers of flowers and tomatoes and herb plants. One year I ventured into flower gardening; I dug out a bed and planted a few perennials. I must say, I was quite impressed with my success. After years of listening to my mom and grandfather discuss the many issues plaguing their gardens, I was delighted to discover that every single thing that I planted grew. I was telling my mom about my green thumb one day (bragging might be the word) when she interrupted me and said, “Jennie, you live in the Red River Valley. It has some of the most fertile soil in the world – you could put a dead stick in the ground and it would grow.” She was right, of course, the topsoil in the Red River Valley is between a foot and a half to three feet deep and it is some of the blackest, richest, most beautiful soil you would ever want to put your hands into. And by mid-July you can clearly see the fruit that this soil yields in field after field of sugar beets, potatoes, sunflowers, canola, edible beans, soy beans, wheat, and more. The good soil of the Red River Valley produces the riches of that place, receiving the seeds that are sown in it each year that sometimes produce thirty, or sixty- or even a hundred-fold to feed the country and the world.

Listen to a story: A sower went out to sow. And as he went some seed fell on the path and was eaten by birds. Some seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow – the plants sprouted right up, but soon withered in the sun, because their roots had no depth. Some seeds fell among thorns and as the plants grew, they were choked out. Some seeds fell on good soil and they produced fruit – some a hundred-fold, some sixty and some thirty. It’s a simple story – a common sense observation from nature. Seeds flourish in good soil.

Barbara Damrosch, the author of The Garden Primer entitled the first chapter of her book “What Plants Need,” and the first section in this first chapter declares in bold print, “Plants Need Good Soil.” Knowing how spoiled I’d been in the sandy loam of North Dakota, when I arrived in Chicago I spent a long time pouring over this section on soil – the longest section of the book by far. The book said you could learn a lot about your soil by just going out with a shovel. Which I did. And imagine my surprise to discover that the parsonage has beach front property! There, just inches from the surface, was a layer of yellow sand, just begging to be made into a castle. I was crushed. This was not how the book defined good soil! I dug further – and soon my shovel was banging on rocks – some small, some larger – that I picked up and threw into a bucket. I dug further– through the sand and through the rocks and then hit something HARD. I dug more gently – hoping I hadn’t discovered a pipe or something...and finally excavated a brick...and then another and then another. It seems I was putting my vegetable garden right where the Petersons used to have a patio. I went back inside discouraged – this was not how the book defined good soil– full of sand and rocks and bricks, for goodness sake! How could I ever hope to grow anything here??

The disciples ask Jesus to explain his simple story. While I think Jesus would have preferred that they work the soil of the metaphor until it drew them more deeply into the mystery of God, he indulges them with an explanation. The seed on the path, Jesus says, are those who hear the word but do not understand it, their ears and hearts are too hard and the evil one comes and snatches up the seed. The seeds on rocky ground are the ones who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy, but the roots of their faith are shallow, and as soon as hard times come, they wither. The seed sown among thorns, well, that’s the seed of faith that begins to take root and grow but is ultimately choked out by the cares of the world or the desire for wealth. The seeds sown in good soil are the ones who hear the word and understand it and it bears fruit in them abundantly. Again, it’s a simple observation – sometimes the seed of God’s word takes root and grows and sometimes it does not. I wonder how the disciples thought as they heard Jesus’ explanation– where they saw themselves in the story. How about you? When you think of the ways the Bible defines good soil, does it describe you?

After my discouraging dig in my soon-to-be-garden, I returned to the Garden Primer and realized why the section on good soil is so long. It seems that with a few rare exceptions – like the Red River Valley – most places simply do not have naturally good soil. If we only ever planted seed in the world’s best natural soil, little would be planted and little would grow. So the book describes the many different ways an organic gardener can tend to the soil to turn poor soil to good. Remove the rocks. Pull out the thorns. Dig out the bricks (or, if they are deep enough, let them lie). I did all these things and then drove to Home Depot where I bought hundreds of pounds of compost and manure. I heaved them into the trunk of my car and then into the garden and dug them into the soil. And as I did I noticed something I hadn’t before – there, above the sand and rocks and bricks was a thin layer of topsoil, full of earthworms. My soil had life; it had potential.

Good soil needs to be made. I would imagine that when most of us hear Jesus’ parable, we are more likely to identify with the rocky ground or the thorns than with the good soil. I sure know the rocks and thorns and cares of the world and hardness of heart that are lurking beneath the small layer of topsoil of my heart. I know that sometimes when I hear God’s word, I just don’t get it. I know that sometimes when God is speaking to me, I’m too distracted by other things to hear. I also know that sometimes, for whatever reason, when the seed of God’s word is dropped into my life that particular seed takes root and grows and can produce abundantly. It is dangerous if we try to define ourselves as one type of soil – because we all are many. And it’s even more dangerous if we try to determine what type of soil someone else is. After all – look at the sower in the story. He might have only concentrated on the good soil, not wasting his seed on the path and the rocks and the thorns. Instead, the sower broadcasts the seed, spreading it everywhere, trusting that somewhere it will hit good soil and produce abundantly.

In Jesus’ parable, something important happens that we don’t hear about, but that every gardener knows. Before the sower ever goes out to sow the seed, a gardener goes out to prepare the soil to receive it. The gardener worked the soil with plow and rake, shovel and compost, and yes, even a good layer of manure, to make the soil good. Back in May, I wondered if I should even bother wasting my seeds on the poor soil I thought my yard contained. But I worked the soil, and then, in faith, I planted. And behold – miracle of miracles – the seeds took root and grew and grew and GREW. In fact, if you would like to see the results, I’d like to make you a one-time offer. Today only you are invited to stop by the parsonage on the way home from church and come to the backyard to see the garden. It turns out that, despite what I thought I saw, I had good soil. And every time I look out the window and see the flourishing plants producing their fruits, it’s a good reminder that despite what I think I see, God is hard at work making good soil - working the soil of my heart and of others. It’s a good reminder for all of Christ’s disciples that we should always be in a place to receive God’s word and also continually spread it far and wide, because we never know where God is at work making good soil – we never know where those seeds will take root and flourish and produce abundant fruit for the Kingdom. Amen.