Seed, Scattered and Sown

Message on Mark 4:26-34

First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown

Pastor Karen Crawford

June 16, 2024

I was happy to hear that everything went well with the gifts of children’s clothing and baby wipes and diapers at Smithtown’s homeless shelter while I was away. Thank you to all who gave these gifts for families in need, and to Linda Goodwin and Joanna Marmelstein for organizing this mission outreach and going there to share our gifts.

Then, I saw photos of a little garden yesterday, made possible by our Deacons. They continue to quietly give of themselves to help others, especially children. They have a heart to help children! I told Barbara Ruoff, the moderator, how it touched me to see the green sprouts and pretty petunias popping out of the metal containers on the grass—and to hear of the labor they have been doing.

Barbara told me how the garden came into being.

“The Deacons approved some money for Laurie to buy plants at Borella’s where they give us a discount,” she said. “We also provided some soil. I went to the shelter one afternoon, and the kids and I planted flowers and vegetables in two of the bins. It was so much fun to plant with the kids,” she went on. “At the end of our planting one of the boys, who is about 7 or 8 years old, said, ‘I think when I grow up, I would like to be a gardener!’”

“That’s all I need!” Barbara said. “What a reward!”

Every day, the Lord gives us opportunities to bless others when we scatter and sow seeds of hope and faith. Every day, we make a choice—to participate in our Divine Gardener’s holy labor—or to let the opportunities to grow the Kingdom pass us by.

As I read these two familiar seed parables, the gardener in me says, “Hold on! What is this scattering seed?” No good gardener just scatters seed on the ground, without preparing the soil and carefully covering each one to a specific planting depth. And who is this “someone?” I wonder, who just scatters seed? It is mysterious, indeed. But then it becomes more mysterious when the one who scatters, “would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.”

Jesus really has our attention here, doesn’t he? The story illustrates some ancient agricultural techniques. That is how some crops were planted—by seeds simply being scattered on the ground. Jesus’s first hearers are nodding their heads. They know this. Only, those who are not Christ’s followers don’t know the hidden meaning in the parable. Jesus explains this only to his disciples.

Yes. We know who scatters seeds every day. It’s us. We are working for the Gardener, the Lord of the Harvest. We scatter, with the Spirit’s help, as we interact with friends, neighbors, family, and strangers every day. We have no idea what is happening with the seeds of kindness and goodness that we are spreading and the sharing of God’s word through our actions. Will they take root? We don’t know. We don’t know if the people will receive them or if there will be growth, if they do. That isn’t up to us, just like it wasn’t up to the farmers in Jesus’ time.

 The work of the Kingdom is for all of us—and yet—we don’t know what we are doing, not on a spiritual level. It’s a secret. Only God knows what is happening in the hearts and minds of human beings. We can trust God to use us to be gardeners for the Son.

Of these two parables, the gardener in me connects with the mustard seed story more than the story of the scattered seed. It just grows like a weed, that mustard seed, no matter what the soil. I can hear Jesus telling all of us to be like a weed! Grow to be a tree! You are that tiny seed with great potential Christ has planted—and in your planting and growing, you are also growing the kingdom, you see.

Let’s think for a moment about “opportunity.” That word is on my mind. We often think of opportunity as something we should seize so good things will happen for us—maybe we’ll get rich! One dictionary provides two definitions of opportunity. One is, “A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.” Another is, “a chance for employment or promotion,” such as, “career opportunities in our New York headquarters.” When “opportunity knocks, a chance for success or advancement occurs.”

But what does the Bible say about opportunity? The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:15-20 says this:

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,  always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Opportunity, then, is not to make good things happen for ourselves, but to do what is pleasing to God. We have another chance to be faithful, to do what is right. Jesus, in John 4:35, speaks of the work of the gospel as an opportunity that presents itself every day, to those who have eyes to see. “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” 

I think of this little boy, planting with Barbara; he was so moved by the experience. Her caring ways and loving spirit are what he needed. The act of planting in the soil, watering, and waiting for growth is a beautiful miracle from God. But it wouldn’t have happened if Laurie and Barbara hadn’t taken the opportunity to serve those in need, as passionately as if they were serving the Lord.

On this day when we honor our fathers, I can’t help but remember gifts my father gave me and the example he was for our family. He went home to be with God in August 2019. He was a cartographer, but his hobby was gardening, until his health prevented it. I can picture him now, standing with his watering can, putting water in the saucers underneath his African violets on a white, wheeled plant cart on our porch, so the leaves wouldn’t get wet. I can see him with his foot on a shovel, digging out the sod, widening a bed for flowers or vegetables. I always marveled at his strength when he did that, because I was just a little girl, and I couldn’t dig with a shovel or push a heavy wheelbarrow like he did, with ease. I can see him bending over the miniature roses that he grew, along with perennials and shrubs. He would harvest these little yellow and red flowers with scissors and a smile, bring them inside, and place them in water in tiny vases.

My father sowed seeds of kindness and patience, every time I was with him. He was a great listener. Today, on Father’s Day, I wish that we could be together, once again. I would tell him all about the garden at the manse—the Shasta daisies that have grown as tall as Jim, the echinacea with their purple flowers and strong stalks, both of which were started from seed last year. I am sure he would love the red roses cascading on our front walk and would remind me to remove the spent flowers so the plants will keep blooming. I would tell him about this garden our deacons have helped to plant at the homeless shelter with the children. He would be impressed—especially the part about the small boy who has already decided that one day, given the opportunity, he will be a gardener, too. I wonder who influenced my father; who was his gardening teachers? How did the Lord stir that joy inside of him, a joy that stayed with him all his nearly 85 years—and has been passed onto me?

Dear friends, you are the seeds Christ has planted, right here in good soil. This is the best soil—worship on Sunday morning, with your fellow seedling sisters and brothers in Christ. You are the seeds, scattered and sown. It is a great mystery. God only knows. The Heavenly Father will bring forth the growth in you, if you continue to take every opportunity to do God’s will and seek to be pleasing to the Lord each day.

You have the seeds of God’s Word, hidden deep within you. When you leave here today, you will have opportunities to scatter and sow. Don’t hesitate! Opportunities in God’s economy are for blessing others. Don’t worry about whether your seeds of kindness and generosity will take root. That’s not our job. Just keep on going and sowing and giving of yourself—the person you are now, the person you are becoming. Trust the Lord of the Harvest, who is enabling you to grow and be transformed, more and more.

You aren’t what you were yesterday or even this morning. The Spirit is cultivating a whole new YOU.

So, have you had a hard week? A hard couple of weeks, maybe? I’m with you. It’s been rough. God has always been faithful to us—to me and to you. God always will be!

The presbytery met yesterday in Oceanside. Everyone was assigned to a prayer group and given a prompt for spiritual reflection.  I am going to leave you with these thoughts today.

Picture in your mind a white daisy growing up from the mud. Can you do that right now?  Close your eyes. In your spiritual life, what feels like the “mud”? What is flourishing, like the flower?

Where do you see opportunity…. to bloom?

Let us pray.

Holy One, Loving Gardener, thank you for scattering and sowing us, those whom you created in your image and planted seeds of your Son’s righteousness within us. Thank you for the good soil in which we have been firmly planted, in our families and right here in this church, where our seedling sisters and brothers are gathered. Help us to be that good soil for others, nurturing hope and faith. Stir us to be generous, giving of ourselves and our resources, without fear or worry. Transform and grow us as Your Son’s disciples, a family of God, so that we may never miss an opportunity to scatter and sow seeds of kindness, goodness, and love, so that we may never miss an opportunity to bloom. Amen.