Thoughts on Summer Growth

Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word…

I don’t know about your summer garden, but ours is starting to burst out with a harvest of zucchini, basil, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, parsley, cucumbers, peppers, cilantro, strawberries, nectarines, and peaches, but no apricots. I am not the gardener in our family, although from time to time I am invited to participate; typically to dig holes, turn over soil and create support structures on which the tomatoes may cling. Colleen and Analiese are really the ones who make it all happen. At least they do their part. The scriptures tell us in I Corinthians 3 that God is the one who does the actual growing. Paul says “I plant and Apollo waters, but God does the growing.” He does indeed. We do what we can, and we do that to which we are called, but the growth is a blessing from God alone. This is as true for daily living as it is for the garden. God does the growing.

The quote above comes from the hymn of the same name. It is number 512 in our Hymnal. It speaks of our desire to be a great garden for God. It is allusion to the Parable of the Sower which is found in Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23, and Luke 8:1-15. In the parable Jesus describes a new reality for his people. While God provides the blessing, the good garden, or good soil, doesn’t happen by accident. As you read the parable you see that in the garden of life the devil snatches, worldly worry cripples, and lack of roots lead to death. As disciples of Jesus we are invited instead to be different, we are invited to be good soil so that a great harvest might be borne for the Glory of God.

This summer in our preaching and teaching we will be looking closely at this parable. Our children will hear it every Sunday in DiscipleShop and they will look at the parable in a different way each week. By the end of the summer they will know it by heart. They will also be better equipped to resist the devil, to be less concerned about the cares of the world, they will be taught about how they can grow deep roots in worship, the sacraments, prayer, study and service, and they will most importantly be invited to open to the seed of God’s Word in the person of Jesus.

I hope that you will join our children on this journey. I hope that you support and pray for the 40 volunteers who are teaching them, or that you will attend the adult forums which will track along with our children’s learning. I hope that you will also, again, sing the prayer Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word. May your garden grow and bear a great and glorious harvest.

God’s Peace,
Pastor Kurt