Planting Seeds

Over the years of ministry, I’ve come to enjoy being involved in projects where I can actually see the results: mowing the grass, tearing off old siding on a home and replacing it, putting a fresh coat of paint on things, volunteering for Habitat. I think I enjoy doing these kinds of projects not only because most of my day is spent thinking – in my head, but also because at the end of the day I can look back and say, “Done.” I can see the results.

With so much of ministry, we don’t see the results. We don’t see the immediate impact—sometimes not until years later. Sometimes not at all.

Jesus once told a parable about a man who was sowing seeds. In this parable, He gives a lot of attention to the failure inherent in the endeavor. Three-quarters of the efforts fail! And yet… in spite of the failure, the rejections, the lost seed, time, and energy—in the end, there is a harvest.

Jesus says the kingdom of God is like this…

What’s clear in these parables is that the results are beyond our control. If a seed grows at all, it grows on its own timetable. You can’t force it. Sometimes people will respond—to our invitation to come to church, to our prayers for them, to our generosity or compassion, to our offer of forgiveness. And sometimes they won’t. Sometimes we’ll see the fruit of our work—but sometimes we won’t.

But like the sower, our job is to keep sowing—taking small steps, planting small seeds—and to keep trusting that God will make use of our efforts.

Archbishop and 20th-century martyr Oscar Romero once wrote:

That is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, and an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.

Let us pray:  Meet us today, O God, at the deepest point of our need. We ask for healing, mercy, and grace. And then, even as we are being healed, use us as instruments of your peace. May the seeds we sow be a blessing to you. Amen.