Homily, June 16, 2024
From The Pastor
God loves to create beautiful things. God has a vision of perfect unity in diversity that reflects the totality of creation, humanity, and the infinity of the universe. Creating beauty is not always easy. Beauty reflects the unity of the coordinating aspects of nature, will, and freedom to participate. Beauty is a virtue and expression of love. The beauty and symphony of the rhythms and colors of nature are a good example.
I can only imagine the love Jesus had for nature and the beauty known in his native land of Israel. Jesus must have pondered the beauty of wood as he worked with Joseph to create sturdy and appealing works of construction. Early life in Israel, like today, depended on the land to produce the plants and vegetables from the earth to sustain viable life and society.
It is obvious to understand why Jesus would use images of agriculture and farming to teach about the Kingdom of God. The beauty of God’s vision for his creation was focused on a Kingdom that will one day come to fruition in the unity and justice of Divine love taught by Jesus. Today’s parables highlight the wisdom and accessible understanding for those who seek to share in the coming of the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is tangible yet not able to be grasped, which is why Jesus is fond of saying ‘the Kingdom of God is like.’ Keep this in mind as we consider the images used by Jesus. The seed images faith and the various processes it goes through coming to fruition. The farmer does his work preparing the soil, weeding, plowing, and fertilizing. He plants good seeds. Despite all his efforts, he takes his rest not knowing how or if the seed will grow. Faith is like that too. Attentive work is required to mature in faith, yet the believer does not know how or when his faith will bear good fruit. Only God can make the seed grow, and only God can bring faith to life through the gift of grace.
Jesus takes care to explain the process. First, the seed is planted in the soil unseen and hidden underground. Faith is similarly hidden and unseen until the stirrings of the heart are perceived. The buried seed must first be softened by the earth’s moisture and warmth to break open so that the blade begins to appear. Then the ear appears. Interesting name. As faith stirs in the heart, the inner ear must listen to its meaning and invitation. In a growing plant, the ear is like a spike that has a central stem tightly packed with flowers. The flowers produce fruits and the fruits bear seeds, each growing in proper order. Faith follows a similar process. First, it is hidden. Then the heart is stirred and begins to listen. Like the kernel of the seed, there must be an opening to receive nourishment that allows the faith to grow. The heart opens to faith, listening to its rhythms of growth that produce various kinds of fruit.
Lastly, the ear produces the full grain, and the harvest time has come. Growing plants and faith takes time and patience. The wisdom of the plant is that it does not reveal its secret. Faith is similar. Who knows why God stirs a heart that produces abundantly, while another strives yet seems less fruitful? Sometimes the slow growers produce the greatest beauty at the most unlikely times.
Faith is dependent on the environment it is given to grow. Some environments are ideal, while others are less than ideal. The soil of an open heart is essential to nurture the seeds of faith. Any believer must attend to the quality of the soil and the nourishment the heart needs to mature in faith. Is the heart divided by competing interests of various distractions, occupations, or temptations? A sincere desire for faith, like the farmer, must surrender control to God who alone can produce the transforming power of faith. Any good farmer will be well schooled in patience, curiosity, and attentive awareness. Faith seekers would be wise to do the same.
Jesus accentuates God’s power to transform even the smallest seed into the largest plant. Again, this is an image of what the Kingdom of God is like. People will inevitably feel their lives are small and of little consequence, yet one never knows how God is using even the smallest seed seeking great faith. Think of the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Old George Bailey had no idea the good his simple life produced.
What about the life of the Rich Young Man? Did he ever wake up and surrender to the Lord in faith? How about the man at the pool for thirty-eight years that Jesus healed in a moment. Did he accept that grace? We know the story of Peter and all his bumbling missteps that in the end bore the fruit of the Church to which we belong.
God sees your life as beautiful. Give attentive awareness to the seeds of faith in your heart. Be open. Allow God to till the soil, open the seed, and bear much fruit. The grace of transformation is up to God. You only have to say yes and listen.
Father John Esper
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