A loving Gardener
Forty years ago, Concordia College (now Concordia University Wisconsin) moved from its longtime location in Milwaukee to its current location in Mequon right along Lake Michigan. It happened between my sophomore and junior years. Let’s just say the campus then as opposed to what it is now was rather underdeveloped. In fact, every time I’m on the CUW campus now and look at the sports fields, I think about my partial summer employment one year that involved walking with a line of people across that area of the “new” campus and picking up rocks so it could be smoothed out. Every time one would look it seemed as if a new rock popped out of nowhere. Those of you who have worked with our Waukesha soil can probably appreciate that. No matter how hard you try to work the soil and get rid of rocks and weeds, they keep popping up.
This weekend’s Gospel reading is Jesus’ parable about a man sowing seed which lands on four different types of soil: packed, rocky, filled with thorns and weeds, and good. It is only the seed that lands in the good soil that not only takes root but produces fruitful plants. The point for the hearer: I want to be the good soil. But unfortunately weeds and rocks find their way into our lives, stunting our spiritual maturity.
So what does the Holy Spirit do, leave us alone? Hardly. He continues to work the soil, working in us a longing for our Lord and His Word. Sometimes we may even find our conscience bothering us, calling us to reprioritize so that our actions go along with our confession that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And sometimes, the Holy Spirit’s work involves the hard work of repurposing our lives for our Lord as other things that have taken precedence and have kept us from maturing in our faith are removed. Changing certain habits is not easy.
But is it worth it? Which would you rather see, a garden filled with rocks and weeds, or one that is beautifully cared for and manicured with a variety of plants and flowers reflecting the wonder of our Lord’s creation? Beginning with your Baptism, you were made a new creation in Christ. Don’t hinder the work the Spirit would do in you through Word and Sacrament. Rather, delight in a loving Gardener who would not only sow the seed of His Word, but also tend to the soil that we might reflect Him through bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)