Tend to Your Heart

Based on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
First delivered July 12, 2020
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr 

            Seed, according to the direction on the packet, are to be planted in a certain way. For cucumbers, the seed is to be planted 1 inch underground. Each plant is to be 24 inches apart from each other. Each row is spaced 36 inches apart. For carrots, the seed is to be planted ¼ to ½ inch. Once the seeds sprout, they are to be thinned to 2-4 inches. But before you plant your seeds, the soil needs prepared. You need to till it up a little to loosen the soil. You want to remove rocks. You have to pull up any weeds. You will want to add compost. It takes effort to prepare the soil before you start planting seeds.

            But the sower in this parable Jesus shares did not seem to take the time to prepare the soil. Nor did he read the seed packets. He just walked around throwing seed everywhere. Where the seed landed seemed to make no difference to the sower. Whether the seed landed on good soil, rocky soil, weed choked soil or hard clay paths, the sower just scattered seed. What happened after that was up to the reaction between the seed and the soil. The seeds either germinated and grew and produced fruit, or they didn’t. The sower had done his job.

            I can imagine that those who heard Jesus tell this parable first thought to themselves that this sower was pretty careless, wasting good seed like that. Not only careless, but also lazy. He didn’t put in the work to prepare the soil for seeding. Just on the first hearing, without thinking about it, the sower doesn’t come off well.

            Jesus clears that up a little bit. He helps us understand who the sower is and what the seed represents. The sower is Jesus. Jesus was accused of a lot of things, but I don’t recall anywhere in the gospels where Jesus was called careless or lazy. The seed represents the gospel and the teachings of Jesus. As the sower scattered seed everywhere, so Jesus proclaims the gospel and his teachings everywhere. Wherever he went he was spreading his gospel and his teachings. He didn’t talk only to his disciples, not only to friends and family, not only to the religious people, but to anyone and everyone.

            Jesus proclaimed his teachings to everyone, whether they were prepared to receive the teaching or not. Jesus did not take the time to cultivate people and make sure they were able to receive the teachings. He didn’t target the teachings only at those who would be able to receive it. No, Jesus’ job was to spread the teachings. It was up to the people to receive. And not everyone had the same capacity to receive those teachings or allow those teachings to take root and bear fruit in their lives. Some people have hard hearts, as hard as a beaten down path of clay. Those teachings were just bouncing off their hearts for the birds to eat. Some have hearts that are shallow. There isn’t much of substance there and their hearts are full of rocks. Some have hearts that are like a garden full of thorns and weeds, filled with anxiety or lured by the pursuit of wealth, so the seeds of Jesus’ teachings get choked out and fail to grow. But then there were those whose hearts are soft and rich, like rich soil, prepared to receive those teachings so they can root in and produce good fruit, a life filled with good deeds that blesses people. Some responded to Jesus’ teachings and it made a difference in their lives. But for many others, the teachings never took root or had a chance to thrive. Their hearts weren’t right.

            So, this is the question for us to ponder. What is the state of our hearts? Have our hearts grown hard? Have our hearts gotten a little rocky? I think all of us are carrying more anxiety than normal because we are living in anxious times. The weeds of anxiety and concerns about our finances are running rampant these days. Are these weeds and thorns starting to take over our hearts? Or have we been able to tend to our hearts so that the teachings of Jesus we have received can grow deep roots and bear fruit in our lives?

            See, the thing about garden soil is that you don’t just plow it up once and you are good to go for the years ahead. You have to continuously be working with the soil and to improve it. Weeding never stops while you are actively gardening. Compost needs to be added throughout the growing season so that nutrients in the soil are being replenished. Those of us who are gardening have been doing a good deal of watering lately. It’s also good practice to leave a part of your garden fallow for a year so that the soil can rest. At least from my limited experience, the greatest amount of work in gardening is caring for the soil. And we aren’t stuck with the soil we start with. When I decided to kill off a section of grass in my backyard and turn it into a small garden plot, I discovered that my soil is full of rocks and very high in clay content. It is not the best. So, I know that I am going to have to continually be adding compost to the soil to enrich it. And sometimes when I get frustrated with all that hard clay I go to the store and buy topsoil to dump on top of that clay so I have soil that is workable. Any of you who have tried to loosen hard clay with a hoe know what I mean about how frustrating that gets. It’s an ongoing process. But over time, that is, over the years, if I keep working on that soil, eventually it will get to what all gardeners want: rich and loamy. No one is stuck with the soil they start out with. Soil can be improved if you put in the work. Soil can also be damaged and can even become infertile if not properly cared for.

            The same thing is true about the tending of our hearts. Yes, it’s important to read the Bible and to hear sermons and teachings. We do need to receive the teachings of Jesus. But I wonder if we focus on those teachings and neglect to focus on the state of the soil, the state of our hearts. Working on our hearts is an ongoing process. If we aren’t careful, our hearts can get pretty hardened as we make our way through life. Especially if our hearts have been walked on a lot, they can get as hard as baked clay. We have to allow our hearts to be broken, even though it hurts, so that our hearts can remain soft and tender and not hard and cold. I have noticed that during the winter months, as the soil expands and contracts as the temperatures bounce in and out of freezing, that stones and rocks start working their way up to the surface. In the spring, when I start working the soil, I find those rocks that have surfaced. As we work on our hearts, we come across some stones. Those stones represent past hurts. They could also be prejudices. They are obstacles that prevent the teachings of Jesus to root deeply in our hearts. We have to regularly be finding and digging up those stones, those obstacles to growth of God’s truth in our hearts. Then there are the weeds of anxiety and the thorny bushes of wealth. If we don’t address these anxieties and cares and pull them out of our heart, then they can choke us. We fret so much that we aren’t able to let the teachings of Jesus bear fruit in our lives. Just as it is good practice to let a section of the garden lie fallow for a year so the soil can rest and replenish, it is good practice for us to give our hearts a rest. Our hearts rest and heal when we carve out some time where we will set aside the cares of the world, quiet our hearts, and rest in the presence of God.

            Just as the soil in the garden is in a constant process of shifting health, so our hearts are in a constant process of shifting health. Our hearts need tending to. If we don’t like the state of our heart, we can do something about it. Over time and with a lot of work, hard clay soil can be transformed into rich loam. No matter how hard, rocky, or weed infested our hearts become, we can do something about that. It is in our hands to do what is needed to soften our hearts, strengthen our hearts, nourish our hearts, heal our hearts.

            How is it with your heart? What is one thing you could do today to improve the condition of your heart? By tending to our hearts, we are better prepared to receive the teachings of Jesus and to have the capacity for those teachings to take deep root in our hearts, to grow, to flourish, to produce good fruit, to live a life that blesses others and blesses God. As you strive to receive and understand the teachings of Jesus and to put them into practice, don’t forget to tend to your heart.