What do Quinoa, soil grown Tulips, Willow Creek, CA and C.S. Lewis have in common? Find out in a sermon titled “Good Soil”
Blue Lake Presbyterian | 7-16-2017
Welcome to the Blue Lake Presbyterian Church
Today’s sermon is titled “Good Soil”
I like to start with a joke about an old farmer who bought a piece of creek bottom land that had never been developed. Full of rocks and brush and thorns, He started in on it, clearing the underbrush and hauling away the rocks one by one.
Then cultivating the soil and he planted a garden with everything from vegetables, on to corn. It really became a garden spot, he was pretty proud of what he had done, so one Sunday morning, after the service, he asked the preacher if he would stop by, and have a look.
When the preacher arrived, he took a look and said: this is wonderful. These are the biggest tomatoes I have ever seen, praise the Lord. Look at these green beans, that squash, those melons.
The Lord has really blessed this place. Look at the height of that corn. God has really been good. The old farmer was listening to all of this, and at one point blurted out: Reverend I wish you could have seen it, when the Lord was working it by himself.
Here is a question: What is the difference between a dressmaker and a farmer? A dressmaker sews what he gathers; but a farmer gathers what he sows.
Sowing seeds in good soil is the central theme of today’s message,
Has anyone ever heard of Quinoa? Quinoa is a grain; it is gluten free, and high in protein. It originated in Andean mountains of Peru and Bolivia. Production of quinoa came to the USA in the 60’s and was first grown at high elevations in Colorado.
You may ask, why high elevations? The reason is: Quinoa does not like temperatures above 85 for seed development. Not above 85? that would qualify the coastal region of Humboldt with temperatures rarely exceeding 70 degrees……
Believe or not, in terms of California Quinoa production, Blue Lake is the center of the universe. Blake Richard a local famer in Blue Lake, brought quinoa to Humboldt 20 years ago. He started out with a few rows. Last year over 500 acres of Quinoa were grown in Humboldt County by 10 local Quinoa farmers.
At Sun Valley, most of our flowers are grown in greenhouses. Only a small portion, like summer Iris comes from the field.
We use a very long crop rotation cycle; consequently most of our fields in Arcata are planted with pasture, which are leased to local dairy farmers. Last year someone suggested we grow Quinoa. After organically certifying some of the fields, we became part of the group of local farmers growing quinoa for Lundberg.
We planted 10 acres in the spring of 2016, sowing 25 lbs./acre. Inexperienced with growing this crop, our first harvest yielded 1000lbs/acre or 40 fold what we had originally seeded. In October Lundberg organized a meeting to review the season and the yield/ acre of all the farmers in the group.
Some farmers yielded more than 100 fold what was originally planted; others scored as low as 20 times. This wide range of yield, depended on the location, on the soil and on the richness of the soil. In other words it depended on how “good” the soil was.
In the bible there are many references about soil and sowing seeds. In Genesis 2:5 the bible says: No shrub had yet appeared on the earth, and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no one to cultivate the soil.
The first mention of sowing seeds comes in Genesis 26:12, when Isaac sowed seed in the land and in the same year reaped a hundred fold what he planted
The theme of sowing seeds repeats itself 30 times in the Old Testament in a wide range of books of the bible.
In the New Testament sowing is mentioned only 17 times, and most refer, to the parable of the sower, which brings us to today’s reading of Matthew 13:1-8 and 18-23 which can be found on page……..
13That same day Jesus went out of the house, and sat beside the sea. 2Such great crowds gathered around him, that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!”
18“Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away, what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for, what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one, who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one, who hears the word, and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Friends, the parable of the sower is one of the most familiar parables in the bible. In their list of top ten parables “beliefnet.com” lists the parable of the sower as #1.
This parable is recorded in three Gospels, Mark, Luke and Matthew. Of the 40 parables that are recorded in those three gospels, 7 of them can we found in Matthew 13, more than any other chapter in the bible. I guess we can call Matthew 13 “Parable Central”. In this collection of 7 parables, Jesus depicts the pathway to the Kingdom.
Only twice in the bible does Jesus explains what a parable means. He does so, in the parable of the mustard seed, and also in today’s reading. The explanation how seeds grow in various kinds of soil, is an allegory for the varying responses to the word of the Kingdom.
This clear explanation by Jesus, would seemingly, leave little left to talk about this morning.
But it also raises profound questions. For instance, who qualifies as “good soil”?
Is the soil analogy that Jesus used, in the parable of the sower, descriptive of people, or does it depict the state of mind affecting our hearts. The distinction between those two is very relevant.
Because if we are predestined, like the plot of land with either good soil or rocky soil. Since soil cannot change itself, is there any hope for the hardened, rocky, and thorny soil? Are these destined to be unproductive forever? Then the premise would be, that mankind cannot change.
On the other hand if the distinction is, that people’s hearts, can be affected. Then, there is hope for all people. Let me illustrate this with following example.
In Willow Creek we started a farm, on an abandoned pasture field, along the Trinity River, and it had several terraces with different types of soil, and one corner of the field had mostly river rock, the type of rocky soil that Jesus described in his parable.
Nothing would grow in that corner. First thing we did, we brought in the tractor from Arcata, with a land leveler and moved arounds thousands of yards of soil, and created a gently sloping field, with a sufficient layer of topsoil, that even the rocky corner would grow good crops.
So it is, with the hearts of people that can be cultivated and hardened souls can be softened with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
The sower is the main character in the parable; he scatters his seed carelessly, recklessly, seemingly wasting much of the seed on ground that holds little promise for a fruitful harvest. Common sense would say, he wastes his time with tax collectors and sinners, with lepers, the demon-possessed, and all kinds of outcasts.
Yet he promises, that his wasteful sowing of the word will produce an abundant harvest. So what does “good soil” truly mean? Who are those who hear the word and understand it, and indeed bear fruit”.
We trust that he will not give up on us, but that he will keep working on whatever is hardened, rocky, or thorny within and among us. We trust in his promise to be with us, to the end of the age.
All the Tulips and Oriental lilies (Stargazer) are grown in crates filled with soil. We use composted bark as the core ingredient for the soil that grows these beautiful tulips.
Many tulips across the world, are grown in just water nowadays, but nothing can rival the quality, of Tulips that are grown in soil, particularly the composted bark that we use in Arcata, it is so full of nutrients and microbes, from the continuous composting process, that no chemicals are needed to control root diseases.
No matter what the underlying soil in the greenhouse may be, like pure sand or gravel with zero nutrients it doesn’t matter, it is the soil inside the crates that is important, it is this soil that is good soil.
When we plant, Tulips or Lilies, or if the sower, would sow his seeds in it, the end result is the same. Beautiful plants will grow from it, resulting in a bountiful harvest. It like that with our faith, it will grow increasingly strong, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
So let’s take a look at some real life examples of how providing good soil can make the difference, so the seeds of faith have a chance to grow and develop into nice plants with beautiful flowers.
A few months ago in the sermon #19 called “thirsty” we discussed Lee Strobel, a self-proclaimed Atheist, who for many years was unreceptive to hearing the word, the seeds fell on a rocky soil and wouldn’t even germinate, but at one point, a small patch of “good soil” was cleared, when Lee Strobel started to notice the differences in his wife, who had recently become a believer.
The seed sprouted and grew into a bountiful harvest so large that the seeds of his faith have scattered across the planet, as Lee Strobel today is a World renowned evangelist.
C.S. Lewis, left his childhood Christian faith to spend years as a determined atheist. No matter what seed was planted, it fell on rocky soil; a hardened heart, was receptive to hearing the word.
Lewis’s long journey away from, and then back to faith, began with his mother’s death from cancer, when he was a boy. Disillusioned that God had not healed his mother, Lewis set out on a path toward full blown rationalism and atheism.
In his autobiography “Surprised by Joy” he describes the perils that attacked, and then undermined, the foundations of his atheism, including the beauty of nature and art, the gift of joy, encounters with friends like J.R.R. Tolkien, and reading books of Chesterton and Macdonald. These three names in particular, played a crucial role in the conversion of Lewis.
The books of Chesterton, and MacDonald affected him deeply, the rocks were hauled away one by one from that rocky patch of soil, and the underbrush was being cleared. Lewis wrote: I did not know, what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful, of his reading.
Eventually it was Tolkien’s friendship, that brought him to an encounter with Christ. C.S. Lewis the intellectual, had his dark night filled with light, and his life changed forever.
From that moment forward, he became a passionate defender of his restored faith and he popularized Christian truth in a distinguished way. He wrote 30 books accentuating Faith Grief and Love. Those books are still popular to this day.
The sower scatters his seed carelessly, recklessly, seemingly wasting much of the seed on ground, that holds little promise for a fruitful harvest.
For the last 3 months we have put flowers out in the community here in Blue Lake, with a flyer attached to each bunch, about the church service on the third Sunday of the month. Some folks have questioned why we keep doing this. We have seen great turnouts each time we are here, but attendance from the surrounding neighborhood so far has been sparse.
I am determined, to keep doing what we are doing, because just like the sower sows his seeds, no matter where it seems to be falling, the word of the Lord, will find itself in the right place, at the right time, particularly when a patch of good soil is cleared, for the seed to grow.
As believers we have a role to play in this, by providing the opportunity for seed to germinate. We need to tell our story; Lee Strobel converted because his wife told her story and he noticed the profound changes in her.
Prepare for witnessing, is like preparing the soil, bring in some composted bark, and make the ground ready for planting the seed.
Be genuinely interested in the other person. Take time to listen and care about the difficulties they may have. J.R.R. Tolkien had deep discussions with C.S. Lewis until deep in the night.
Commit to spend the time. Just a few minutes of heartfelt conversation could be enough. Don’t put it off. Others may be ready to receive Christ right now. The patch of soil may be cultivated, all ready to go for the seed to fall and grow.
God wants to convert and heal us, is the soil of our heart cultivated? Are we opening our heart to God?
“Good soil” hears the word, and understands it, and it bears fruit more than 100 times just like that Quinoa at harvest time.
God showers us with all the graces in the world. The Lord wants us to be fruitful, but for that to happen, we should allow his word to enter our hearts.
Let our faith, bear fruit, embrace it with all your heart.
Let us become, the fertile soil which receives the gospel and bears fruit, by following Jesus Christ and accepting him as our Lord and Savior
Thank you
God Bless you,
Amen
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