Hi everyone, thanks for clicking on to this
little video from the parish of Caerau with
Ely in West Cardiff.
The Peace of Christ be with you.
God be with you.
In our gospel for this Sunday, we hear Jesus’
parable of the sower, a story about someone
planting seeds, scattering seeds in different
kinds of soil.
Now what do I know about seeds, what do I
know about soil?
Not a lot.
But I do listen to Radio 4’s Gardener’s
Question Time on the car radio when I'm out
driving around in the week And
there’s a phrase that Bob Flowerdew, one
of the panel experts on Gardener’s Question
Time, uses that really speaks to me.
Bob says, ‘feed the soil, not the plant’.
It's like, if you look after the soil, the
plant, on the whole, will do its thing, and
look after itself.
Feed the soil, not the plant.
I understand nothing about gardens, or plants
or flowers.
But that phrase really speaks to me.
When people are concerned about growth, instead
of focusing on the individual plant, look
at the surrounding soil, look at the whole
ecology in which that plant is growing.
So, if there’s a lack of growth, instead
of asking ‘what’s wrong with this plant?’
it might be better to ask, ‘what’s wrong
with this soil’.
Look after the soil, and the plant, on the
whole, will do its thing.
Every living thing is soil-dependent, even,
including, us humanoids.
What’s the soil like, what's the society like, in which we live?
Is it nourishing, is it life-giving, or is
it toxic?
A few years ago, a major study was done by
two researchers, Kate Pickett and Richard
Wilkinson, that looked at the effects of different
kinds of society (soil, we might say) on human
development and flourishing.
Their book was called ‘The Spirit level’
(hmm, ‘Spirit’)...the subtitle of the
book was 'Why More Equal Societies Almost
Always Do Better'.
The conclusions they drew were that more equal
and just societies – societies where wealth,
power, access to health, education and opportunities
were more equally shared, were ones in which
individuals flourished; and that unequal,
unfair societies were ones that eroded trust,
increased anxiety and illness and encouraged
excessive consumption.
In more just and fair societies, in more equal
societies, everyone wins, the poor and the
rich, on a whole list of indices, so, like,
you know, mental health, physical health,
education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility,
trust and community life, levels of violence
and crime.
When there's justice and greater equality,
everyone wins, and when there's inequality,
in the end, everyone loses.
Feed the soil, the surrounding ecology, and
the plants will just do their thing.
Such findings should not surprise readers
of the Bible.
Again and again in the Old Testament, God
says that just societies are blessed, and
unjust societies are cursed; they bless and
curse themselves.
In the Bible, just societies are ones that
care for the orphan, the widows, the stranger
-that's the Bible's way of speaking about
those who have the least amount of power,
those who are weakest and most vulnerable
amongst us.
In Luke chapter 4, Jesus makes it clear that
the work of the anointed one, the work of
the Messiah, is to bring good news to the
poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to
bind up the injured, console the broken hearted
- can you imagine, breathing the air of such
a world?
Can you imagine living in that kind of culture,
that kind of ecology?
Why is that the work of the Messiah, to bring
good news to the poor?
Well, because, when the poorest and the littlest
and the least are blessed and lifted up, everyone
wins.
In our gospel for this Sunday, Matthew chapter
13, Jesus tells a story about a man sowing
seed.
Some of the seed falls on rocky ground, and
the seed finds it hard to put down roots.
Some of the seed lands in soil that’s full
of weeds, so when it grows, it gets choked.
Other seed is just stolen by the birds.
But there’s some soil that’s really good
for the seed, and in this soil, the seed grows
and flourishes.
What kind of soil, what kind of ecology do
we live in ? In the west, we’ve often read
the stories of Jesus as if they were addressed
to us as individuals.
That’s not entirely wrong.
You can read the parable of the sower in that
way.
And so, you might think, what kind of soil
is my own heart for God’s Word?
When God’s Light, when God's Word touches
me, is it met with apathy, indifference?
Is it just crowded out by the cares of this
world?
Does my own selfish behaviour starve that
word, in me?
Does a bit of hardship, a bit of pain or disappointment
kill off the life of God in me?
I just give up?
Or does the soil of my heart nourish God’s
Word?
Do my acts of generosity, prayer and kindness
irrigate that Life in me, nourish it, feed
it?
Feed your faith.
Yes, you can read this story as an individual.
But the thing is, Jewish teachers and prophets
spoke not so much to individuals, but to nations,
tribes, whole groups.
So Jesus’ story could and should make us
ask: what kind of soil, what kind of ecology
have we made together, as families, as communities,
as a nation?
How can we tell?
Well, the measure is how do we treat the poorest,
how are the poorest amongst us doing?
How are those with the least amount of power,
fairing?
In 2007, there was a UNICEF study that compared
the well-being of children across the developed
world.
You don’t want to know where Britain and
America landed on that study.
And, according the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,
things have got worse since that study was
published in 2007.
Britain and America: what kind of soil, what
kind of ecology are we making.
Well, a popular TV show in both the States
and the UK has been the Apprentice.
A one Donald Trump used to host the US version
of the Apprentice.
If you watch the Apprentice, you’ll see
a celebration of the values of capitalism.
In the Apprentice, they love things like decisiveness,
efficiency, competitiveness, coming first.
In the Apprentice, there’s no toleration
for mistakes or failures.
In the Apprentice, surfaces are always clean
and appearances are always sharp.
You need to show the world that you're a winner
and not a loser.
Anyway....
I’m not sure if those values are what work
in the business world (I suspect not).
But what I do know, is that those values are
a disaster for children, for relationships,
for pupils, for parishioners, for churches,
and well, just about anyone, really.
Because what children need, what families,
churches, communities need are the exact opposite
of those capitalist sort of values: kindness,
attention, and patience -lots of patience.
They need an environment where people don’t
get stressed out about mess, or things not
working out or plans that go wrong.
Children need, we all need, a soil, an ecology
that encourages and nurtures, rather than
shouts and shames.
In that kind of environment, we flourish,
and if we don't have that kind of soil, we
perish.
I want to wrap this all up in gospel, in good
news.
Because Christ is good news, Jesus is the
gospel.
So seeds.
God has planted a seed of His life in you,
in us.
In our first reading for this Sunday, the
prophet Isaiah says that in the same way that
rain cannot fall from the sky without touching
the surface of the world, so the seed of God’s
Word cannot fall on you or me without doing
what it was meant to do.
And what was the seed of God's word meant
to do, in you and me?
Carry out the will of God.
And what is the will of God, what is it that
God wants?
1 Timothy 2: 4 – ‘this is the will of
God, that everyone should be saved’.
That seed has fallen on you, to late to do
anything about it.
It cannot fail.
We can delay its growth, choke it, smother
it for a time – maybe even for a long time
– maybe even a life time, but not forever.
You just have to be the soil.
And….it helps, if there’s been a lot of
failure, disaster, shame in your life.
Because, as any gardener will tell you, crap
makes really good manure, and manure makes
really good soil.
