Seed-sowing Time

Seed-sowing Time  

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, April 11, 2021

Psalm 126:5-6; Mark 4:26-32

A couple of months ago, a Burgess seed and plant catalog unexpectedly showed up in our mailbox.  I have no idea why or how I got on the company’s mailing list, as I have not ordered any seeds or plants in years, unless one of our United Church members signed me up to receive the catalog (which is quite okay if you did) or one of the many Earth-related magazines I receive sold my name and address. 

At any rate, I was happy to receive the seed catalog, and I have spent some time perusing it, as I have been thinking about improving the landscaping around our house to add more life and color. 

Actually, my love for flower and garden seeds goes way back to my childhood.  When I was 9 or 10 years old, I would get invitations in the mail from the American Seed Company to be one of their youth salesmen.  The best I can recall, this was the way it worked: I received a letter and order from in the mail in late winter or early spring, and I was to select any combination of 50 packets of flower and vegetable seeds which were shipped in a nice little box that could easily be carried from house to house.  My grandmother would sit down with me and advise me on the types of seeds that people were more apt to purchase from me.  A couple of weeks after I placed the order, my box of seeds would arrive in the mail.  And off I would go, walking up and down our road, knocking on neighbors’ doors and asking, “Would you like to buy some seeds?”  I think the seed packets sold for 50 cents each.  When I sold all the seeds, I got to keep $9 for myself, and I sent the rest to the seed company.  Such was good business experience at an early age.

Well, that seed catalog I received in the mail this February got me to thinking and served as the first inspiration for today’s sermon topic.

The second inspiration for today’s sermon topic was something Dolly Parton said, also back in February.  As you know, Dolly donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center which helped produce the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (the vaccine that I happened to receive, by the way).  Upon receiving the Moderna vaccine in her own arm, Dolly joked, “I’m getting a dose of my own medicine.” 

But here is what Dolly said regarding her $1 million gift that helped produce the Moderna vaccine that helped inspire today’s sermon: “I was just so happy to be a small part and to plant a seed that would grow into something bigger.”  The positive impact Dolly’s “small seed” has had on the world proved to be phenomenal.  But anyone who knows anything about Dolly Parton knows that the “small seeds” she has planted over the years to help meet human need and improve the lives of her native Sevier Countians, as well as children everywhere, have been anything but small.

And so, it seemed to me that an appropriate sermon topic for today is “Seed-sowing Time.” 

Well, Jesus left us a number of parables focusing upon seeds and sowing.  We have read just two of them this morning.  In these two short parables, Jesus speaks of the good seeds of the Kingdom of God that are sown, that produce a hundred-fold, and lead to a harvest of blessing.

Isn’t sowing the good seeds of the Kingdom of God as Jesus preached it what all of us should be about in our daily lives?  And isn’t the world ripe and ready today for the type of good seeds that we can and should be sowing?

One of the other Kingdom of God parables about seeds and sowing that Jesus taught speaks of a man who sowed good seeds in his field.  But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the good seeds so that there was competition between the good seeds and the bad seeds (Matthew 13:24-30). 

The sad truth of the matter is there are people bent on sowing bad seeds in the world that grow into ugly fruit that threatens all of us.  I am talking about the seeds of hatred, racism, injustice, violence against minorities or certain ethnic groups, lies and conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact but are aimed at hurting the innocent, and so on.  Such seeds are sown on a regular basis, which makes it all the more imperative that we sow the good seeds of the Kingdom of God.  

Dolly Parton has sown the seeds of generosity time and again that have impacted countless lives for the better.  None of us can sow the seed of generosity on the scale that Dolly has; but we who have continued to be blessed throughout this pandemic can sow the seed of generosity at some level, as many families are hurting and hungry and the generosity seeds we can sow could bless their lives tremendously.

The world is ripe and ready for the seeds of kindness and compassion.  The seeds of hatred and white supremacy and racism have been sown with vengeance these past few years, producing a harvest of threat and fear among some segments of society.  Many could benefit from our seeds of kindness and compassion as we let people know that not everyone espouses or condones such hateful beliefs, feelings, and actions.

The world is ripe and ready for the seeds of equity and justice.  As white Americans, we have been shielded and perhaps blind to the inequities and injustices that minorities have dealt with for centuries: inequities and injustices in education, fair housing, work opportunities, and level of pay; the fear of driving a car not knowing when you might be pulled over and arrested or worse because of the color of your skin; and so on.  So it is important that we plant seeds of equity and justice by the way we vote and take a stand for the right and oppose that which is wrong.

Yes, it is seed-sowing time, on more than one level.  I began decades ago spreading seeds around my neighborhood as a young entrepreneur.  Now I am called to spread the seeds of the Kingdom of God and to encourage you to do the same.  The time for planting Kingdom seeds is right; it is now.  The world is more than ready to receive the Kingdom seeds we can plant as we live our lives each day – the seeds of generosity, kindness, compassion, equity, and justice.  We sow them through the words we speak, the choices we make, the stands we take, the votes we cast, and the causes we support.  But we have to make a conscious decision and concerted effort to do so.  As Sister Joan D. Chittister reminds us, “Everything we do seeds the future.  No action is an empty one.”

So, let’s not waste another day of planting season.  Let us get busy, because it is Kingdom seed-sowing time!  Amen.