I’d heard the parable of the sower about a million times. I knew it backwards. Jesus was talking about evangelism and people becoming Christians. You know, saying the sinner’s prayer and getting saved by putting your trust in him.
You see, the seeds on the path, the ones that got eaten by the birds, those were the people who doubted; the devil had tricked them into not believing anymore.
The seeds on the rocks that couldn’t take root and got scorched by the sun, they were the people who never went to church. I mean, how can you expect to stay saved and fully believing if you don’t get the right teaching and encouragement? When your friends make fun of you you’re bound to back out quickly if you haven’t got the right support.
But those seeds among the thorns, I never really understood them. Why would the worries of life and wealth stop you believing? Well, anyway, I didn’t really need to worry about that because I was one of the seeds that fell on good soil. And I was going to convert loads of people to believe in Jesus too, producing a crop yielding hundreds.
But then, on the bus the other day I read the parable again. And something struck me that I’d never seen before. Jesus actually said that the parable was about receiving the message of the Kingdom of God and not about becoming a Christian.
Then I began to think about this Kingdom, about being a peacemaker, loving my neighbour (especially the uncomfortable ones), saying no to violence and turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, thirsting for justice, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and caring for creation.
The problem is that I find these things difficult. I’m very busy, not much free time since leaving university. And I’ve just bought a house; most of my money goes on paying the mortgage and doing it up. And then I realised. Far from producing a crop yielding hundreds I’d actually fallen amongst the thorns.
13 comments:
Jon - you are absolutely amazing and very profound.
Thanks Lucinda, you're amazing too. So when are you going to come and visit us in sunny Swansea?
again, excellent post. collectively it should cause us more of a problem though shouldn't it? reminds me of the steve turner poem:
"The Lord God says: 'Share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house, cover the naked.'
Dear Lord God, We have got new carpets, so this will not be possible."
Are there ways to help each other out of the overwhelming obsession with material gain? Does it matter how much we have (in property equity, in disposable income, in how we dispose of our disposable income)... I think being interested enough to talk about this is a minority interest in the church though. And it's so hard not to be judgemental on yourself (and others).
Must be ways to work through it constructively without judging (self or others) or being defeated into inertia by some kind of 'relative judgement' (eg i'm slightly better/worse with greed than the next person along, therefore i should relax/worry a bit)...
Have you ever seen the violets that grow at the same time as, and in amongst, the thorny gorse? Tiny little fragile things but oh so beautiful. Overlooked but not overpowered by the gorse.
Chalky, I think you're right. Not many people really keen to talk about this sort of thing, but we are whoopee! I think being constructuve is the most important. I often paralyse myself with guilt and end up just wallowing in my lack of action.
Liz, I like that picture. The thorns can be overcome!
Yeah, I like that picture too Liz. It's not all about overpowering the weeds, but still the beauty of the violets shines through. Very nice.
What do you mean Jon?
It certainly does make things clear.
Unfortunately I'm better at abstract meaningless words as opposed to concrete actions.
I do have a few things in mind though, they aren't new thoughts but things I've been thinking of for a few years. As I hinted at in the post, the two areas I think are worth considering are how we spend our time and our money.
In my experience it has been fairly easy to get a job that involves helping others. The thing is, I will get paid handsomely on qualification and the working conditions are pretty good. The moral weight of the choice seems to be diminishing. So, I think it would be important to spend around an evening a week volunteering. Doing something for absolutely nothing, no agenda, no benefit.
In relation to money, I've been thinking for ages about doing a wage cap type thing. Deciding how much money I need to live on and then whatever wage increases I get just giving them away. The thing is, this is VERY hard to do. Plus, I don't earn the money in our house and Becky isn't too keen on doing it. How do we decide how much we need to live on?
Anyway, these are my thoughts, what are yours?
I agree to an extent about the job thing. Difficulty is that not everyone can choose their job, and the distinction between helping/ not helping others is not that clear at all.
I get what you're saying about volunteering being incorporated into life rather than just one offs. However, I find that structure is very imporant in developing a lifestyle. This reminds me of the whole legalism vs. grace argument thing that is an issue in Christianity.
It can be very easy to talk about a lifestlye, but when we sit down at the end of the week and think 'but what have i actually done' I usually find that it amounts to nothing. Setting aside time to practice faith can build attitudes (very similar to the old monastics and their spiritual and physical practices). Of course, if it stops there and the rest of the week doesn't reflect that then we are missing the point. The difficulty is that without actually setting time aside to do things as opposed to talk about them then we usually get nowhere.
I see your setting up a co-op as one such practice. Specific actions that reflect your intentions.
Really good debate going on.
Monsier Matthews, I too think that you shouldn't put down your chosen vocation. You could easily have done sometihng different. Sure it's going to be well paid, but I'm fairly certain you could have found a job that was a)better paid, b) had better opportunities c)was more 9-5 etc.
At the end of the day you're working with messed up people, and that is always going to put more of a strain on you than figures and profits because it MEANS more. Its all about people.
In fact I did a talk at church on Sunday, and I was saying that it's all about people- that they are the high point of creation, that if Jesus had a choice between winning a theological argument, more money, or a person, he would always go with the person. I even mentioned you as an example! I said that even though you were a smart cookie (now don't let all this go to your head), your understood that it was about people, and people in need.
Well done Jon!
Scriv (I still love you by the way), tell us more about the Peace church farm idea. Is there a definate timescale and plan. And will you and Mrs Scriv go to live on the farm?
Old Jon Scrivener had a farm
ee-i-ee-i-oh
And on that farm he had a peace church
ee-i-ee-i-oh
With shalom shalom here
and shalom shalom there
Old Jon Scrivener had a farm
ee-i-ee-i-oh
Old Jon Scrivener had a farm
ee-i-ee-i-oh
And on that farm he had some chavs
ee-i-ee-i-oh
With a bling bling here
and a burberry burberry there
Old Jon Scrivener had a farm
ee-i-ee-i-oh
I could go on...
Tim, thanks for the compliment. Don't worry, with an abusive wife like mine, nothing will be able to go to my head.
Hannah, the flats idea sounds really interesting. Might be hard to find pile of flats together though. Keep us updated.
Jon, glad you're not becoming a cult. I'm into fads as well. Start things and then never continue, so I see where you're coming from. I guess it has to be a balance. You have to actually commit to doing things otherwise not much will get done, but if you then compartmentalise your life so justice and peace etc. only relate to one night a week then something is very wrong. I think being part of an active group is a big bonus, makes it easier to become immersed in the right things. It sounds like you've found such a group, congrats!
Scriv, I think you have made a realy important point about justice being a bit of a fad for the church at the moment.
I think there are a few different issues here. First of all, the church has been involved in many of the big social issues around the world- the abolition of slavery, beginning of hospices, schools for the poor, etc. Obviously we've screwed up a lot of people to, but I think there has probably been a consistent social presence in the church from it's inception right up to the present day.
However, I think that there is definately an issue of 'fadism' here too. Are churches really going to be up for social action projects for the long haul (you mentioned schools, and I think the same is true of politics, is David Spameron jumping on a bandwagon only to jump off it when there is something else about?)
And does the church really see justice as an issue that is foundationally important? I showed Amos 5:21-24 to some of the youth the other day. It's one of my favourite verses, because God says he hates their festivals and singing because they don't live with justice and righteousness.
You know about the year of jubilee thing with Israel (Lev 25), where every 7 years everything was returned to the original owner. Well guess how many times Israel managed to put that in to practice? NONE! Apparently, they never fulfilled God's plan for justice in their society. Crazy.
Here endeth the lesson.
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