A good farmer (and gardener) knows that for plants to grow, the soil needs to be cultivated. It needs to be worked. It needs to be turned over.
But often, that process of turning over the soil isn’t a delicate one. Think of the last time you thrust a spade into the ground. The spade distrubs the soil, breaking it up. It’s for the plant’s benefit that the soil is loosened up and turned over. But the act of cultivation is actually quite an agreesive act.
In our Gospel reading this past Sunday, we heard the parable of the sower in which seed falls in various environments. The sower (which, one might interpret as God) sows the seed of the kingdom liberally, without worrying about where it lands. If it lands on concrete, so be it. If it lands on fertile soil, so be it. God faithfully spreads the seed of God’s Word.
But, God also faithfully nurtures and cultivates us to receive God’s Word. Which, at times, might feel a bit disruptive. Discomforting. Because turning over the “soil” of our lives, our world, our church, might shake things up a bit. It might loosen things up a bit. And, it might turn some things over.
And yet, as God does this work, our lives, our world, and our church is now able to more fully receive the seed of God’s Word.
So if it feels as though you’ve been “shaken up” or “turned over” or “loosened up” in your faith at some point, take heart. For God is not working for your demise. Quite the opposite. God is seeking to invite us into this work of cultivation so that the seed of God’s Word takes root, grows, flourishes, and bears fruit…for our sake, and for the sake of the world.