Germination | Agricultural Grace
Week One: The possibility of faith.
Agricultural Grace | A 5-Week Series
The image of a garden– sowing, planting, and nurturing seeds gives us a way to reflect on our own spiritual growth and the ways that grace shows up in our lives. Sometimes we need to be reminded that not everything is a quick fix. Growth takes time. Grace transforms. We plant seeds and wait with the truth that God is always with us.
Germination
1 Corinthians 15:35-38 (CEB)
But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come back?” Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies. What you put in the ground doesn’t have the shape that it will have, but it’s a bare grain of wheat or some other seed. God gives it the sort of shape that he chooses, and he gives each of the seeds its own shape.
We don’t get fruit the first day we plant the seed. We must wait.
The image of a garden– sowing and nurturing seeds, waiting for a harvest. It offers us a way to reflect on our growth as people of God. We are invited to ask, who are we? Who are we called to be? What are we called to do? In a time when hope is desperately needed by so many, it is good to be reminded that not everything is a quick fix. Growth takes time. It requires patience and hard work. We plant seeds and wait with the truth that God is always with us.
This week our text comes from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
In the first 14 chapters, Paul talks about very practical things that apply to the church in Corinth. In this letter Paul is concerned with order and morality. He tried to help the church in Corinth understand that their relationship with Jesus Christ should impact their behavior.
BUT it is more than just rules to follow. It is rooted in the conviction that a relationship with Jesus determines how we see ourselves and how we relate to others. Paul is calling the Corinthians (and now us) to consider— how does our relationship with Jesus Christ affect all of the relationships in our lives?
Most Bible scholars agree that Paul visited Corinth at least three times and probably spent over a year there. So with this first letter, it seems like Paul is trying to circle back to his people — round up those who have strayed, become lost, or have not grown in their faith as much as he had hoped.
Then we get to chapter 15. In chapter 15, Paul addresses what he would consider the heart of the Gospel – the resurrection of the Body. Paul insists that Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. In chapter 15, Paul uses this metaphor of a seed and planting to illustrate the resurrection. “Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies.” (1 Cor 15:36)
Have you ever thought about what is necessary for resurrection? What is the one thing that has to happen in order for resurrection to take place?
Death.
You cannot experience resurrection without death.
I was at a clergy meeting recently where a colleague was sharing his heart and hopes for the future of the church. Not just our local congregations, but the CHURCH of Jesus Christ! He said that he looked at his congregation and asked them if they needed some dirt. What needs to die, he said? What do we need to bury in order to experience resurrection?
Now Paul says that the seed dies, and in a sense, I guess it does. It gives itself up. It ceases to be a seed and opens itself up to new possibilities and growth. Literally.
Today we look at the image of seeds germinating —which Paul uses as a metaphor for resurrection. A release from that which binds us to the past, an inbreaking and indwelling of God, an infusion of the Spirit.
I have learned a lot about the germination of seeds. Germination is the process a seed goes through when it “wakes up” from its dormant state and starts to grow. Seeds are self-contained systems that have most of what they need to get themselves started, but there are three things that are needed: air, water, and warmth.
I wonder how we can wake up from our dormant states. What are the conditions we need that will break us open for new life and possibility? What do our seeds of faith need in order to wake up and start to grow?
I don’t have an exhaustive list, but a few things came to mind.
I think we need…
Prayer: For a long time, I thought that prayer’s purpose was to change the outcome of situations. And maybe sometimes it does. I’m wondering, though, if prayer is not just about changing outcomes, but about changing us. If prayer is our way of communicating with God, of cultivating a deep spirituality, then prayer transforms us. It wakes us up.
I think we need…
Grace: But not the Sunday best, Jesus is my boyfriend kind of grace. We need a grace that is wild, catches us off guard, and sustains us in the wilderness. A daily grace that takes us to the very edge of our own capabilities and says, keep going— I got it from here. A grace that is real and raw and practical. That is not afraid of hard conversations and is consumed with love.
I think we need…
Community: We need one another. We know that for Paul, the Christian faith is lived in community. We cannot do this alone.
I think we need…
The Holy Spirit: To acknowledge the Holy Spirit at work in the world. To trust that the Spirit is working when we can’t see what is happening beneath the dirt. For just when we think all hope is lost, new life springs forth.
p.s. If you go to your local seed store, Home Depot or a local nursery and start to read the information on the back of the seed packets, then you will notice that different seeds germinate at different rates. From 1 week to a few months, it depends on the seed.
Questions for Reflection:
How often do we try to rush the work of God?
What are the conditions we need that will break us open for new life and possibility?
What comes to mind when you start to consider new possibilities?