Study for "A Summer Thanksgiving"

We have a little garden that reminds me of Skittles or Jelly Bellies— great bursts of flavor out of something so small! Our garden is a tiny tract of jungle—in bins, fenced, and parked on a sunny corner of our driveway. Extra pots nearby hold plants that are less susceptible to critter-munching. It’s not a garden to feed many bodies, but it feeds. For one thing, the flavors of newly-picked veggies are richer than those from a grocery store. But there’s also a matter of “grounding.” When our kids were young, it seemed important that they see the miraculous processes that make our food, and begin to appreciate as well, the work of people who help provide it. And, as our song “A Summer Thanksgiving” points out, the special freshness of just-harvested food does remind us of God’s fabulous Creation and how God himself considered it “good” (e.g. Genesis 1:11-13). Fast forward to modern times, and plants are still a blessed miracle. We can call it “photosynthesis” and study the intricate internal structure of cellular chloroplasts. We can understand that light energy is captured by chlorophyll and used to build plant parts through reactions that, overall, combine carbon dioxide from the air with water. Certainly, soil contributes also, but the bulk of plant substance is actually constructed from water and (thin) air. It’s better than any magician’s trick! Jesus, of course, didn’t speak about photosynthesis, but he often used plant examples to teach about God. The famous “Parable of the Sower” ends with how a seed falling into good soil can produce 30, 60, or a hundred times the original input (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23, or Mark 4:3-8, 13-20, or Luke 8:4-8, 11-15). God’s math, God’s multiplication, shines out again in the famous story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, when five small loaves and two fish, through the work of Jesus, filled more than 5,000 hungry people (Matthew 14:13-21, or Mark 6:30-44, or Luke 9:10-17, or John 6:1-13). Or, consider the Parable of the Mustard Seed, about how a tiny mustard seed grows into a bird-sheltering garden tree (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, or Luke13:18-19). (As I list all these similar Bible references, I notice how important it was to the Gospel writers that we know God’s massive power of increase! Even in the Old Testament, however, we find a wonderful image of God’s bounty in Leviticus 26:9-10, and how that bounty is meant to be shared, e.g. in Deuteronomy 24:19-22.) It’s more than a matter of God’s bounty with food or plants, though. Jesus explained that the Parable of the Sower is really about the multiplying influence of God’s word when someone takes it into their heart, then lives it out among other people. Among those people, some will also take it to heart, and then…. I think this multiplication also applies to acts of kindness, and other “fruits of the spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. After all, a plant’s fruits not only feed people; they hold seeds for even more harvests. Jesus wants our lives to bear fruit, and will help us begin (Luke 13:1-9, especially 6-9). However, his explanation of the Parable of the Sower shows how the scattered seeds of God's message might not always take hold in people to produce it. The details of that marvelous parable are worth studying, but it's not my intention to do that here. Actually, "A Summer Thanksgiving" is a joyful harvest song, and is meant to be just that. Certainly, at planting time with our garden, I did prepare the soil with fertilizer, arrange a weed-reducing barrier, and plant the seeds. We also provided water on some days. But really, the main miracle of plant growth is the Lord's! In spiritual matters, the same thing is true: We might sow some seeds—which needs to happen—but the growth is from God! (1 Corinthians 3:6) With plants or with people, we don't always notice that growth from day to day, and we don't always understand it or contribute much to it. The growing happens because of God. A lesser-known parable of Jesus’ in Mark 4:26-29 particularly makes this point about the Kingdom of God, but we also know this from experience: Just recently, My husband and I were complimented over a tiny kindness we did decades ago. We have no memory of what it was, but the beneficiary counted it as valuable. I like to think that, in Heaven, we might meet some of the people that we don’t know we’ve helped, or hear the stories of how God increased the impact of some small kindnesses. I do like thinking that good actions make a difference, but I also know that I won’t see all the results in this life. We all go through times that seem like “winters” in terms of not seeing growth. Yet, we still trust that things will grow, and so move ahead to plant. (See Jesus' other reference to mustard seeds in Luke 17:6 or Matthew 17:20. Even small amounts of faith in God's power can accomplish huge things.) When winter keeps temps cold here, I like planting seeds in the house. This past year (still part of Covid), I planted a few tiny slices of grocery-store grape tomatoes in some potting soil. They grew, and needed bigger containers, until I finally had about 50 tomato plants in sawed-off milk jugs on the living room floor. When it was safe to start summer planting, we gave them away to friends and even strangers. (Funny, as we left out some plants for others to take, someone left us some pepper plants in return, and we were blessed, too! It reminds of Ecclesiastes 11:1) Anyway, it’s been fun. I can also tell you that this sense of returned blessing isn’t unusual for God’s kingdom. The Apostle Paul wrote of it in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah also wrote how those who work to satisfy the hungry or oppressed are like a “well-watered garden’ (Isaiah 58:6-14, especially verse 11). But here’s another cool gardening image that resonated with me while preparing this study: Hosea 10:12 lends us a deep sense of anticipation as it says to “break up [our] unplowed ground” in expectation of what God is going to do. With similar thoughts let us end with Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV*): Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. *THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.