Developing the Soil

July 10, 2011                                                                                  Kingdomtide 4

 

Matthew 13; 1-9, 18-23, plus Mark 12: 28-34 (Jesus gives the greatest commandment.)

 

Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living[1] (1st in Series)

"Developing the Soil"

 

               This week we are beginning a new sermon series. The series is based on the great commandment given by our Lord Jesus Christ and found in Mark 12:28-34, and also in the General Rules which are found in the United Methodist Book of Discipline. We will be focusing on what it means to live the Christian life in the manner of being Methodists. Now, I know this doesn't sound like a very exciting sermon series, but I hope to work hard in bringing to you 3 simple rules, which if we follow them, will enable us to live as individuals and as a community together following the great commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Read Mark)

 

               As most of you know Methodism has as its founder the Rev. John Wesley. Briefly, John Wesley was born in the year 1704, the 15th child of the Rev. Samuel and Susanna Wesley. John grew up to become a serious student, and when he attended Oxford University, he became known as a leader, teacher, and preacher. After his studies he was ordained an Anglican priest by the Church of England.

 

               During his studies at Oxford, John developed a group of Christian friends, men who met once a week to study the Bible, to support each other in their Christian walk, and to participate in mission work in the communities where they lived. This group called the "Holy Club" was a lively and pious bunch of young men (maybe the first "small group").

 

               As is sometimes the case, John Wesley, the minister, was discouraged with the state of the spiritual life of the members of the Church of England. After returning from a failed mission trip in North America, John began to preach in the open air in and around the towns and cities of England. He was not trying to start a church, but rather he was trying to fire up a ministry. John was wanting revival to break out and bring salvation, grace, and the love of God to the people outside the walls of the Church of England. The movement caught fire and soon it was given the name, Methodism.

 

               John Wesley had what I like to call the gift of organization. He organized the movement in a methodical way. He wanted to encourage the followers of Christ within the movement to a life of holiness, where their love for and devotion to God was translated into their devotion and love for all people. Today, you and I continue the Methodist movement which was kindled in the 18th century by the Rev. John Wesley.

 

               As I said, John Wesley had the gift of organization. He and those who came after him designed a denomination with a distinctive polity (rules and organization of the church). The way we do things as Methodists is determined by our Book of Discipline. This book right here. When I was in seminary, and was having trouble sleeping, all I had to do to get to sleep, was to begin reading the Book of Discipline.

 

               Seriously, the Book of Discipline has not only how we run and organize the church, but it also has within it what we believe, the doctrines of our church, and the theology we follow. That theology is distinctively Wesleyan, and is reflected in our understanding of God's grace (prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace). Also contained within the Book of Discipline, is the Wesleyan outline for holy living...the General Rules (¶103).

 

               Before I was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church, I was required to stand before our Annual Conference, and state to our Bishop the General Rules of the church. It was more than a little nerve racking, but I guess you would say that if I know and follow the General Rules, then the church believes that I am suited for ministry in the office of elder. Likewise for all of us, knowing and living and following the General Rules will assist us in living according to the great commandment that Jesus gave us.

 

               What are the General Rules...some of you many already know them, but we'll get to that in a minute. First let's see how our scripture lesson today might reflect on the rules.

 

               This morning our gospel lesson is called by most people, the Parable of the Seeds. Jesus had gotten in a boat and had the disciples push it out into the water. He wanted to get out from the throng of people who were on shore. From that vantage he began to preach and teach. As was Jesus custom, he taught using a parable...a story to illustrate some principle of life in the kingdom of God.

 

               This story that Jesus told was about a farmer. Actually most of us, if we done any farming or gardening, would not agree that this farmer knew what he was doing. Rather than being efficient with his seeding, he went about slinging seeds any and everywhere; on the road, in the ditches, in the rocks, in the weeds, through every thorn, blackberry bush and thicket; everywhere really.

 

               Would you do that? Of course not. Seeds are expensive, and you would not want to waste seed in places where you know it would be eaten by a bird or squirrel. But  apparently wasting seeds does not occur to this farmer. It seems that he must have an unending supply of seeds because he was so openhanded with where he slung them.

 

               Jesus says that some seeds actually fell on soil that he called "good" soil. We farmers in the group would classified that soil as rich, loamy, and fertile. We would expect the soil to be in a sunny, well drained, and easily watered place. That's the kind of soil we would call good.

 

               In this parable there is more than one lesson. In addition to the lesson about the generosity of the sower, there is the lesson of the soil. As Jesus detailed to his disciples, different types of soil receive the seed, but not all seeds take root, flourish, and produce fruit in every soil.

 

               Jesus said that the seeds represent the word of God, and that God deliberately slings God's word into every nook and cranny of the world. Yet, as it falls, it is sometimes snatched away by evil, or takes root...but soon withers when peoples' cares and the trouble of the world destroy what God has planted.

 

               So, what can we do? What can we do so that we can be made into good soil, the kind of ground that is able to receive what God sows in us? Well, there are many things we can do. One primary thing to do is centered on the words Jesus spoke in Mark 12: 30-31. Jesus' great commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength...[and] love your neighbor as yourself."  Jesus said that there is no greater commandment than these.

 

               When we consider what kind of life, what kind of living we are to do as Christians, it is pretty simple. We are to love God and love others. It was from those simple commandments that John Wesley and the Methodist Church established its General Rules. They are as important to learn as any rule there is...so for the next three weeks we will be looking at each of the rules. There are 3. One, Do No Harm; Two, Do Good; Three, Stay in Love with God;

               Of course in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the paragraph that outlines the rules is longer and much more detailed. What we want to do is examine a shortened version of the rules, based on Bishop Reuben Job's book, Three Simple Rules: a Wesleyan Way of Life, from which this series gets its title.

 

               Why do we need to learn these rules? It's because the world need them very badly. During the 20th century, particularly in the years after the 2nd World War, people believed that the world would continue to improve. Twentieth century leaders thought that we could and would learn to live together in peace and harmony. It was believed that because of the enormous sacrifices made and lessons learned through two world wars were enough to move us to seek peace and understanding.

 

               Yet it was not an easy path to follow. Because of our desire for individuality over community we neglected many aspects of our call to faithful communion with one another and with God. Even though we can now make a computer that fits in the palm of your hand, scan through 150 TV channels in an evening, see inside the human body without a scalpel, and make auto fuel out of corn...the world has not improved much.  (Just ask a young person today if they believe the world is getting better.)

 

               In fact, our culture, our world, our well-being is fractured. We are divided by economic development, religion, philosophy, race, and all sorts of competing agendas. Some of these divisions occur within our denominations, churches, even in our families. Though we pray constantly for peace in the world, as yet we have been unable to develop lasting, peaceful coexistence with our neighbors (either next door or an ocean or two away). But Jesus said, we must love our neighbors as ourselves.

 

               It is not news that we as disciples of Jesus Christ, have struggled with our faithfulness to the Lord's great commandment. And because of that, our soil is not as "good" as it could be. Sometimes the word is snatched away from us. We let the worries and trouble of our life choke the word from our hearts, and we allow the persecution we face in bearing fruit, overcome our good intentions. We forget that we are supposed to be loving God with all of ourselves...heart, mind, soul, and strength...and everyone else just as much as we love "number one."

 

               Learning and living by three simple rules will help us develop a rich, loamy, fertile soil. The UMC calls the General Rules our "primer for Holy living."[2] I suppose that is what I need...a primer to help me follow Jesus' great commandment. I want to be the kind of soil, the kind of heart,  that can receive, support and grow fruit for the kingdom of God. To, as Jesus says, yield a harvest of 30, 60, or 100 times..

 

               The Wesleyan way of living...following the three general rules is a simple approach, a primer. Three simple rules...and if we follow them, we can be well on our way to living the life that God wants us to. One: Do No Harm; Two: Do Good; and Three: Stay in Love with God. Next Sunday, we will continue our series as we will look at how God's word is reflected in rule # one.

 

               May God be with us as we develop our own soil and become better able to received the seeds God broadcasts upon us...May God's grace allow them to take root, develop, grow and produce good and plenty fruit. Amen.

 

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