{"id":614,"date":"2021-03-31T08:28:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T12:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=614"},"modified":"2021-03-31T08:28:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T12:28:28","slug":"the-four-soils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/31\/the-four-soils\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four Soils"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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(c) Redeeminggod.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout Lent, we\u2019re exploring the parables of Jesus \u2013 the two dozen or so stories that were his chief means of describing the reality of God\u2019s rule on earth. <\/strong>

Indiana, which I have called home for most of my life, is a state divided. 

It\u2019s all because of a glacier.

The Wisconsin Glaciation, which happened about 30,000 years ago, covered all of Canada and most of the Upper Midwest with enormous sheets of slowly moving ice. 

The ice traveled as far south as the southern edge of modern-day Indianapolis.  It would have been a sight to see.  Geologists say the frozen wall would have towered far above the downtown skyline and the arenas where March Madness is currently underway. 

When the glaciers finally retreated, they left behind the Great Lakes and two very different Indiana landscapes.  The northern half of the state was crushed under the ice for thousands of years.  It\u2019s flat as a pancake and boasts some of the most fertile soil on the planet.  The southern half of the state was spared the Wisconsin chapter of the Ice Age.  It features gently rolling hills interspersed by hollers and gulches.  Many of our nation\u2019s most beautiful buildings are graced by blocks of southern Indiana limestone, which lies near the surface of the ground and is easily accessible. 

Indiana\u2019s \u201cfarm state\u201d reputation rests largely on the legacy of the northern ground conditions left behind by the Wisconsin Glacier. 

It\u2019s a lot harder to raise crops on the slope of a southern hill crisscrossed by jutting limestone bedrock.

Rocks, weeds, changes in elevation, and differing depths of soil have been agricultural variables for thousands of years.  That was certainly true in the time of Jesus.  The crowds that heard him teach almost certainly had their share of Palestinian farmers.  They no doubt smiled when he presented what has become one of his most famous parables:

\u201cWhat do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the path, and birds ate it. Some fell in the rocky soil; it sprouted quickly but didn\u2019t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell amongst the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.  Are you listening to this?  Really listening?\u201d<\/em>  (Matthew 13:3-9)

In Bible times, farmers would \u201cbroadcast\u201d their seed \u2013 that is, throw handfuls of seed in broad arcs over their gardens and fields. 

Every seed, if allowed to grow and reproduce, was possessed of sufficient biological power to yield an entire field of wheat.  But it all depended on where it landed.  Some surfaces doomed the seed from the start.  Other surfaces, because of the condition of the soil, guaranteed lavish fruitfulness.

In the same way, Jesus says, the \u201cseed\u201d of the new life contained in his teaching has the potential to turn somebody\u2019s life inside-out and upside-down.  Or it can land with a disappointing thud.  It all depends on the condition of our hearts<\/em>.

The Parable of the Soils describes four such conditions.

First, there\u2019s the Hard Heart<\/strong>, represented by the seed that falls on the path \u2013 the hard, unyielding surface where countless human footsteps have mashed the soil into a kind of first century asphalt.  Inside all of our hearts there are barren places that God\u2019s Word cannot penetrate \u2013 places that are as infertile as the middle of Main Street because we\u2019ve become cynical. 

God may speak a word to us concerning our anger \u2013 the way we snap at other people before we really listen to them.  Even though it\u2019s just a humble little seed, it will, if given the chance, produce a harvest of tenderness and understanding.  But if it lands in one of those places where we have taught ourselves to say, \u201cYeah, whatever,\u201d we won\u2019t even have the capacity to hear what God is saying.  The birds eat it for breakfast.

And just like that, the chance to live a different kind of life has come and gone.

Second, Jesus says, there\u2019s the Shallow Heart<\/strong>, represented by the seed that falls into rocky terrain.  Think of the thin layer of soil that lies atop limestone bedrock in parts of southern Indiana. 

In the shallow soil, seeds get off to a great start.  But they quickly wither because there\u2019s no place for roots to take hold.  As Jesus comments concerning his own parable later in the chapter, \u201cThose on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.\u201d

Mark Twain once remarked that it\u2019s easy to quit smoking.  In fact, he had done it hundreds of times.  It\u2019s easy to resolve that life is going to be different.  From now on, we\u2019re never going to mess up again.  But human experience demonstrates that promises made in the heat of emotion \u2013 if unsupported by new habits and new attitudes \u2013 rarely endure.

Jesus goes on to describe the Crowded Heart<\/strong>.  He says, \u201cOther seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants\u2026 As [these individuals] go on their way they are choked by life\u2019s worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature.\u201d 

Notice that Jesus says that the seed falls among<\/em> the thorns.  The thorns are already there.  God\u2019s word \u2013 God\u2019s invitation to live a different way \u2013 always comes into the existing joys and problems of our lives.  What does spiritual growth feel like?  It can feel like a series of rude awakenings.  Jesus challenges us.  He\u2019s intent on ripping up and rearranging the cozy little patterns we\u2019ve so carefully cultivated to stay in control of our own lives.

In the end, he forces us to choose:  Will we cling to our bank accounts, our worries, and our coping mechanisms, or we will cling to him?

Finally, there\u2019s the Fruitful Heart<\/strong> \u2013 the place where a seed hits the jackpot. 

What\u2019s the difference between a heart where God\u2019s life never takes root and a heart where we continue to come alive? 

It\u2019s character.  It\u2019s staying power.  It\u2019s our willingness to open ourselves to God\u2019s Spirit even when we don\u2019t feel like it.

Character is the ability to follow through on a worthy decision long after the emotion of that decision has passed. <\/em>

May God bless you this Holy Week with the deep, fertile soil of a receptive heart. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throughout Lent, we\u2019re exploring the parables of Jesus \u2013 the two dozen or so stories that were his chief means of describing the reality of God\u2019s rule on earth.  Indiana, which I have called home for most of my life, is a state divided.  It\u2019s all because of a glacier. The Wisconsin Glaciation, which happened about 30,000 years ago, covered… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[199,177],"class_list":["post-614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-heart-condition","tag-parables"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions\/616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}