“The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.” – Mark 4:26-27
The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project in New York City.
My older brother Mike is a planner. I am not. Before my brother was in high school, he knew for sure that he wanted to be a family doctor. Before I went to high school, I wanted to be an ice cream truck driver.
When Mike graduated high school, he went to a college that would help him get into medical school. He carefully plotted a course that would lead him straight there – he took the courses at all the right time, spent a significant amount of time studying for the MCAT and found all the right places for him to go to school. When I graduated high school, I went to the college where I thought I would have the most fun. I switched majors five different times and I joined a different club each year. When I became a senior, I changed post-college plans at least a dozen different times each day.
I’m sure if you asked, Mike would tell you exactly what he’s going to do and where he’s going to be for the next ten years. He has been married for three years, has two dogs, and one house payment.
If you asked me what I am doing for the next ten years, I would just throw up a bunch of question marks. I am not a planner and I do not know what I will be doing beyond May.
There is a lot to be said about those who make plans. And there’s a lot to be said about those who do not make plans. “Life is what happens when your busy making other plans,” goes the old yearbook cliche.
I wonder that if in all my brother’s planning and all my non-planning, life has still been just as unexpected for the both of us? For all his careful planning for an engagement proposal, how unexpected it must have felt when he hunkered down on one knee and looked up to see his wife saying yes through joyful tears. Or how trying it must have been when he had to keep trying again and again to be admitted into the medical school of his choice. How could he ever see that coming? And yet how much he must have learned about life and the unexpected joys and trials that come along with it!
How could I know that after asking a thousand questions about going to seminary and doubting so much the path that would take me there, that I would end up here and feel like there’s no where else in the world I could possibly be? And how much more has happened all along the way to both of us that had nothing to do with any of our planning?
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a seed. Actually, Jesus said it was like a farmer who went out and scattered seed. The seed goes into the ground, takes root, and then sprouts out of the ground.
The Kingdom of God is like farming. And anyone who has tried farming knows it is both art and science. There is an element of planning. You have to get a plan for the seasons, you have to plant the seeds at the right time, and you have to plant them in such a way that will promote their growth. You have to put in countless hours of care and learn the right techniques for care.
But there are also the elements of surprise. Animals can come and ravage the unprotected plants. Even the best cared for plants can die or fail to bear any fruit. For all the work and the trials, still any farmer worth her salt can’t help but wonder when those tiny seeds burst forth into tiny green leaves on the surface. It is a miracle of life that sprouts and grows, and she does not know how.
Ministry can be like the Kingdom of God; it can be much like farming. I’ve learned this in my time as a youth minister. I have tried to become better at planning. I take out calendars about every three months and try to pin down all the right dates and all the right events. I prepare ahead of time, reading through Bible studies a couple times before leading them. I make sure everything is set up right and that I have all the materials I need.
Still some of the best and some of the most challenging moments sprout up unexpectedly. I’ll give you one example. I planned a retreat for my youth last fall. It was a collaboration with three other youth ministers and we had all put a lot of work into it. We made schedules, we picked the theme we thought was appropriate, and we planned the worship services. I had been carefully trying to connect with my youth for quite a while – taking them out for lunches, asking questions about their lives, and learning more and more about them.
And while we were there, something really unexpected happened. It was as if the roof just went flying off. My youth and I had a blast – meeting new people, leading in worship and taking communion together, getting stuck on whitewater rapids together. On the way home, my youth did something one of my colleagues said would never happen in youth ministry: They said “Thank you.”
How those unexpected words of gratitude carried me for the next few weeks! All the work to till the ground and plot the rows and stave off the rains and then there it was – unexpected and unplanned words of life sprouting up.
Let us come to see all life as a miracle – both in our planning and our non-planning. Let’s not grow weary after working hard all day long only to see the same plot of empty dirt but have faith in the budding, teeming life happening just below the surface. Let us dance, sing, march, and marvel when the tiny seeds come bursting forth above the surface. And may we go with love to our fields.
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