Mechanics and farmers

There are three ways of achieving an outcome. One is when you are totally in control. A mechanic knows how things work. If there is a problem a mechanic can fix it, so long as the tools are there and there are no broken or irreplaceable parts. Mechanics don’t fail! They don’t have to pray to succeed. They can do it without praying.

But farmers do fail. They are not totally in control. They may have all the tools but they have no control of the weather. If there are poor rains the harvest will be in doubt. If there is too much rain there may be no harvest at all. So farmers are only partly in control. That is why they pray. We have a Sunday when we pray for rain; not too much rain, just the right amount, please, and at the right time!

There is a third way, and that is God’s way, where the outcome is totally out of control. He does not have the assurance of the mechanic, nor the hope of the farmer. He hands over the whole outcome to us. If we make a mess of it then it is our mess. Look at Syria. Look at Iraq. Or look closer to home. We have messed up and it is all out of control. Sure, God works behind the scenes, as it were, to help people make good choices. But if they refuse there is nothing he can do.

Jesus observed life around Nazareth and used a striking image to show God’s lack of control. He noticed how farmers sowed their seed. They scattered it as they walked. Some of it fell on fertile soil but a lot of it got lost on the path, where the birds made short work of it, or on the rocks, where the sun burnt it, or in the thorns on the edge of the tilled soil, where it got choked as soon as it sprouted.

These simple observations were like so many slides in a power point presentation. They bring out the fragility of the outcome in our relationship with God. It really depends on the receiver. As I write there are rockets flying both ways between Palestine and Israel. What is the point? What is the outcome? What can God do? Both sides are praying like crazy to him for help. But what can he do? And we don’t have to go to the Middle East. There are rockets flying in our families, our schools, our workplaces, our politics, our media, etc. God can’t do a thing and it is no good asking him.

In this third way God has handed over the outcome to us. The first words of Jesus in the first written gospel are; “The time is ready; the reign of God is close. Change your way of thinking, and believe!” It is up to us.     

13 July 2014                            Sunday 15 A

Isaiah 55:10-11                       Romans 8:18-23                      Matthew 13: 1-23