You have heard me say it before…Families are weird. It did not take long for conflict to appear in Abraham’s family. Jealousy, infidelity, power struggles. Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac, born to them in their old age, grew up and took beautiful Rebekah for his wife. Finally God’s promise of descendants numerous as the stars in the sky and dust of the ground will be fulfilled. Isaac and Rebekah waited and waited and waited – no babies. When he was almost sixty years old, Isaac prayed to the Lord and finally it happened and there were twins. According to Genesis it must not have been an easy pregnancy – the babies moved and struggled so much in her that Rebekah who was getting older, wondered if she would die and she prayed.
The Lord’s explanation was that each child would grow a nation and they would continue to struggle. Esau and Jacob were born – one hairy and red and destined to live in the wild and be a hunter. The other would be quiet and staying close to home. From the very beginning we read of their conflicts and the power struggle to get the birthright of the first born – the blessing of the family. In the midst of all of this, God’s promise is at work – faith growing in strange and mysterious ways.
‘I think most of us know that ‘family conflicts have far-reaching consequences, extending into personal, economic, and religious spheres. The conflict within this first family of faith, chosen by God, will become more evident as the story continues this summer. What will this mean for the future of God’s people? Are seeds being sown in these dim recesses of history that will one day reap bitter fruit for the descendants of this family?
What the people of God do with the conflicts with which they are presented will make a difference. And amid all this difficulty what will become of the promises of God? Will it all go as God intends? The problem is, God’s responses to the prayers of Isaac and Rebekah and the promises given for descendants, do not give a precise shape to the future. We know God will be faithful, that will never be in doubt; but what Abraham’s family does and says along the way will make a difference in how the promise is fulfilled.’ (paraphrase of NIB Reflections on Gen. 25:19-34, #7, pg. 524)
How are seeds of faith sown in our families and what kind of fruit will they bear for our descendants? The familiar parable of the sower and the different kinds of soil in Matthew’s gospel reminds us that God’s word…God’s promise spreads in amazing ways. Most of us want to be fertile soil for the seeds of God’s word and faith to grow, but if you are like me there are times when I realize I have all those different soils inside of me. The hard packed path, the rocky ground, the thorns where it is a miracle that anything grows. The thing is, the parable is not about you and me and what kind of soil we are. The parable is about God, the one who called Abraham to be the father of generations of people that God could call his own. God is a generous sower, who flings seed which is numerous as the stars in sky or the dust of the ground all over the place. It is the extravagant sower who believes that seeds of faith can grow just about anywhere… hard paths, rocky ground and amid thorns and delights in seeing the harvest wherever it springs up.
Two things happened last Sunday in this church that were to me like parables about how faith grows. A cat got trapped in the walled in area out side the parish hall. While I was waiting for the animal control people to come I watched the cat. And as I watched the cat I noticed that it was resting in the slight shade of a large weed. This weed has sprung up out of concrete or that is how it looks. We all know that grass and weeds and all kinds of flowers and vegetation spring up in the most unlikely soils. A sprouting seed can crack a rock. Flowers can grow out of asphalt. We make harsh judgments about what should grow where in our yards and gardens. We do that about people too. God sees things differently and I think must take great delight in watching seeds of faith grow in the most unlikely people and places.
Last month when I began preaching through Genesis and talking about faith, I used the example of a cake I was given by my neighbor that has to be baked using a starter. As you go through the process of following the directions, the starter has to be shared with others if they want to reap the benefit of having a cake. I gave a starter away to a family here and challenged this congregation to let this starter grow and spread like faith through our congregation over the summer and be given to others so they can enjoy the cake. Well….the reports coming in are that the starter is spreading. In fact some are saying “I don’t know what to do with all of it.” “Keep giving it away,” I tell them. Then last Sunday I received a threat from people who will go unnamed …. Some folks have said they are going to leave all those bags of starters on my desk for me to worry about. What do you think…is spreading faith my task alone? You know you can freeze the bag of starter until you find a use for it – it will give new meaning to Episcopalians being called “the frozen chosen”…..
Many years ago perhaps even in a strange land, the starter was put together in faith that it would grow and spread. I am sure over time some of it has died, been thrown away, the directions have not been followed or they have been changed, or forgotten…much like faith in our lives from time to time.
I began by saying families are weird and we are…birth families and church families…the wonderful thing is God will continue to call us to follow him. God is generous with his word –sowing seeds of faith and promises all over the place…What will become of the promises of God in our lives, our families and in our church? Do you believe that what we say and do now makes a difference for the future?