St. Paul gives us a very powerful image in today’s Epistle reading saying: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
We know, that in our gardens, if we put a few tomato seeds into the ground, it will eventually produce plants which bear tomatoes. If we spread seeds for Green Beans, by the end of the season, you will have green beans. According to the laws of nature, depending on the seeds you sow and how much of them you plant, you can have a pretty good idea of what kind of harvest will come out of the ground.
There is a popular expression, “you reap what you sow”, and St. Paul reminds us today that this doesn’t just happen in the nature. It also happens within our lives! Whatever seeds we implant into our hearts, it is easy to see what kinds of fruits will come forth. If we plant seeds of anger and contempt for the world and for each other, we reap a life full of difficult situations, enemies, and hatred. If we are too attached to our possessions, we sow the seed of greed, which brings forth a life-style that is consumed with jealousy towards others and a constant worry about money. If we like to sow conflict and spread rumors and news by gossiping and speaking behind people’s backs…we reap a life full of distrust of one another (I wonder what they are saying about me?!)
“Do not be deceived…God is not mocked…” St. Paul says. “For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7).
This morning, we have been shown a new field…a new life with which to teach what kinds of seeds bear the best fruit, as we all witness the baptism of Nicodemus. His family (and I do not just mean his parents and sponsors, but rather his entire Church family) has been given the responsibility to teach him what type of seeds need to be planted in his life. We are called to show him, and all of our children, by example, of how to bear the fruit of righteousness.
In honor of this fresh field, I offer two seeds of holiness for all of us to consider, and the first one is to sow a life that is full of thanksgiving.
There is so many things we do not give thanks for on a day to day basis. A wonderful example that we are greeted by every single day is the Sun. We take for granted everything that we get from that bright object in the sky, which gives off light and heat. It grows and feeds plants and vegetation. It provides kilowatts of solar energy that bathe the earth…and it is one of the few constants that we have in our life (Even little Orphan Annie reminds us that “The Sun will come out tomorrow!”)
Yet for the sun, instead of offering thanksgiving for the new day that it brings, we often slam our alarm clocks in disdain and with a groan that we have to get out of bed, and we forget about this unrepayable gift from God.
Within Nicodemus, and within all of us…sow the seed of Thanksgiving. Thank God for the Sun. Thank Him for our Church. Thank Him for our family. For our country. For our difficulties and hardships (one we don’t often think about). The harvest that comes from the seed of thanksgiving is a life that is without want, without jealousy, and without earthly cares.
The second seed I offer this morning is one that might seem backwards, but I would argue that it is even more important than Thanksgiving: Sow tears to reap joy.
We were offered the Gospel story of the widow of Nain this morning, and we see how our Lord comes across a funeral procession of a young man who had passed away…leaving his already widowed mother to fend for herself. There were many tears that were shed at this funeral, with perhaps most of the town shut down to weep.
Have we ever stopped to think why they were weeping? Love!
For those of us who weep at funerals, we know that the real tear-jerking moments are the ones where we watch the family approach the casket for the final kiss. Our hearts pour out to them with our own tears, not because we are thinking about our own death, but because we are reaching out of love and compassion for them.
Our Lord showed us today how tears that are sown out of love end up reaping tremendous joy. Imagine the indescribable glee that came out of those tears, when Jesus raised that young man from the dead!
We see this same thing on Good Friday and Pascha here at our own little parish. If there is a deep love for God in our life and real moments of repentance in our hearts, we approach the Grave on Holy Friday with tears. We bow down and weep at what mankind has done to the creator of all. We remember the world that we live in…a world that was created to be full of joy light and life…yet one that is intermingled with sickness, disease, war, and death. We fall on our knees in front of the tomb, and tears come streaming down our face as we echo the thoughts of those who witnessed the earthquake, the rocks splitting, and the curtain temple being born in two, saying: “What have we done.”
Then, on Saturday night, we go to the Church to celebrate, to sing, and to be filled with great joy. Those who had tears at the tomb, who began their Lenten journey at the first hour, and the ones who sowed the tears of repentance and love during lent with fasting, coming to services, and increasing their prayers, are the ones who have the greatest joy.
Thanksgiving and Tears of Love and Repentance. If we fill our lives, and the lives of our children with these seeds…there is nothing in the world that we would fear, no difficulty that we could not overcome, and no limit to the Grace that we would receive from on High.