Seeding

I don't know about you, but growing up in a farming community, the guy in the parable of the sower (Matthew13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:1-15) always struck me as a poor example of a farmer. It's like the guy wasn't even looking what he was doing. Seeds on the walkway where birds pick them up, or the next guy to walk along crushes them or kicks them away. Seeds on rocks (I have seen stuff grow on rocks, but those things are called weeds) where there is no way to get a real root going. Then, he throws the seed in the thorn patch, where the good soil is already eaten up by the junky plants. Finally, some seed lands on good, healthy and clear soil. And the guy doesn't even plant the seeds there, he just lets them lay there. I mean, really, who just randomly throws seeds all over the place?

The answer, in regards to this parable, is we do. Everyday, we throw seeds all over the place. When we talk, when we post something online, the places we frequent, the music we listen to, the shows we watch, the things we read, what we wear, how we conduct ourselves at work or in class, the way we drive. All of these actions and so many more are throwing seeds out there. Seeds that tell people who we are, what matters to us, and what kind of character we possess. You seed the lives of people with your preferences, and sometimes those seeds take root. Have you ever read a book or watched a new TV show because of a casual conversation with a classmate or co-worker? They mention their love of something, and curiosity is peaked, so you check it out.

You were just seeded, and the person who did it probably didn't even know that's what they were doing. It's like their not even paying attention to where they cast their seed.

Now apply that to your faith in Christ. If people know you are a believer by your words- you've told them- then everything you do is a seed for what they think about Christ. The way you treat the opposite sex or the way you do your work or the way you drive (especially if you have a Jesus fish on your car) is a seed in the life of people who walk and live around you. For a long time, I thought those parables meant we just told everybody the whole gospel and did nothing but share the plan of how to get people to know Jesus. Then I realized that I am sharing who Jesus is to me not so much with my carefully worded answers to theological questions, but with the subtle ways I go about my mundane, ordinary tasks of life.

Do I complain? Do I argue? Do I look a little too long at something risque? Do I practice backstabbing my friends? Do make fun of people who aren't able or around to defend themselves? Or do I practice humility- put others first? Do I suck it up and do my work even when I don't really want to? Do I show compassion?

All these plant seeds. Some seeds we cast are weeds, some are beautiful flowers. Some land in good soil, some land on bad. The truth is, we rarely realize just how much (or how badly) we are seeding peoples' lives with Jesus.

So, what can we do to be better about seeding people with the good stuff- and seeding in the right places?

I believe it starts and ends with prayer. We need to pray in the places we live and work. I'm not talking about praying so that others see us being all holy, I'm saying we pray so we can see with the eyes of God the place we have always just seen with our regular old eyes. Praying in the space you spend time in means you are preparing the soil around you- so that the seeds you randomly cast out to those around you will land in good soil.

I remember my grandparents having a garden when I was a little kid. I remember when it came time to plant, we prepared the garden by removing weeds and rocks, then breaking up the soil and moving it around so the seeds would have the room to grow. We took bads soil, and made it better to receive the seed. I believe prayer does that for us in the spiritual sense. It's not about US making the person clean so they can receive Christ, it's about asking the Spirit to move and work in subtle ways in the person's life to help them be receptive to the seed we cast. We can't make the seed grow or take root- that is between the soil and the sun (aka the person and God). But we can ask for the soil to be prepared.

And we can cast good seed. Prayer is key not just for the soil- but for the sower. We need to be praying that we choose the right sort of seeds to cast. What are we putting out there that people may want to cling to about Christ? If the only Jesus most people see is the Jesus we live out- what would they think of Him?

So, I challenge you- and if you have others that will join you- go to the places you spend time. The library you study at, the bar you frequent, the office you work in, your apartment, even your car. Go there and pray. Pray for the people who cross your path in those places, most of them you may never even meet- but they catch the seed you and others throw. Pray that they be prepared by God to receive the seeds of faith in Christ- whether that seed comes from you or someone else. Pray also for yourself. Pray for you to be more aware of the Christ you are seeding people with. Pray that you be more aware of the spiritual needs around you as well as the physical needs.

It doesn't need to be long- God knows what you are asking. But it does need to happen. The funny thing about Seeding, is that the more you pray about preparing the 'soil' around you, the more your own 'soil' is prepared to experience God.

A Great Cloud of Witnesses

God has been really good to us lately.

Friday, we found out we had free tickets to the A&M Nebraska game. We scrambled to find someone to watch our kids so Kristin and I could go. Unfortunately, all of our normal potential baby-sitters were either going to the game themselves (31,005 students pulled tickets for the national record for most student tickets purchased), or were babysitting for someone else going to the game. Then Saturday morning, after giving up hope that we could go, Kristin's mom volunteered to drive in and watch the kids so we could. My mother-in-law is awesome.

Kristin and I rode to the game with her Uncle Fred and cousin Cheryl, so we also got great parking thanks to their being season ticket holders. Their seats were on the lower deck, and ours were on the second, so we split up to find some food then our seats.

And what seats they were. They were pretty much 50 yard line seats for potentially the biggest game of the week- certainly the biggest thus far this year for the Aggies. We were there early enough to see the march in by the Corps of Cadets, and catch the Senior night recognitions. As the promo reels and the pre-game videos began to roll, you could tell there was something special going on.





In one way, this was expected. It was a huge game, and Aggies have long been known to be super-fans. We'd already broken the student ticket record, and we soon discovered we set the record for largest crowd at Kyle Field. Statements by Nebraska's coach putting down the Aggie fans (The 12th Man) had riled up an already rowdy student section. And the Aggies were winning again, the defense was almost back to it's "Wrecking Crew" status of the decade prior, and the fans were expecting good things again for the first time in a number of years.

That's also why it was a surprise. I had only been to one game since I graduated, and it had lacked this intensity. It had been rather sedate and almost deflated. But this night it felt like the old passion that I knew from my years as a student was back, and it was wearing maroon and waving white towels.



In the midst of 90,000 plus people, yelling for their team to the point of losing their voice, I saw what passion is about. I saw it in the efforts of the young men on the field. I heard in the deafening cries of the 12th Man on defensive stands. I felt it my heart as I watched video of seasons gone by and heroes of those years. I am an Aggie, and I felt it that night. It went beyond a head knowledge that, yes I have an Aggie ring and a diploma, so I'm an Aggie. It was more than just me wearing a maroon Aggie jersey. It was more than yelling at the right times and singing the War Hymn and 'Sawing Varsity Horns Off" with the rest of the fans. It wasn't what I was doing or wearing.

It was who I was.

In the moments of tension and excitement, as the Aggies saw the Husker's final pass fall incomplete, and Ryan Tannehill took a knee to end the game- I found myself longing for more of this. Victory. Passion.

As a Christian, I learned a lot about passion Saturday night. If we were as passionate, as motivated, about Christ as we were about BTHO Nebraska- what could we accomplish? I was inspired by the 12th Man, because they- though they never set foot on the field- gave all that they could for a game that mattered.

The "game that matters" to us as followers of Christ demands our full commitment, our full passion. It demands that we wear our voices bear proclaiming Christ. It demands we adorn ourselves not with maroon and white, but with the acceptance of the blood of Christ- shed for us so that we may know Him. It demands that we stand for each other when play is close and our friends need all the support they can get to hold on just a little longer.

When the final time ran away from the clock, those white towels began to fly. Tossed upward like graduation caps, they floated a few rows down from their launching point. The celebration was not just for the team on the field, it was for all of us. We had all given of ourselves, yelled our support, stood our ground, and waved our towels. Those guys on the field gave their blood, sweat and tears, and they looked to us, their very own "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1) and welcomed us into their victory.

I want to be as passionate for your victory in Christ as I was for the Aggies victory on Kyle Field. I want to give my support to you, so that when your victory is won, you too will turn to me, and the rest of your "12th Man" and say, "This victory is all of ours!"

Passion is shared, and it it mutliplied in its sharing. May our passion for Christ be as contagious as a Yell from Kyle Field on Game Day.