Preparing for everything God offers
One day, a farmer was out in his pumpkin patch. The tiny pumpkins were just beginning to form. So the farmer took a small bottle and stuffed one of the budding pumpkins into it to see how it would fare. Sometime later, when the harvest was ready, the farmer had huge pumpkins as far as the eye could see. He then checked his pumpkin in the bottle and found that the bud had developed, but instead of becoming a full-size pumpkin, it was totally confined to the bottle, which it totally filled. The pumpkin didn’t have the ability to break through the glass and develop into a fully mature pumpkin.
When we read through the gospels, one of the striking things we note is that, when Jesus tells one of his stories, some people get the point, respond, and change their lives accordingly. Others, however, hear the same stories and either ignore them or become angry with Jesus because he is threatening their little, comfortable world. It’s as if they’re trapped inside their limited mind and heart—like the pumpkin bud that was trapped inside the bottle.
So, the point for Jesus’ audiences then, and for us now, is: what kind of receptivity we have, and how much productivity we realize as a consequence of hearing God’s word.
In the explanation of the story, Jesus gives us a kind of examination of conscience to enable us to discern how productive we are, and what kinds of things might stand in the way of our realizing a bountiful spiritual and life-giving harvest.
First, there is the “evil one” that steals the vulnerable seed of faith. The evil one may be the devil, but it could be an unhealthy influence—someone who comes along like the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. “That apple you’re not supposed to touch…it looks pretty good, doesn’t it? And if it’s good, God wouldn’t really want you to be deprived. So the forbidden fruit isn’t really forbidden, is it?” Under the spell of such advice, we can act in a way contrary to our faith and values.
Then, the seed sown on rocky ground…some setback, some suffering, some “tribulation” as Jesus calls it comes along. You get a bad medical diagnosis, a relationship you treasure starts falling apart, you run out of money toward the end of the month and never can make ends meet, life just treats you unfairly after you’ve tried to be honest and good … and God gets the blame. We either become angry with God, or we refuse to believe that God even exists.
The seed sown among thorns gets “choked” by the desire for the things the world offers, the desire for a better life with more “stuff.” Being possessed by our possessions, giving our hearts to things we don’t really need while much of the world is starving, our perspectives change. Compassionate hearts can become stony hearts, closed off from others, impervious to Jesus’ teaching, and ultimately separating us from God.
In all these ways we can become like the pumpkin growing in a bottle, closed off from the rest of the world and spiritually stunted, never realizing our full potential. So…when we come to God in prayer, or when we gather for the Eucharist, preparation matters. If our minds and hearts are preoccupied, distracted, or closed, how can the seeds of faith, hope and love receive any nourishment from their creator? The soil of our hearts needs to be softened to receive the seed; it has to be nourished, fertilized and watered; the competing weeds must be pulled out when they are still small enough. Our ears need to be open, our minds calm, and our hearts ready and focused to receive all that our God wants to give us. In other words, this table of the Eucharist isn’t like a drive-thru McDonalds; it’s not a snack bar where you can sit by yourself at the counter and read the newspaper or check your emails. No, this is a banquet with the best, most satisfying menu in the world—if only we are predisposed, ready, hungry, starving for a fully satisfying and productive life.