The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it. (Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT)
There was a little boy who had seeds sown in his heart.
He was a child, growing up on a farm, watching the passing of days, seasons, and years. He knew birth and death of animals, sowing and reaping of crops, and knew what it was to be loved by family and friends.
He was a child, growing up in a small country church, singing three hymns a Sunday, going to Sunday School, and listening to boring sermons, because all sermons are boring to youngsters.
He was a child who loved music. His parents had met through music and that family lineage was strong. The pull started with singing, as with most children, but the passion developed after he was introduced to the percussion section in fifth grade band.
Seeds planted. Family. Community. Love. Jesus. Church. Music.
Fast forward through a blur of decades of music education, travel as a professional musician, and the stuff of life, and some of those seeds grew tremendously. The Music Seed had grown into a beautiful Tree – full of life, beautiful to all who saw it, and impactful to those around him.
The Family Seed had grown a son who struggled against the winds and storms of life, but had finally found a place to grow.
But the Jesus seeds remained tucked away within him.
Did he believe in God? I think so.
But had he ever felt the love of Jesus so completely that he understood Jesus’s invitation to follow him? I don’t think so.
Life is a funny thing sometimes. Through all the years of nurturing the Music Seed, the Jesus seed had been waiting. My guess is that countless times the Holy Spirit spoke to him in some way or another. Did he listen? Did he just turn away from that still, small Voice? Was some pain or question within him too deep, too tender to let out of its locked box? I don’t know.
The Jesus Seed planted so many decades ago is still alive. It may not have been tended and nourished to flourish in the same way the Music Seed was, yet the wondrous thing about the Jesus Seed is that it has no shelf life or expiration date. It never loses its power. Though its growth may have been stunted by all the things that weigh on a life, the Gardner stands ready — willing to nurture that seed into the fullness of God’s calling. His invitation is always open. The seed is never dead because Jesus IS the Resurrection and the Life.
I had watched him stand next to his brother at their dad’s funeral. Two brothers, then in their 60’s, peering down into the still face of the dad who worked with them, taught them, and now had completed running a life of faithfulness. The moment is etched within me.
This weekend he will be by himself, looking down at his brother.
As the brother’s wife, four daughters, their families, and a plethora of extended family and a wide community of friends gather to celebrate the life of this quiet, steadfast brother, will he see the difference Jesus makes in a life and in a community?
Will he sense that there is more than just head-believing in God?
Will he be willing and open to hear the Holy Spirit call his name?
Will he not only believe in his head, but believe in his heart that God loves HIM? That the God of the Universe who knit him together in his mother’s womb, created him with a purpose and plan, and knows every beautiful and messy detail of his life STILL invites him to the Great Banquet?
I don’t know. I pray so.
God,
Thank you for the blessings and gifts of family and friends, rain and sunshine, seedtime and harvest. Thank you for your Word which never returns void, and for the many seeds your Spirit plants within us that you can bring to fruitfulness. I pray that this weekend your overwhelming Love—especially as it comes through family and friends—would surround this man. I ask that anything blocking him from fully surrendering to your great Love be removed. May he hear and respond to your Spirit’s call to return to you. I pray that the peace that passes all understanding will guard his heart and mind as he allows the Jesus Seed within him to grow. And may he be included in the Abundant Life today and welcomed into the eternal Great Banquet forever. Jesus, move in his life as only you can, I ask in your name. AMEN.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 NLT)
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT)
Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Mark 1:17 NLT)