The Gospel Reading: John 4:31-38
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receivingwages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’
Robert Berra:
How often it is in the Gospel of John that Jesus answers a question concerning the tangible and material with a pronouncement about a spiritual reality through metaphor. We see it with Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well about living water.
In fact, the brief exchange between the disciples and Jesus we have just heard happens right as the Samaritan woman is returning to her village. She tells everyone about Jesus, and many, many of them come to seek him out and to believe in him. After Jesus stays for a two day visit, the people of the village rejoice:
“We have now heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
A fruitful harvest indeed.
One of the lessons that the Gospel passage may have for us tonight is that —like Jesus invited the disciples to work in the harvest—we have all been invited to work for the kingdom of God in some way. Jesus’ observation that we enter into the labor of others breaks open the often too-simple, too-linear, and too-self-focused consideration that makes of spiritual reaping and sowing a project I take on and I finish. Are we such islands unto ourselves?
As we think about reaping and sowing in terms of what we bring to communities we may serve, we may find ourselves weaving our own work into a tapestry of plantings and harvests begun, or in progress, or finishing in places where others also work. —Where we are not simply a solitary reaper or a sower, going from planting to harvest on our own.
Since many of us are in New Haven and the surrounding area for a short time, we may wonder how to best help in harvest fields others will continue to work once we leave. There is a certain spiritual maturity this lesson in practical ministry teaches; that someone else plants, we water, and wait for the growth that comes from God, which we may never see (St. Paul knew something of this; see 1 Cor 3:6).
As we work alongside others, we find that we are impacted by their work as well, sometimes finding within ourselves the seedlings they have planted; perhaps even when we were not looking.
This brings us to our own spiritual reaping and sowing. Our own discernment of the disposition of our spiritual life.
And we have found ourselves at Yale Divinity School. What a marvelous place to think about what we sow and what we reap and how we participate in the work of others as we contemplate the present and future of our own walk with God.
Tonight, we are doing something quite different from a traditional sermon. We instead wish to open a space for meditation, staying with the metaphor of harvest.
Let us take an opportunity to breathe deeply,
Robert Berra:
How often it is in the Gospel of John that Jesus answers a question concerning the tangible and material with a pronouncement about a spiritual reality through metaphor. We see it with Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well about living water.
In fact, the brief exchange between the disciples and Jesus we have just heard happens right as the Samaritan woman is returning to her village. She tells everyone about Jesus, and many, many of them come to seek him out and to believe in him. After Jesus stays for a two day visit, the people of the village rejoice:
“We have now heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
A fruitful harvest indeed.
One of the lessons that the Gospel passage may have for us tonight is that —like Jesus invited the disciples to work in the harvest—we have all been invited to work for the kingdom of God in some way. Jesus’ observation that we enter into the labor of others breaks open the often too-simple, too-linear, and too-self-focused consideration that makes of spiritual reaping and sowing a project I take on and I finish. Are we such islands unto ourselves?
As we think about reaping and sowing in terms of what we bring to communities we may serve, we may find ourselves weaving our own work into a tapestry of plantings and harvests begun, or in progress, or finishing in places where others also work. —Where we are not simply a solitary reaper or a sower, going from planting to harvest on our own.
Since many of us are in New Haven and the surrounding area for a short time, we may wonder how to best help in harvest fields others will continue to work once we leave. There is a certain spiritual maturity this lesson in practical ministry teaches; that someone else plants, we water, and wait for the growth that comes from God, which we may never see (St. Paul knew something of this; see 1 Cor 3:6).
As we work alongside others, we find that we are impacted by their work as well, sometimes finding within ourselves the seedlings they have planted; perhaps even when we were not looking.
This brings us to our own spiritual reaping and sowing. Our own discernment of the disposition of our spiritual life.
And we have found ourselves at Yale Divinity School. What a marvelous place to think about what we sow and what we reap and how we participate in the work of others as we contemplate the present and future of our own walk with God.
Tonight, we are doing something quite different from a traditional sermon. We instead wish to open a space for meditation, staying with the metaphor of harvest.
Let us take an opportunity to breathe deeply,
Settle into our souls,
And recollect ourselves
As we remember why we are here.
Let us pray
Almighty God, from you we see the increase of the earth, and you bring forth spiritual fruits within us. Be present to us as we listen for your will in our lives. We ask this in the name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Adrian’s Meditation
I invite you to take a deep breath. Close your eyes as you breathe out. And let your body relax.
I. Harvesting
Visualize a grove of trees. It is autumn. There is a slight chill in the air, and the leaves are changing colors. Look up to the sky and see the sunlight shining through colored leaves like a stained glass window – red leaves, yellow leaves, orange. You can smell the dampness of the earth after a recent rain.
It is time for harvest. It is time to gather pumpkins, gourds, baskets of apples, bushels of wheat.
“See how the fields are ripe for harvesting.”
As we remember why we are here.
Let us pray
Almighty God, from you we see the increase of the earth, and you bring forth spiritual fruits within us. Be present to us as we listen for your will in our lives. We ask this in the name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Adrian’s Meditation
I invite you to take a deep breath. Close your eyes as you breathe out. And let your body relax.
I. Harvesting
Visualize a grove of trees. It is autumn. There is a slight chill in the air, and the leaves are changing colors. Look up to the sky and see the sunlight shining through colored leaves like a stained glass window – red leaves, yellow leaves, orange. You can smell the dampness of the earth after a recent rain.
It is time for harvest. It is time to gather pumpkins, gourds, baskets of apples, bushels of wheat.
“See how the fields are ripe for harvesting.”
What are you harvesting… now, in this season of your life?
-Are there fruits of the Spirit?
-Earthly blessings?
-Are you reaping justice fought for by those who have gone before you?
-Perhaps there are things in your life that you have sought out with God’s help.
Jesus tells us that doing the Father’s will is food. How is God’s will taking shape in your life? What is ripe for the picking?
(Silence)
II. Sowing
After the harvest, there is more sowing to be done. Autumn is the time to plant seeds… for kale, for beets, carrots and beans. Imagine yourself tilling the ground. The sun warms your back, and a gentle breeze blows across your face. You can smell the scent of freshly upturned dirt.
What seeds do you drop into the earth?
-Are they intentions for this semester?
-Are there fruits of the Spirit?
-Earthly blessings?
-Are you reaping justice fought for by those who have gone before you?
-Perhaps there are things in your life that you have sought out with God’s help.
Jesus tells us that doing the Father’s will is food. How is God’s will taking shape in your life? What is ripe for the picking?
(Silence)
II. Sowing
After the harvest, there is more sowing to be done. Autumn is the time to plant seeds… for kale, for beets, carrots and beans. Imagine yourself tilling the ground. The sun warms your back, and a gentle breeze blows across your face. You can smell the scent of freshly upturned dirt.
What seeds do you drop into the earth?
-Are they intentions for this semester?
-Or the early stages of a new project?
-Is there a dream that God has laid upon your heart?
-What are the things you want to nurture to fruition?
(Silence)
-Is there a dream that God has laid upon your heart?
-What are the things you want to nurture to fruition?
(Silence)
III. Nurturing
As we nurture our sprouting seeds – our young little crops – we protect them. We shelter them from the harsh weather. We keep away the pests. We uproot nearby weeds or thorns that choke out life.
Is there something that might threaten the health of your crops?
Old habits?
As we nurture our sprouting seeds – our young little crops – we protect them. We shelter them from the harsh weather. We keep away the pests. We uproot nearby weeds or thorns that choke out life.
Is there something that might threaten the health of your crops?
Old habits?
New fears?
Maybe there’s an external obstacle.
Maybe there’s an external obstacle.
Or a sin that’s taken root and needs to be cleared away.
How will you protect your crops to ensure that they flourish?
(Silence)
IV. Nourishment from God’s grace
The success of our crops does not hang on our efforts alone. As we nurture them – pruning back, weeding out – our crops access nutrients that we could never create. They receive the light of Christ shining down. They soak up the water that is living water.
Our crops – our intentions, our dreams, our pursuits – receive the outpouring of the grace of God, who labors in the field so that we might reap the harvest.
(Silence)
Amen.
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