Of Midnight Rain and "Soil"ed Hearts

The rain awakened me just a bit past midnight this morning. I think it was the rain. It could have been my wife as she finally crept into the bedroom using her little keychain LCD flashlight. Or it could have been the Holy Spirit using the prevailing conditions to make a point. I woke up thinking of one particular friend and the current state of his spiritual circumstances. I checked the clock, prayed a bit, closed my eyes, put in the ear plugs since the wind had loosened one of the vinyl panels at the top of the wall outside our bedroom (and it beats a funky but irritating rhythm in a storm.) I opened my eyes, turned over, closed my eyes, prayed a little more, listened to the rain, sang the refrain of "Revelation Song" in perfect pitch in my mind, listened to the rain some more, started thinking about that song that says, "Listen to the sound of the falling rain / telling me what a fool I've been," and then decided it was time to get up.

I made my way through the dark house and used a flashlight through the dining room doors to make sure the vinyl siding on the bedroom was not more damaged than it sounded, then descended the stairs to the office in the basement. The sleeve on my bathrobe caught on the steeple of the stained glass church on the little stand by the book shelves, but I was moving slow enough that catastrophe was avoided. I spent an hour or two at my desk studying the passage I've selected as for Sunday's sermon. I thought I might be ready to sleep after that so I settled into the overstuffed, green recliner. I closed my eyes. I started thinking about my friend and listening to the rain. That song came back, the falling rain one. I made the effort to pray for my friend, both because he needs me to pray for him and because I didn't want that song sloshing around in my brain all day.

I still couldn't sleep so I returned to the desk, picked up pen and put it to paper. Something was circumnavigating the cerebral hemispheres and I hoped by writing to identify it, connect with it, and resolve it so I could get some sleep. The first sentence I wrote was, "People don't want to make commitments, they just want to feel better." What I wrote next clarifies the sadness of that sentence.

"Once the crisis is past, people today rarely seem to follow through on the plans, strategies, or commitments that guided them through the critical moments. A desperate man claims he wants God in his life, but once the threat is passed begins to fill his life with other relationships and other activities that slowly displace God from his life once again. A troubled couple seeks counseling and gathers a few helpful tips from their first session but does not return nor follow through on the call to commit to a local fellowship for the health of their marriage and family and for their spiritual well-being.

"These are consumers looking for the immediate effects of spiritual Tylenol but unwilling to become true disciples of Jesus, those who leave all to follow him. Many, it seems, are called, but few are chosen.

"Jesus taught his disciples with a parable that describes this spiritual phenomenon. He spoke of a sower, a farmer, who went out to sow his seed. As the man cast the seed it fell on several types of soil. The seed fell on the hard packed soil of the well-trodden path where it never had a chance to germinate before the birds swooped in and scarfed it up. The quality and potential of the seed never stood a chance against the reluctance of the soil and the thieving avian hunger.

"Other seed fell on rocky ground. The seed, good and full of life as it was, rooted and sprang up, but the soil was shallow. It held neither water nor nutrient and when the sun rose to its midday height and began to beat down on the tender shoot, the inadequate root system failed and the young plant withered.

"Some seed fell on ground that was already very productive . . . producing weeds! Non-productive species extricated all the water and nutrients and crowded the space stealing more than their share of sunlight. The seed sprang up in this soil. It even grew, but it could not flourish, mature, reproduce because it was soon choked out by the competition. The seedling remained weak and puny, barely alive.

"At last some seed fell upon well prepared, fertile soil. The soil received the seed, nurtured the seed, sustained the seed, and assisted the seed to grow, flourish, mature and eventually, together, they offered a harvest as much as one hundred times multiplied.

"Each of these soils, Jesus taught, describes the spiritual condition of a human heart in relation to God's gospel, the Good News about Jesus Christ. Some hearts are hard and even though the seed is good it cannot penetrate the resistance before outside influences steal away any impact the gospel might have had.

"Some hearts are shallow. They receive the word gladly. They recognize it has value for them and desire its benefit, but they lack the commitment, the surrender, the deep and abiding love for God and his word that yields a full spiritual harvest from the gospel. They are self-centered, self-absorbed, self-satisfied people who cannot last when the joy fades and the hard work of endurance commences.

"Some hearts seem fertile, but they are full of worldly concern. Culturally derived philosophies and worldviews choke out the counter-cultural message of God's love in Jesus Christ. Other things, other activities, other relationships quickly move in to move the gospel out. There are bills to pay, people to see, things to do. Prayer and personal worship fail first. Bible study gets abandoned, attendance at worship set aside. Soon there is nothing left but a fruitless stalk encumbered by the surpassing growth of useless things.

"Some hearts, though, are fertile. Some receive the gospel and fall in love. They take up their cross. They make the commitment. They follow Jesus as both their first and foremost priority. Their love for him fosters his love in them for others and the gospel is multiplied in many more lives."

The most pressing question of midnight rain and soiled hearts is this: which is my heart? God demonstrates his love for me in this, while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. Do I reject this good news? Do I received but do little to cultivate it? Do I receive it, but then leave my heart open to other things that will one day crowd this glory out of my life? Or do I love this good news, receive it, live with it, grow it, commit my life to its joys, bring forth its full potential in my life?


I, you, we are one of these. Each of us. It is the same good seed that comes to us all. God, please, prepare us to be good soil. Amen.