Scattering Seed

Since moving to NYC 6 months ago it is not unusual for me to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who call this city home. Today we took a drive out to Long Island to visit a friend. On our return we first entered New York City in the borough of Queens, with a population of 2.3 million. As we approached the Mid-town Tunnel through which we would enter Manhattan and its 1.6 million people, the skyline rose up before us. A couple of weeks ago my friend Rick Seidel took an amazing photo from a place I drove by today.

The foreground is obviously a cemetery, in Queens, just west of the East River. The buildings of Manhattan rise up in the background just across the river. In the center of the picture is the Empire State Building which is just a few blocks from my apartment. I grew up in a town of less than 3,000 people, Now that many people live on my block.

How do we make an impact on this huge city? Can we make a difference? This week I read these words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark and it helped me understand the answer to these questions:

This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

Our job is to scatter seeds. Seeds are not big, obvious things. They are small, easy to overlook. We scatter seeds of Jesus’ kingdom by simple daily obedience- primarily defined by loving God and loving others. Every time we do that, seed is scattered. Then, in ways we will never understand, the mystery of growth occurs. Whether we are asleep or awake, the scattered seed takes root in the soil, and the miracle of new life occurs. We don’t make it happen, we only watch it happen. God works through the little seeds we scatter. And as Jesus promised, the harvest comes.

How will Communitas have any impact on this city? Not by doing great things, but by faithfully scattering a little seed everyday. It brings to mind the words of Mother Teresa- we don’t do great things for God, we do little things with great love.