“Differences”

(Gen 25:19-24; Mtt 13:1-9, 18-23) JG White ~ 10:30 am, Sun, July 12, 2026, FBC Amherst

Listen! A young sower went out to sow some seed. His aunt was visiting his mother, inside the house, so while they were busy talking, Jeffrey said to them, “I’m going out to plant the yellow beans.” His father had the garden plot tilled up, the beans had been soaked in water; all was ready. Jeffrey was a young student of the Bible, in Sunday School, and knew the story of how the farmer sows the seed. It is even the image for the Canadian Bible Society. The farmer who goes out and throws, tosses, scatters the seed all over the ground. 

So that’s what Jeff did with the beans that day. 

Oops. That’s not the way you plant yellow or green beans. You plant them in rows; just tuck them into the ground, usually along little ridges carefully formed with a rake or a hoe. So, once he was reminded of that by his mother, he went out and scrounged all the beans so he could make rows and plant them properly. 

I don’t remember how the bean harvest turned out that year.

There is more than one way to plant a seed, for there are so many, many types of seeds. In Jesus’ story of the seed sower, there are several places the seeds land, and how the plants grow varies a lot with how they landed. And there are likely many different morals to this story, many interpretations of the parable, many lessons that are inspired by the simple scene of the sprouting seeds. 

Our world is made up of differences. There are billions of different things in this world. Hey, there are more than eight billion humans here today, no two the exactly same, not to mention every other creature, and rock and cloud and star. 

It makes sense to us to find what we have in common with others. We naturally connect with those who are much like us, and not with those far different. So we put one another in categories; then we know who is us and who is them and how to relate. 

I put on the service bulletin today a few images of ways to categorize people. When I first got to Divinity College at the age of twenty-one I took the Myers Briggs personality test; somewhere I have it on file and it would suggest what kind of person I tend to be. One time at Windsor Baptist, the Minister of CE offered to a group of us an assessment of our spiritual gifts, so it would be clear to each of us if we had a way with teaching or leading or helping or serving or encouraging or showing mercy or being hospitable. While in Windsor, I made use of the six categories of Christian tradition taught by the Renovare organization; I found them helpful. Which of these do we tend to be? Contemplative, holy, charismatic, word-centred, sacramental, compassionate?

We could go on with various lists and categories of the kinds of people we run into in this world. And different things in life that we might emphasize. These are differences. Differences among us. As we always say, if we were all alike, the world would be rather boring.

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” sang the Psalmist. (139) Indeed, we all are. We also have our moments of being afraid of how we have failed, and that my failings are a problem for us and others. So we have the traditional list of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Perhaps not as well known are the Seven Lively Virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility.

What are you capable of? You likely know the answer. An answer. But you might get surprised with what more is possible. 

American spiritual author, Jan Phillips, tells this story of her late mother. (Jul 8, 2024) When my Mom took up horseshoes, she was already a senior citizen. She had a brother put up stakes at the proper distance, dig around them and cover the ground with sand.

Then she went out and bought herself a pair of horseshoes. Her commitment was to throw 100 shoes a day. Rain or shine, she’d be out there, tossing horseshoes one way, then walking back to fetch them and shoot the other way. She did this month after month religiously. When winter came, she joined the Horsehoe Club at the NY State fairgrounds so she’d have some people to play against. It was all men, but that didn’t bother her.

Soon she signed up for NY State Senior games and came in first in her age group. After winning gold, she entered the National Senior Games and won gold there. After every competition, she came home and continued to practice,100 shoes a day, back and forth. By the time she moved to California and gave up the sport, she was averaging 50% ringers— every other shoe clanging circles around that stake.

There’s a moral in there but I'm not going to spell it out. I’m only going to say she came to mind last night as I was discussing joy with a friend writing a chapter on it…. 

Joy is our natural state….

Daily practice. Silence. Attention. Undisturbed.

100 horseshoes everyday if it’s really gold you’re after.

After mom died, we found three bags of medals in her closet—lots of gold, dozens of silvers, a slew of bronzes. They weighed a ton. I put them in the trunk of my car and delivered them to our next family reunion to give away as prizes for the kids' games—the egg toss, the three legged races, the water balloon toss.

Every kid went home with one of Mom's hard-won medals, not one of them knowing what history they were carrying.

The down-to-earth patterns we chose can be the opportunity to find new joy and new goodness to give in the world. And what you are doing might be different from everyone else around you.

I wonder if you have noticed any time recently how Jesus’ message to people changes… His instructions depend upon the unique person. To some people Jesus said, “Come, follow Me.” To someone He healed He said, “Go, show yourself to the Jewish priest, but don’t tell anyone else what happened.” To another, “Take heart, your sins are forgiven.” Or, “Stand up and go home.” To some He said, “What do you want me to do for you?” To a rich fellow He said, “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor.” To a foreign woman He said, “Great is your faith!”

There is no simple formula for: meet Jesus, then do this. No. One person needs to take one step, someone else a different path.  All these different people were met by this Jesus, and the responses differed from one to another. 

A few weeks ago we heard some amazing, personal storytelling here, from a number of you. Each testimony unique. Each work of God in your life unique. Sometimes we have things in common. This is often where the impact of a personal story comes in. When someone has things in their life like you have in yours, you listen. Your heart listens. Your soul listens. In the middle of all that, the Spirit of Jesus speaks - surely and quietly. 

So we recognize differences among us. We are all not just like you. We don’t need the fixing that you need in your life. The rest of us don’t have the needs to be filled or the talents to give that you do.

For me, this is where I find some help in the various categories we use. Like the different personality types, or spiritual gifts, or sins and virtues that are in me, but different ones are in you. All this reminds me that this world is not all about me. My life might not be all about me! Some of you are similar to me (maybe!) and most of you are wonderfully different. So what I pay attention to in your life is different. How I can encourage you is not the same as how I can encourage you. Or you. And maybe I cannot help you along your path right now. That will be the job of others, their ministry. 

One of the little diagrams on the cover here today is of the Enneagram, a system of understanding different people in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, you might say. Or their main sins and their main spiritual gifts and virtues. I’ve been looking into this lately and find it quite compelling. Various Christian scholars have been teaching this for years, and helping people discern who they are, including who they are in Christ. At your best, who are you? 

It is all about what I call the two sides of the coin. If I realize I have this bad tendency - there is a certain way I always go astray - the other side of it is a beautiful gift that could be developed. One Christian teacher realized he is always trying to fix the world and make things perfect. Too much of a perfectionist. But the other side of this coin is how he is a good, natural teacher, and can become tolerant and very patient. 

One beautiful Psalm prays, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’ (51:10) Another says, ‘Clear me from hidden faults.’ (19:12) When the fault is revealed, the healing and redeeming begins.

The Good News today is that there is a flip side to the coin. To the many different coins of ‘sin’ out there in circulation. The coin of what is wrong with you, wrong with me, wrong with us, what’s wrong with others. Amidst all the different problems of our world, there are solutions. Amid all the questions, answers. Amid all the dead ends, new beginnings. Amid all the hurt and loss, healing and forgiveness. We see the differences in people’s lives.

So says Christ, who still scatters the seed of the Word everywhere. There is still a harvest of goodness, sometimes a very rich harvest, even though poverty and disease and drought seem to plague the landscape. In each person is some good soil. 

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow.”