Jan. 7, 2015

A house is not built by beginning at the top and working down.  You must begin with the foundations in order to reach the top.  – Abba John the Dwarf

I think we forget this.  I think we wish the world didn't work that way.  I think we hope too often for the completed project.  Too many times, I think, we see the spires of a great cathedral and say to ourselves, “I want to be like that.”

And whether those spires are the job of our dreams, a major scientific breakthrough, the next great American novel, or a trophy signifying athletic prowess, too often we desire to be there instead of paying attention to the work that will get us there.  But we don't get to the top, so to speak, by beginning at the top.

Every scientific breakthrough is built on the foundation of basic mathematical functions – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Every great novel is based on the foundation of basic grammar.  Every sports achievement is based on conditioning and hours of practice.  The foundation must be laid, and laid properly, for great works of aspiration to rise.

Unfortunately none of that is very fun.  It's not fun to have to memorize the multiplication table.  It's not fun to sit through grammar classes.  It's not fun to spend hundreds of hours of training for only a few hours or moments of competition.  It's not fun to do the hard work of building a foundation.

It's not fun, but it's necessary.

Looking at the parable of the sower, what if we changed our normal interpretation of that parable.  What if, instead of looking at the sower as God and us as the variety of seed scattered willy-nilly on the ground where some of the seed landed on rocky soil, some on the path and some on good soil, what if we looked at the sower as us.  And what if, instead of simply tossing seed out there and not worrying about where it lands, what if we did the hard work of ensuring every seed was placed in good soil, where its foundation could support growth and eventually yield thirty, sixty or a hundred-fold.

This, in a nutshell, is evangelism.  Evangelism is the hard work of building the foundation of the church.  Sure, we all want to be part of a magnificent church that generates a sense of admiration and awe.  But we can't get there by building it from the top down.  We can't put those magnificent spires in place until we have a good foundation.  Unless we do the hard, foundational work of evangelism, we won't get there.

But evangelism itself also has a foundation.  Like knowing the multiplication table and basic grammar rules before moving on to higher levels of math and prose, we need to know the basics of why we ourselves are here in the first place.  Why are you an Episcopalian?  Why do you attend St. Luke's.  Once you answer those foundational questions, you can begin the hard work of evangelism.  Once you know the answer to those questions, you can begin the hard work of ensuring every seed you sow is placed in good soil so that it, in turn, will have a good foundation in which to grow.

It may not be fun.  It may not be the quick-fix solution.  But according to John the Dwarf, it is necessary in order for us to reach the top.

Amen.