Sowing ...

             Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

 

If you do a search online for “mocked, Biblical definition,” you’ll get some interesting reading, but the definition that caught my attention was “to engage in verbal abuse.” This brings comedy to mind. Have you paid attention to what is considered funny? Nine times out of ten, or maybe ninety-nine times out of one hundred, it involves saying things that put someone down or otherwise portray that person in a way that leads others to think less or badly of them. Whether it’s “Let me show you what a failure my dog is at catching balls” or “let me show you that this idiot woman can’t walk ten feet without half-killing herself,” or “let me tell you what my worthless husband did this week…” it’s all designed to make the speaker look good at the expense of the subject. It brings to mind the saying that when a toxic person can no longer control you, he/she seeks to control how others see you (and it’s not for the better.)

We’ve been told that decisions and behaviors have consequences. When we read today’s passage, we may be tempted to sneer at God who can’t take a joke and who attacks those who dare not treat Him as – um – God. But that’s not necessarily what’s being said. If you choose to sow the whirlwind, or destruction, or negativity, are likely to perceive things in terms of whirlwinds, destruction, and negativity. Some people, for example, hold it against God that He would send anyone to Hell. But, since God is what makes Heaven Heaven, Heaven would be Hell to anyone who rejects God. Dallas Willard suggested that Hell is the best God can do for some people – granting them what they say they desire.

And this is the crux of the matter. People look at this as though God is making the decision. You plant seeds that you collected from a green Bell Pepper the year before, and they grow into Giant Hogweeds.[1] It’s all God’s fault. What the passage says is that if you plant Giant Hogweeds or Poison Ivy, or Belladonna, you should expect to find them in your garden, and if you don’t know enough about plants to recognize the ones that will do you harm, you probably shouldn’t be planting seeds without someone along to guide you. If you go ahead and plant something dangerous, it’s not dangerous because God decided to make it dangerous miraculously just to get you.

 

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[1] Giant Hogweeds look something like Queen Anne’s Lace, but they can reach 15 feet tall, and the flowers are several times larger than the lace. The sap is toxic to humans and causes photosensitivity – to the extent that after touching the hogweed, a person’s skin can blister – badly – simply by being exposed to sunlight.