The Harvest Principle: You Reap What You Sow.

Today, we begin a new homily series: The Harvest Principle. Over the next 5 weeks, we will examine this incredibly rich principle that governs all of life.

Although we're not an agrarian community we know something about the seasons of planting and harvesting.

If you have kids, maybe you visited a farm this fall to pick pumpkins or get lost in a crop maze. Or perhaps you have your own garden, your own harvest of fruits, vegetables, or flowers.

So, what is The Harvest Principle? It is simply this: You reap what you sow.

You plant a seed in the ground, if conditions are hospitable; rain, sunlight, good soil… eventually, you will reap the rewards, or at least the effects, of what you have planted. This principle reminds us that life is all connected. Our actions matter, what we do, or fail to do, now, impacts our future.

When we sow good seeds, we can expect good fruit. When we sow bad seeds, we can expect bad fruit.

Consider your life; your finances, your marriage, professional life, or fitness, if you're at a place in your life where you do not want to be, chances are, you have sowed and reaped yourself there.

And likewise, if there is something in your life, about which you are very happy, chances are, you have sowed and reaped yourself there.

This is true for people, so it’s true for communities, companies, and nations. For example, as a nation, we've benefited from the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, those veterans who have sacrificed or risked their lives for our country. We enjoy the fruits of freedom because of the seeds that they sowed in their sacrifice.

When it comes to our faith, we stand on the shoulders of giants. We reap knowledge, and wisdom, and practical advice that's been passed down to us by Christian heroes and Saints

In your personal life, you can probably look back at some good things, things that your parents and grandparents, or other family members did for you, gave to you, sacrificed for you, that laid a foundation that you rely upon and depend upon today.

Nearly everything we sow, will yield something, for ourselves or for others.

This principle is found throughout scripture. It's in the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Isaiah. It's most specifically in St. Paul's letter to the Galatians, where Paul says, bluntly, "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."

So, that's the basic, general overriding principle of the harvest: you reap what you sow. But there are two corollary principles that are very important to understand.

The first corollary principle is: You reap what you sow, but, it's always later. You don't plant a seed today, and tomorrow, you have a harvest.

That's not the way it works. This principle requires patience and vigilance. Here are four examples:

We don't go on a diet today and tomorrow lose weight. You eat right, and over time, you see the results. You don't learn a language or the ability to play a musical instrument overnight, it takes time.

Lastly you don't overcome an addiction or bad habit immediately, Beating an addiction is difficult, for a long time. You reap what you sow, but it's later.

That's why this principle is very difficult to grasp, especially when you are a teen or young adult. However, learning this principle when you are young, provides a tremendous advantage to you moving forward into your future.

This principle is difficult to keep sight of because there are so many people who seem to defy it. Students, you know of kids at your school who goof off, cheat on exams, go out at night and do stuff that you would never ever do, yet, they're getting away with it.

Or you could easily think of people at work, coming in late, leaving early, spending company time on personal stuff, and they're getting paid, the same as you.

Or maybe, it's you yourself that are the problem. You're not exactly faithful to your spouse, but she's busy with the kids and doesn't notice. It’s not hurting anyone. Initially, it doesn't matter. But eventually, it’s a different story.

In today's first reading, the prophet Jeremiah writes, "They departed in tears." What's he talking about? He's referring to the nation of Israel. We read their story in the first part of the Old Testament.

It's a story of God giving the Israelites advantage after advantage, gift after gift, blessing after blessing, for generation after generation. And, generation after generation, the people of Israel respond with ingratitude, indifference, and hostility toward God.

It seemed that there were no consequences to their actions. But eventually, they lost! They lost their advantages, their blessings and their homeland, They were forced into a tragic exile.

You reap what you sow, but it's always later.

That brings us to a second important corollary to this principle. You reap what you sow, but it's always greater.

Do you remember that Under Armour commercial with Tom Brady? Actually, a whole bunch of Tom Bradys.  It's Tom Brady stretching into infinity. The tagline is, "You are the sum of your training." It's a great ad. I certainly defer to Under Armour when it comes to training.

But when it comes to life, I would actually add to that: You're not only the sum of your training. You are the multiplication of your training.

The sowing and reaping effect multiplies over time. The more you plant, the more you reap, for good and bad, for better and worse.

You see this easily, and know this well, in your finances. You save and invest your money wisely, and it grows. It multiplies.

You can see this multiplication effect most significantly, in your children. You invest your time and yourself in them, and you get to witness their amazing transformation into adulthood.

You reap what you sow, but it's always greater.

Let’s look at one more example: In today's gospel reading, Jesus meets a man who is poor, poor because he was blind.

The man, Bartimaeus, persistently refused to accept his condition. He believed in Jesus, so Bartimaeus was sowing seeds of faith in his heart.

He worked toward a different future, a better future for himself, and it paid off. With the powerful assistance of the Lord Jesus, it paid off.

After sowing the seeds of faith, over time, Bartimaeus suddenly begins to see. The healing of his blindness seems instant to us, but Bartimaeus’ seeds of faith came first.

You reap what you sow. You reap what you sow later and greater. What about our past? The harvest principle helps us understand and appreciate and learn from our past.

This principle is not a big stick with which we beat ourselves, to feel badly, if we have sown bad seeds. Instead, I ask you to think of it this way. I invite you to consider where you may be planting the wrong seeds, or bad seeds.

Perhaps, you feel that you could be planting different or better seeds. Where is that in your life? Is it your health? or finances? Your marriage? Maybe with your children or your relationship with God?

I challenge you to take that to prayer this week. In your quiet time, talk about the seeds you're sowing with God.

Because as important and powerful as The Harvest Principle is, there is the more important and powerful reality of God’s mercy and grace.

You are not defined by your past. You are not the sum total of your mistakes. Whatever you have sown and reaped yourself into, you can change. You can start sowing another harvest, a different harvest, a greater harvest.

The Harvest Principle is: you reap what you sow.



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