Seeds of Peace

September 22, 2024 homily on Proverbs 31:10-31 and James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a by Pastor Galen

“And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” -James 3:18

Do you enjoy gardening? I don’t have what you might consider a “green thumb,” but I do love certain aspects of gardening. I love being outside and digging in the dirt and planting things.

One of the things that I’ve learned from my various attempts at gardening is that it takes a lot of planning and effort and forethought if you want to grow good things in your garden. If you want to grow fruits or vegetables, for example, you need to test the soil to see which types of plants will thrive there, and you have to figure out exactly where to plant them given the sunlight and sources of water that you have available. You’ll need to figure out the best time of the year to plant and harvest your crops, and plan for some way to keep away pests that might try to eat the plants. 

If you want to grow weeds, on the other hand, very little effort is needed! Weeds will grow whether you do anything or not. It doesn’t matter how much sunlight or water they receive, or what type of soil they’re planted in, weeds will find a way to grow because they are the “default mode” of the garden.

The Fruit of Righteousness vs. Weeds of Conflict

James says that “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18). Sowing is another word for planting, and so if you want to grow the “fruits” of righteousness (which can also be translated “justice”), then you need to “plant” peace. Working for peace takes a lot of time and energy and effort, just like gardening, but it has the wonderful result of producing justice and peace. 

On the other hand, conflicts and disputes arise with barely any effort at all! James says, “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?” (James 4:1) In other words, conflicts and disputes are like weeds. They are the default modes of life, just as weeds are the default mode of a garden, because conflicts and disputes are born out of selfishness and envy, which just naturally wells up from within us. 

We are born selfish. We don’t really have to be taught how to be selfish. We are naturally wired to look after our own needs. Think about a little baby, for example. Newborns don’t seem to be very aware of the needs of others. They’re not sensitive to whether their parents are tired, or need sleep. All babies know is that they’re hungry or want to be held, or that they need to be burped, and they will cry and cause a commotion until their needs are met. Now, obviously, there’s nothing wrong with this — babies do not have the capacity to meet their own needs, and so crying is the way that they communicate to get what they need. But as they get older, they learn more peaceful means of getting what they want or need. They learn to use words to ask for what they want and need. At first they may make demands, like “give me” or “I want that,” but we teach them to say “please and thank you.” As they get older still we teach children how to care for themselves, and then how to care for others. 

And yet we see this natural “default mode” of self-centeredness and selfish ambition even as we get older. And James reminds us that these are the root causes of conflicts and disputes.

Think about when someone bumps into you on the sidewalk. What is your initial gut reaction? Most likely it’s anger! Both parties blame the other, thinking it was their fault. We see this on a larger scale in corporations and government and even the church, as conflicts and disputes arise because of leaders and individuals who are led by selfish ambition.

Just as weeds are the default mode of gardens, conflict and discord are the default modes in our world. We don’t even have to try to make them happen. Selfishness and greed and envy just naturally well up within us, like weeds in a garden, causing conflict and discord and confusion.

On the other hand, if we want to reap a harvest of righteousness and justice, then we have to be people who are intentional about planting seeds of peace.

“A woman of strength…is far more precious than jewels.” (Prov. 31:10

One of the things that strikes me about the woman described in Proverbs 31 is how intentional she is. She doesn’t sit around and let the “weeds” grow in her household. She is assertive, bold and courageous. In many ways you could say that she “grabs life by the horns.” She wakes up early in the morning to get a head start on the day (Prov. 3:15). She is entrepreneurial, purchasing a field, and planting a vineyard (Prov. 31:16). She manages her employees, making sure they have plenty of work to do, and that they are given tasks appropriate to their levels of ability (Prov. 31:15). She is generous, giving to those in need (Prov. 31:20), but I would also argue that she also practices good self-care. Verse 22 says that she “She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry. Her clothing is linen, pure and fine, and purple” (Proverbs 31:22 Amplified Bible). She likes the finer things of life, but she didn’t sit around and order other people to get them for her. She is industrious and works hard for what she wants. She is strong and dignified, but also has a good sense of humor (Prov. 31:25). She is wise and kind (Prov. 31:26). 

Each of these attributes and actions by this woman requires intentionality. She doesn’t default to the modes of selfishness and greed, or allow conflicts to arise unchecked in her household. Rather, she is proactive about creating a better life for herself and her family. She is a peacemaker who plants seeds of peace in her household and beyond, and because of that she reaps a harvest of righteousness. 

Now, there’s no need for us to feel like we or our spouses are inferior to the woman described here, because Proverbs 31 is not describing an actual person. Rather, in this passage, King Lemuel’s mother was teaching him what attributes to look for in a potential spouse. Like every mother, she wanted what was best for her son, and so she painted a picture for him of what type of woman he should look for.

Why does she do this? I think for several reasons:

1. She knows that young men are often drawn to outward beauty, rather than inner strength and character. But as she tells him, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain” (Prov. 31:30).

2. She knows that sometimes young men are drawn to women who flatter them, and laugh at their every joke. But she wants Lemuel to know that he should instead seek a woman of strength who is secure in her own identity, who is going to push back, and not just go along with any wild scheme that he comes up with. As the king, he is going to need a strong woman who can balance him out.

3. On the other hand, King Lemuel’s mother knows that men can sometimes be drawn to women who are needy, or self-absorbed. Men often like to feel needed, and it often makes a man feel good to have a woman express dependence on him, and look for him to wait on her hand and foot. But King Lemuel’s mother knows that this is not the type of woman her son needs either, since selfishness and greed will only lead to disputes and conflicts, as James points out.

And so King Lemuel’s mother paints a picture for him of a woman who is strong and capable and virtuous and loves the Lord. Indeed, this last part is the most important, for she says that “…a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30b). Indeed, it is safe to assume that it is her love for the Lord and the fact that she has been endowed with wisdom from on high that makes her the strong and capable woman that she is.

Planting Seeds of Peace

So what does this all mean for us? I think it’s important for us to remember that our natural desires cannot always be trusted. We are by nature self-centered people. We are prone to selfishness and envy, and so we can’t just always go with our gut feelings. This is why we need God to transform us from the inside out. This is why give our heart and our lives to Christ, and ask God to mold us more and more into the likeness of Christ — because we need to be taught how to be people of peace if we ever want a harvest of righteousness and justice. 

Working for peace does not come naturally to us. Our natural tendency is to try to settle disputes with violence. But violence begets violence, and it becomes a vicious cycle. And I’m not just talking about physical acts of violence, because gossip and slander and complaining are forms of violence as well. We often do violence against other people with our words by talking negatively about them, or complaining about them, or spreading rumors about them, and this can be just as destructive to people and organizations as physical acts of violence. 

Again, if we want conflict and discord, we don’t really even have to try. Conflict and discord arise naturally because we are by nature selfish people. But if we want to reap a harvest of justice and righteousness, then we need to be proactive about planting seeds of peace. 

On a practical level, this means that when we hear rumors about someone, our first tendency should not be to spread the rumor. Rather, we can choose to either ignore the rumor (if no one would be hurt by our silence), or we can go to the source to find out if it is indeed true, or we can report it to someone in authority who can investigate or take action if need be (in a case where someone is being hurt or abused.) But generally. spreading unsubstantiated rumors is not the helpful way to go.

This also means not piling on when you hear someone else complaining. Complaining has a way of multiplying and sowing seeds of discord. I remember when I was in college, one time I ate in the Dining Hall with a friend of mine and his friends, and they spent the whole meal complaining about the food! It almost seemed like they were trying to one-up each other in complaining about how bad the food was. Now, keep in mind that someone else had cooked the food for them, and they had chosen to eat there. They could have gone out and bought their own food and cooked it in the kitchen in their dorm. They could have spent their “dining points” at one of the many other eating establishments on campus, but instead they chose to eat at the dining hall and complain, and for me it ruined the whole meal.

Some people do this at work, school, or church. They complain about everything, and it taints everyone else’s view of their boss, or teacher, or institution. Rather than taking proactive measures to try to make things better, they choose to complain, and this does nothing but cause conflict and discord. 

Reaping a Harvest of Justice and Righteousness

Just as a garden requires intentional effort, so does our pursuit of peace and justice and righteousness. Conflict, discord, and selfishness arise naturally, like weeds in a garden. But if we desire a harvest of righteousness, we must strive to be like the woman described in Proverbs 31—intentional, proactive, and wise in our actions. 

May we plant seeds of peace with our words and our actions, and trust that God will turn these seeds into a bountiful harvest of justice and righteousness. May we be peacemakers in all we do, reflecting Christ’s love and wisdom to a world in need.

Amen!