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Back to Sermon ArchivesJune 14,
2009
The Rev. John Auer
Scripture: 1 Samuel
16:1-5, 10-13, 2 Corinthians 5:3-9, Mark 2:23-24, 4:26-34
“We’ll Be ‘Seeding’ You: Time to Remember and
Move On”
Nothing personal, as the scriptures for the
lectionary choose us, we do not choose them. But Paul has had it with the
struggles and sufferings of ministry. He is ready to blow this old pop stand
and get out of Dodge! In fact, he’d like to be done with his life “in the
flesh” forever and take up eternal life “in the Lord!” Paul always takes the
perspective that something better is coming – even in death. What Paul calls
“the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies” always exceeds what we
can see or hear or as Paul’s says “taste of what’s ahead.” We know about the
woman who told her pastor she wanted to be buried with a fork in her hand. Why
on earth would she want to do that? Well, she’d been a Methodist all her life.
At the end of every pot luck she heard, “Hold onto your fork – the best is yet
to come!” Julie and I are leaving with forks in hand!
This is our next to last Sunday here, and
under fulltime appointment to preach in the United Methodist Church. We have
been under appointment for 37 years and preaching for nearly 40 years – as we
went right to work for a congregation our second year in seminary and lived in
its parsonage apartment above the church on the North side of Chicago. So we
know what it’s like with Paul to say “we can hardly wait to move.” We are ready
for the next Spirit-led adventure.
We have seen every congregation we have
served as an opportunity to grow in love and respect for all the “diversity with
identity” and “complexity with integrity” that make up the body of Christ in any
given time and place. Our bottom line has been, it takes all of us to be the
church, to embody the life and the work of Jesus!
Each congregation, in Paul’s words, puts at
least “a little of heaven in our hearts.” In each person the Spirit sends to be
part of the body we find, if we keep looking, something to give, something to
offer -- in witness, in service, in action, in prayer – for the good of the
whole, the common good! In fact, it is the role of congregations – often the
best-kept secrets in our communities – because too often we hide the light of
our love for the world under our bushels of fear – to be the vision and the
voice in behalf of the very belief that there IS a common good! That it’s never
enough for us to pursue only our own interests and commitments! God gives us
glimpses of heaven on earth -- heaven in each of us and in the midst of us all –
that we never settle for anything less than God’s full promise.
Paul calls us to keep looking ahead for ever
more “spacious living conditions” – that is, for more and more room at the table
of God – for everyone to be seated! For everyone to be known, respected, loved
and supported for who they are. The ministry of shared space with this precious
gift of our building is crucial to the present and future life of this
congregation. “Hospitality” is our “fourth H” word – as God guides our heads,
and Jesus our hearts, and the Spirit our hands – and the congregation our
hospitality. As much as “we love this place and the people who enrich our
lives,” so in every last and lost place of our community are those who look to
us for graciousness and generosity – even as we look to God! Of course, there
will be “a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path.” Are we going to let that
stop us? Everything is a foretaste of homecoming and belonging for all.
We are blessed with a practice of peaceable
succession – from pastor to pastor. Samuel, God’s vision and voice for the
early kingdom of Israel, resisted in the first place people’s desire to have any
king but God. There are no perfect kings or pastors or leaders of any
description. That’s why the importance of every last part of the body –
citizens and disciples holding leaders accountable and taking public and
prophetic responsibilities for ourselves. Little wonder Samuel is so
disappointed with Saul’s reign. In such a system as ours, there is always place
for our senses of loss and grief. But as we have just been saying with Paul,
the future keeps calling us on – “time to remember and move on” – to celebrate
and to build on our strengths and graces – “laying to rest the pain that’s
gone.”
For God already is going before us – often in
surprising and scandalous ways! – making our way out of no way. God looks not
only at appearances, at what we can easily see – and so often judge and dismiss!
– of each other. God always goes deeper, even to the heart of us, where God
alone can go and know. No way could Samuel, for all his wisdom, guess God would
look over the age and strength and status of all the older sons of Jesse and
conclude there must be someone more – some other option God alone can see. God
is not only subject to logical linear limits of our ways of seeing and thinking
on things. God also is given to quantum leaps! To miracles! To astonishing
harvests of tiniest seeds! As we learned in our own last national election, and
as we may hope electorates do all over the world today – “qualifications” are
not everything! There is grace.
Grace is what keeps us “seeding the soils” of
life within, between, among and around us. There is no place, no time, no
person, no event, no circumstance or condition that cannot use “seedings” of new
life – differing, varying, contradicting, conflicting points of view – all kinds
of seeds that fall into all kinds of soil. Again, every part of the body has
our own role and responsibility to be the church! I am the church, you are the
church, we are the church – together! Every one of us has some seed of new life
to be sown. For some of us, the longer we are at the business, the process of
putting our own expressions of faith, hope and love out there for all to see and
to hear, to receive and to wrestle with – each in our own way – the more we come
to accept how little control we keep over our seeds!
We have no control over soil conditions –
whether what are sowing will land on, as Jesus describes elsewhere, soil that is
too hard, too scorched, too thick with thorns to lend any lasting power to
seeds. Even when soil receives us, we have no control over exactly when, or
where, or how many, or what kind of plant may take root and grow. Again, as
with the selection of David, God alone is Lord of the field! God the Creator
has been and will be – forever! – provider of every needed resource for every
last child of God – whoever and wherever and however denied – they are in this
world! As Mark plainly states in this gospel, Jesus has no time for us to put
rules and rituals, ideologies and theologies, between God and God’s children –
between all God provides and all we need.
Imagine what Jesus would say about articles
that appeared back to back in newspapers this week – First, “World governments
spent a record $1.46 trillion upgrading their armed forces last year despite the
economic downturn, with China climbing to second place behind top military
spender the United States. . .”
Second, “Charitable giving by Americans fell
by 2 percent in 2008 as the recession took root, only the second year-to-year
decline in more than a half-century . . . .” What is wrong with this picture?
This parable of our times?
Fortunately, the seeding, growing, harvesting
and rejoicing the goodness of creation does not depend only on us! The nature
of “seeding” is that we offer each other the best we can with what we have got
at the time – then we relax and trust God with the result. The seeds we sow
have lives of their own. The parable says we have no idea how the seeds may
grow. We have to sow so many more than will grow! The earth produces them of
herself – the stalk, the head, the full grain. All we do is reap the harvest of
all that God gives us so freely. Even the mustard seed – the smallest of all
seeds on earth – bears potential to become the greatest of all shrubs –
providing branches enough for the birds of the air. We never know who will grow
from what. As with David, so with this seed: There is so much more to them than
meets the eye! So it is with the natures of congregations and pastors.
Pastors come and go, offering best seeds they can, their work never done.
Congregations remain to reap harvests, their work always just beginning again.
Think how steadfast we have to remain.
We have spoken of this congregation many
times as “like a tree that’s planted by the Truckee, we shall not be moved!”
Like those wondrous redwoods in Muir Woods, when one falls across a pedestrian
path, they don’t move the tree. They move the path! When it came time to
extend our mission and ministry to Northwest Reno, where St. Paul is today, we
did not move the tree by the Truckee. We moved the path! When it came time to
extend our mission and ministry to South Reno, we did not move the tree. We
moved the path! We have increased the access of God’s life and work in other
places while remaining true to this place – to the people who make up this place
– on the inside and the out.
This is our tree, our “Family Tree” if you
will. There are so many who have found, even fleetingly, homecoming and
belonging here – making their place in the tree – right up to those just
confirmed! Each one of us can name names. The names roll on in currents of
steady splendor. And the leaves of the trees that stand by the River of Life,
says the closing of Christian scripture in Revelation – portraying the New City
of God coming on earth – are for the healing of all the nations! That is our
seed. That is our harvest. And everyone ’neath their vine and fig tree shall
live in peace and unafraid. (2x) And into plowshares turn their swords, nations
shall make war no more. (2x) And everyone ’neath their vine and fig tree shall
live in peace and unafraid. Amen.
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