fruit – Salvaged Faith

Taste and See God’s Provision

Posted on June 19, 2022Leave a comment

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Text: Luke 13:6-9

Brandon and I planted raspberries in our backyard when we moved to Des Moines.

This is officially the eighth summer… and we have yet to see an abundant crop.

A handful of crumbling berries that won’t hold together is all we have ever had the chance to harvest.

There were a few years there when I thought I had done something wrong.

I pruned too much.

Or maybe I didn’t prune enough.

There wasn’t enough water.

Or too little sun.

There have been years when I’ve been like the vineyard owner in our parable this morning and wondered if we shouldn’t just cut it all down and start from scratch.

But we have tried to be patient.

One more year, we keep saying.

Over the last few months, we’ve watched them with care.

We added additional growing medium around them.

We have watered them frequently.

There have been abundant blossoms and the bees are certainly doing their work of pollenating.

But will we have fruit?

I must admit, I’m not entirely sure.

Will we have fruit?

Oh, friends, that is the question, isn’t it?

And it comes at us from so many different directions.

Will we have fruit… in the sense of will we have enough to eat?

Will we have the money, in the midst of rising inflation, to cover the costs of supper?

Can we find enough to sustain us and satisfy our needs?

But then again, we can turn the question around and think about our own productive lives…

Will we have fruit… in the sense of are we bearing fruit?

Are we making a difference in the world or are we just depleting and taking from the world around us?

And as we dive into the scriptures, we find stories of fruit and fruitfulness everywhere.

It starts with the third day of creation when God makes trees bearing fruit according to their seed.

But it continues through to the harvests of the Promised Land of figs, dates, pomegranates, grapes and olives… all fruits!

Prophets are called from the vineyards, and the instructions for the altar of God include images of pomegranates.

In the New Testament, we discover parable after parable filled with fruit.

The branches waved in Jesus’ Triumphant Entry would have been boughs of date palms.

Paul begs us to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

Even in the final chapters of Revelation, the trees bear twelve kinds of fruit, each for a different month.

And all of these scriptures are a mix of both God’s provision and God’s presence and power in our lives.

God provides abundantly so that we might be an abundant blessing to the world.

God is present with us, so that we might be God’s presence in the world.

We are fed… physically and spiritually… so that we might feed others.

As we think of all of those “fruitful” metaphors, Margaret Feinberg focuses in on one fruit in particular… the fig.

It is a constant companion in biblical times.

Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover themselves once they discovered they were naked. (Genesis 3:7)

The mark of abundance, security, and prosperity in the time of King Solomon was that the people lived securely under their vines and fig trees (1 Kings 4:25) … a sentiment repeated by the prophet Micah (4:4) and Zechariah (3:10).

Even the tree that Zacchaeus climbs in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus…

you know, that wee little man Zacchaeus…was a sycamore fig tree.

Fig trees were, after all, big enough to climb.

Big enough to provide shade… and apparently clothing… with their leaves.

They are full of essential vitamins and minerals like potassium and calcium – providing energy, and are easily dried for storage and transport.

In the parable that we heard today, we hear about a fig tree that is not fruitful.

In three years, it has not born fruit.

One fact about figs that Margaret Feinberg discovered in her process of writing “Taste and See” is that a single fig tree can produce tens of thousands of figs every year.

TENS OF THOUSANDS.

So, when this fig tree isn’t producing, the owner is furious.

I might be upset, too!

“What a waste of perfectly good soil!” they exclaim.

But the gardener is patient and merciful.

“Let’s give it one more year,” he says.

“Let me dig around it and add some more fertilizer.”

Feinberg goes on to share about the lifecycle of the fig itself.

“The first year a fig won’t produce any fruit, and depending on the variety, you may see a handful the second year. The third year will produce more, but the fourth year is the one that will yield a substantial crop.” (Taste and See Bible Study Guide, p. 45)

So… the owner might just be impatient.

It isn’t time yet for the fig tree to be filled with abundant fruit.

It needs time.

But fig trees also need to be pruned… extensively… in order to produce.

In the first year, it is cut back by around half so that it can focus on growing deep roots.

In future pruning, you have to care for the suckers on both lower branches and that come up from the ground near the tree.

When the gardener says, “let me dig around it,” they are likely cutting away and removing those suckers and shoots that are detracting from the fruitful growth of the tree.

Pruning creates future abundance.

In the book of Leviticus, amidst all sorts of provisions like “respect your mother and father” (19:3), “do not turn to idols” (19:4), “you must not steal or deceive nor lie to each other” (19:11), and even “any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens” (19:34), is a provision about fruit trees:

“When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, you must consider its fruit off-limits. For three years it will be off-limits to you; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year, all of the tree’s fruit will be holy, a celebration for the Lord. In the fifth year you can eat the fruit. This is so as to increase its produce for you; I am the Lord your God.” (19:23-25)

Did you hear that? This is to increase its produce for you.

An abundantly fruitful tree requires pruning.

It requires time and nurture.

But it also requires a season of sabbath and rest and dedication to God.

We impatiently ask that question, “will we have fruit?” in the midst of a culture of convenience.

Anything you want can be delivered the next day to your doorstep.

To wait for not just days, but weeks and months and years for fruit is almost too much to bear.

But I actually think this is a story about grace.

You see, in our fast-paced culture, we also find ourselves expecting instantaneous results in our own spiritual lives.

We join a church, we attend a retreat, we go to a bible study and we think that we should now have it all figured out.

We should be ready to go out and bear fruit for God.

And then we have a set-back.

We slip up in our faith.

We get discouraged.

Friends, the good news is, you don’t have to have it all figured out.

Discipleship, faith, and fruitfulness all take time.

And you might spend a couple of years attending a church before you find the ability to take the next step and sign up to join a bible study.

You might be in a book group for a couple of years before you are ready to ask the deeper questions.

You might go out and serve each week filling the food pantry for a good long while before you are ready to confront justice issues around hunger.

And, as the story of Zacchaeus reminds us, you might even be living a life that is not only fruitless, but is actually sucking up life and nutrients and taking advantage of others.

But these parables and stories remind us, it is never too late.

Fruitfulness will require pruning… as we let God cut away those things that suck the life right out of us.

Fruitfulness will require nurture… sun and rain and even a good dose of fertilizer… and in our spiritual lives that comes from things like prayer and studying scriptures and worshipping with others.

But fruitfulness also requires the time and space to simply be.

Earlier this week, I had ice cream with someone who is entering her third year of seminary.

This person has been involved with the church her whole life and a relationship with God was always in the background.

After college, she pursued work in her chosen field and it took her to a number of places and companies across the country.

But one day, her position was eliminated and she found herself without a job.

She went home and sat and listened.

It was only in the space in which she stopped focusing on what she could produce that she noticed God speaking.

Only in the space where she dedicated some time to discernment that she noticed God moving.

Only in the space where she let go that she was aware of how God was already providing.

We often look for fruitfulness in places that aren’t quite ready.

We try to make our own fruitfulness with endless busyness.

We refuse to let go of dying branches so that we can bear fruit in other places.

And we miss out on the provision that God has already planned for us.

“This is to increase its produce for you,” God promises.

You see, fruitfulness doesn’t come from me or you or our actions.

It comes from God working in and through us.

Only when we make space for the Holy Spirit to fertilize our souls will we find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

God has given us commandments like being honest, and loving our neighbors, and honoring the sabbath, not to see how many mistakes we will make, but because these are the things that will increase our fruitfulness.

These are the things that will increase abundance and blessing – not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us.

And God is a patient gardener, full of mercy and love, pruning us, tending our lives, pouring out grace at every turn.

So, that’s the spirit I’m taking with my raspberries.

I’m going to keep working on them.

Will there be fruit?

Only God knows…

But I’m going to try to pass on the love and grace and mercy that God has shown me.

May we do the same.

Not just with our patches of berries or fig trees, but with our family and friends and even with perfect strangers.

And by the grace of God, may there be fruit.

UMC 101: Doctrine and Discipline in Real Life

Posted on January 16, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Luke 3:7-14; Book of Discipline (p. 55-56, 77-80, 105-146)

We continue today by the banks of the Jordan River with John the Baptist and a piece of scripture that we briefly touched during the Advent season.

He has been calling people to repentance, asking them to change their hearts and their lives, and suddenly there is a growing number of folks on the riverbank.

I love how the Message translation puts it: “Crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do.” (Luke 3:7-9)

John the Baptist went viral.

And yet… instead of celebrating all these folks who were ready to dive in, he explodes at them!

He calls them children of snakes and then has the audacity to ask them, “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

That’s exactly the kind of welcome you’d want to hear when you step into a faith community for the first time, isn’t it?

“The axe is at the base of the tree,” John cries out, “and trees that aren’t producing fruit will be thrown into the fire.”

Nothing like some good old fire and brimstone preaching to wake us up on a Sunday morning.

I’m ready for John to bust out the Sinner’s Prayer and have everyone fall to their knees to repeat the words after him in an altar call.

But when the people start to ask what they should do, John the Baptist surprises us…

“If you have two coats, give one away.”

He tells them to do something that will make a difference for their neighbors.

It sounds like a good works response… rather than a faith response.

And that is because he is calling them to change not just their heart, but their lives.

Last week, we touched on the idea that for United Methodists, faith and good works are like two sides of the same coin. You can’t love God without loving your neighbor. And likewise, acts of love towards our neighbors are an outpouring of our love of God.

Or as our Book of Discipline puts it:

“Our struggles for human dignity and social reform have been a response to God’s demand for love, mercy, and justice in the light of the Kingdom. We proclaim no personal gospel that fails to express itself in relevant social concerns; we proclaim no social gospel that does not include the personal transformation of sinners.”
BOD, p. 55

This is that “practical divinity” that we talked about. It is the good news of Jesus Christ realized in the lives of Christian people.

Food for the hungry.

Clothing for the naked.

Health for the sick.

Freedom for the oppressed.

So let’s talk about that other John… John Wesley.

He looked around at faith and life in England in his day and like John the Baptist saw a similar disconnect. Religious leaders were ignoring the real problems of every day folks and every day folks had no room in their lives for religion.

So he got out of the pulpit and went out to where the people were… the coal mines, the streets.

He started to preach about changing our hearts and our lives and crowds of folks began to take notice and show up and want to know more.

Our Book of Discipline tells the story of how our Methodist United Societies got started:

“In the latter end of the year 1739 eight or ten persons came to Mr. Wesley, in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin, and earnestly groaning for redemption. They desired… that he would spend some time with them in prayer, and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come… he appointed a day when they might all come together, which from thenceforward they did every week.”
Book of Discipline, p. 77

Each society, or larger gathering, was also made up for small groups, or classes of about 12 folks.

By the time Wesley died, there were 72,000 members of these United Societies across the British Isles.

And there was only one condition to be part of the society: you had to want to flee from the wrath to come and be saved from your sin. They called this “working out your salvation” and whenever someone was focused on these things, they expected there to be evidence of fruit.

Sounds a whole lot like what was happening on the bank of the Jordan River… doesn’t it?

But I also must mention a key thing that Wesley includes… something that is vitally important to what it means to be United Methodist.

Wesley never thought people could or should do this on their own.

He grouped people together into classes and larger societies so that there would be support and accountability as together we help one another within the Body of Christ to transform the world.

That support and accountability is also like two sides of the same coin.

John the Baptist sounded awfully harsh there on the banks of the Jordan River. And we think as United Methodists that we should never be people who rush to punishment – because that doesn’t demonstrate God’s mercy…

But at the same time, a church that lacks the courage to speak and act on behalf of our neighbors loses any claim to moral authority.

So they’d get together every week to pray, to encourage each other, and to ask about how faith and love were put into action in their lives.

If someone wasn’t living up to their commitments, they would give them time… even put them in a remedial group, if necessary. And sometimes, they had to have an honest conversation and ask that person to leave.

These societies had what we call General Rules… rules that we have talked a lot about over the last couple of years in our own pandemic response.

The members of the classes and societies were expected to show evidence of their desire for salvation by:

First – doing no harm and avoiding evil of every kind – especially that which was commonly practiced.

Wesley included examples of what that looked like in his day…

profaning the day of the Lord by buying or selling…

drunkenness…

buying or selling slaves…

taking your brother to court…

buying black market goods…

putting on gold or costly apparel…

and singing songs or reading books that don’t help you grow in your love of God.

But it wasn’t just about what we shouldn’t do.

The second rule of the Societies was to do good; by being merciful and doing as much good as you could as far as you possibly could to as many people as you could:

This rule lists examples like being diligent and frugal…

Living out the commands of Matthew 25 to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison…

Being patient…

Teaching and sharing the word of God with others…

And things like buying from and employing other Christians.

The third rule was to keep practicing those things that were vehicles of God’s grace and mercy and power in our own lives – what Wesley called the “ordinances of God.”

These included things like public worship, studying the Bible, prayer, fasting, and communion.

Just as John the Baptist had some practical, real life examples of what it look like to produce the fruit of salvation in the world, the General Rules of the United Societies show us what John Wesley thought it looked like to bear the evidence of salvation in his day.

And so, as a denomination, we have continued to wrestle with how to exercise our “responsibility for the moral and spiritual quality of society.” (p. 55).

Every time our General Conference meets, we update what we now call our Social Principles that help to guide us as we live out our faith on a daily basis, as well as Resolutions that provide detailed positions on current issues.

According to our Book of Resolutions, these positions:

“give us evidence that that Church means for God’s love to reach into situations faced each day, not just on Sunday mornings… The United Methodist Church believes God’s love for the word is an active and engaged love… we care enough about people’s lives to risk interpreting God’s love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex.”
Book of Resolutions, p. 22-23

The Social Principles and Book of Resolutions guide how we should engage the natural world, what it means to nurture human beings in community, our responsibilities towards one another in society, and how we engage in economic and political systems across the globe.

They cover topics from suicide to abortion, public education to investments, the rights of farm workers to nuclear testing and stem cell research. All with compassion, nuance, and care.

And… I think this is vitally important… we believe that we are constantly being reformed by God’s love and so these positions are not written in stone: “Faithfulness requires favoring what best demonstrates God’s love and being willing to change when new perspectives or data emerge.” (p. 24)

On the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist called those who were serious about repentance to bear fruit in practical ways: Give away your extra coat. Don’t overcollect taxes. Don’t falsely accuse others. Be content.

As United Methodists, we continue to hear that call as we strive to do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.

Fruit that Won’t Spoil

Posted on October 9, 2016Leave a comment

Since we are continuing this morning with the gospel of John this week and Jesus’ imagery of the vine, I thought I’d share with you another story about my own garden.

It has been a very busy couple of weeks, and although I have had time to glance at the pumpkins, I pretty much have ignored the rest of the garden.

I gathered all of the tomatoes I could weeks ago and I have jars of marinara and frozen stewed tomatoes packed away in the freezer. The peppers never really grew and the lettuce was chewed away by the rabbits before we got to eat it.

This weekend however, I had the chance to do some yard work and clear out the garden, plant some perennials, and prepare for the changing seasons.

And I discovered tomatoes on the vines again!

There are probably 100 little cherry tomatoes currently ripening on the vines, and a few romas as well.

But here is the thing. Some of those tomatoes have been there a while. I reached out to grab one that looked red and juicy and… well… it was juicy all right. And rotten to the core. As soon as I touched it, the tomato burst open with a foul smelling mess.

Sometimes, fruit stays on the vine too long.

The entire purpose of being a part of the vine… being a branch connected to the source is to bear fruit. And as we learned last week, the closer to the core of the vine you are, the sweeter and more abundant the fruit will be.

But that fruit is meant for a purpose!

The grapes on the vine are meant for eating and juice making, sustenance and community. They are meant to be dried into raisins or pickled and preserved. The fruit is not for the sake of the vine. The fruit is for the sake of the world!

As Jesus says in verse 16 – I chose you… YOU… and I appointed you so that you could GO and produce fruit and so that your fruit would last. Or as the Message translation puts it… “I put you in the world to bear fruit… that won’t spoil.”

If we take a step back from these few verses, we find that the vine and the branches are part of a larger speech Jesus is sharing with the disciples at the last supper. They have broken bread together, and share the cup, and Judas has left the table to betray him.

As Jesus looks around at each of the disciples… those people who have been with him, learning from him, walking in his footsteps, closely connected to God in thought, word, and deed, he wants to prepare them for what comes next.

Yes, Jesus will be handed over to the authorities. Yes, Jesus will die. Jesus will be resurrected, but will no longer be physically present with this rag tag bunch of followers in the same way.

What are they supposed to do then? What are WE supposed to do… those of us today who have never met Jesus, never seen his face or heard his voice?

We are to love.

A new command I give to you, Jesus says, Love one another.

Remain in my love. Abide in my love. Live in my love.

Love each other just as I have loved you.

Last week, we talked about many of the ways we can stay connected to Jesus and remain part of the vine. We can read the scriptures, we can pray, we can study and learn from others on the journey.

But at some point, we have to take what we read and put it into practice.

If we simply learn the words of Jesus… if we spend all of our time reading the bible or in prayer and we don’t go out into the world to share the fruit that has been formed in us… then we are just like those tomatoes on my vines. We are going to rot in place.

Every time we pray…

Every time we read the scriptures…

Every time we gather in a small group to learn from each other…

Every time you sit in this sanctuary and listen to a sermon here is what I want you to do…

Something!

Do something!

And friends, there are two questions that will get you started:

First, how does this apply to my life?

Second, what am I being asked to do?

At some point, we have to take what we read and put it into practice.

At some point, being connected to the vine means we have to bear fruit… and that fruit has to go out into the world.

At some point, God’s love in us needs to spill out into love for others.

“I give you these commandments so that you can love each other.”

And that means that what we read in the bible about how we should treat strangers and refugees we need to put into practice.

It means that when we read in the bible that the church should visit the sick and pray with them, we need to do it.

When we read in the bible the call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, we need to ask – how does this apply to my life? What should I do?

“I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last.”

You and I are called to bear fruit… fruit of love, grace, and mercy… fruit that will transform this world.

This fruit is not meant for us to hoard… it is meant for the widow and orphan. It is meant for the rich and the powerful. It is meant for the stubborn and addicted. It is meant for people of every color and ability. It is meant for friend and for foe. It is meant for all.

I’ve been thinking a lot about our responsibility as Christians to bear fruit that will last during this election cycle.

Politics might seem like a dirty word, but the truth is that it comes from the Greek words that mean the citizen or the city. Politics at is core are simply the relations between people who live in a society. Politics are the political opinions or sympathies of a person. (Mirriam-Webster)

And as Christians who live in this society, as people who follow in the footsteps of Jesus and bear the fruit of the gospel to the world, we have political opinions and sympathies.

I cannot, and will not every tell you who to vote for or which party, if any, to align yourselves.

But I do firmly believe that as citizens of a nation in which every person has a voice and a vote that one of the ways we bear fruit that lasts… fruit that doesn’t spoil… is by participating in the democratic process. And I believe the votes you cast should be a reflection of the faith that has been formed by these scriptures.

Every vote matters, and every race, from city council to the highest office in the land matters.

The people we elect will influence the economic lives of our neighbors, the institutions of education that form our children, the health care systems that care for the least among us. They will uphold or create laws that govern life and death. They will impact if we have sidewalks next to our streets, whether or not mental health care is provided, and our relationship with other nations.

One of the realities is that our faith does not fit neatly into one political party or platform over and above others. And so the hard work for people of faith this time of year is to spend time in prayer and discernment before casting our votes.

But perhaps as our scripture reminds us today there is really only one word that we need to remember… only one command that Jesus says will shape every facet of our life together.

Love.

We are called to love.

Not to hoard love, but to share it.

May this world reflect the love of Christ because we have been fruit bearers.

Amen.

Posted on February 29, 2016Leave a comment

We have probably 20 volunteer red bud trees growing in the landscaping of our back yard. If we simply let them be, they are in the wrong spots and far too crowded for sustained growth. The best choice is to pick two or three and move them to where they will have a chance to flourish.

As I have been researching this, one article I came across suggested cutting the roots in roughly a 15″ radius around the base of the tree in all directions. By cutting directly down and through the longer roots, it forces root growth near the ball that will allow the tree to transplant better.

This same information was learned in a different context by a colleague this Sunday.

The lectionary scripture for the day is about the gardener, the owner, and the fruitless fig tree in Luke 13:6-9.

In the parable, the fig tree isn’t dead… but it also isn’t bearing fruit. The owner wants to cut it down, but the gardener wants to give it another year. He wants to “dig around it and give it fertilizer.”

Dig around it… maybe like cutting the roots in all directions?

My colleague had a parishioner come up after her sermon and share her own anecdote about digging around to help something bear fruit:

…She grew up in Eastern Washington state, on an apple and pear farm. And she said she didn’t know anything about figs, but with the apples and pears trees, if a tree was otherwise healthy and fine but not bearing fruit, as a last resort they would take a spade and about a foot out from the trunk they would chop all the roots all around the tree. This makes the tree kind of “panic” and think it is dying, for some reason the reaction to the panic is that it bears fruit!

Plants like fig trees or apple trees or even my raspberry bushes can grow vibrantly and abundantly… and still not put forth fruit. Sometimes this has to do with it being too crowded or having a bad season or putting too much energy into other places like leaf production. And sometimes, they need a radical kick in the rear to jump start production.

And I think our faith is a lot like that, too. I think sometimes we need someone to dig around us and cut all of the long roots that keep us healthy, but also keep us from bearing fruit: wealth, comfort, success, health, freedom…

It’s not that these things are bad – but we can put so much focus on them, that we forget all about the bearing fruit part. Maybe “digging around” and cutting the roots can help us to not take those things for granted; help shift our focus and our priorities so that there is room for other roots to grow; help create energy towards fruitfulness and not simply stability.

And sometimes in the process, we find ourselves uprooted and transformed and transplanted as God sees our renewed strength and thinks: I have just the place for that disciple to bear fruit…

Manipulate or appreciate?

Posted on July 8, 2015Leave a comment

Henri Nouwen writes:

It is impressive to see how prayer opens one’s eyes to nature. Prayer makes men [and women, I’d add] contemplative and attentive. In place of manipulating, he who prays stands receptive before the world. He no longer grabs but caresses, he no longer bites, but kisses, he no longer examines but admires…. Instead of an obstacle, it becomes a way… (from Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic)

I have spent almost every morning of my renewal leave praying outside. The squirrels are chattering. The birds squawking and cirping. A starling is eating dead leaves off of a dying tree, while a cardinal sits on my garden post, and a squinny is digging a hold in the landscaping. It has been noisy out here on the porch. And busy. There is always something to watch and hear.

And I do feel more deeply appreciative of what I am discovering. The cardinals are new. I hadn’t seen them before this morning. The orange and magenta and purple in the butterfly garden are just now coming into full bloom and I can imagine how striking that space will be in a few years as the plants naturalize and spread.

But there has been some manipulation going on as well in my back yard. Some battles I am choosing to fight. Putting in the garden, for one. Clearing out the weeds. Being intentional about what to keep and what to change.

In my organic ministry course, we have talked a lot about paying attention to what the land is telling us. What does it need? What grows best there? We can fight against nature all we want, but the land will keep fighting back. Or, we will strip the land of every good nutrient as we force it to produce what we want, in an efficient manner, every year.

Success looks like a good harvest. Abundant production. With little regard to what we have sacrificed in our manipulations.

My manipulated vegetable garden isn’t producing much this year. The rabbits have eaten all the green beans. The peas never came up. It has not been warm enough for the peppers and they aren’t growing as abundantly as I would hope, nor are they putting on flowers to bear fruit. The raspberries we planted last year blossomed, but I think the birds ate all the berries. Only the tomatoes appear to be on the verge of production and “success.”

But these past few weeks have helped me to appreciate what I have. The tiny garden is feeding our wildlife at least. While I might find the intrusion frustrating, it is also fun to watch the joy my cats take in watching the birds and squirrels. I’m also learning lessons in the process that I can apply next year: the need for better protection, starting my seeds earlier, cultivating a healthier and less sandy soil for growth by adding compost and nutrients. Those lessons are also success.

And I wonder how the time spent paying attention in this season will impact how I pay attention in the church and community.

How often do we manipulate our people and programs in order to produce the results our conference or denomination or the latest church growth book has suggested? How often do we use cookie cutter approaches that might bear fruit in the short term, but have no long term understanding of what will keep the church soil healthy and vibrant? Do we appreciate who our people are? Do we spend time getting to know them before we start to shape them? Do we allow what they say to use to alter our plans for ministry? What is the community teaching us? What are our children teaching us? What are the interruptions and oopses and failures teaching us?

Maybe there is a middle ground between manipulation and appreciation. A place where we really pay attention to what is happening in our churches and communities and we explore the places we can make some intentional changes that will honor what is there and create the conditions for healthy and flourishing life… now and in the future.

Giving and Recieving

Posted on October 2, 2011Leave a comment

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(sometimes I choose to preach from an outline rather than a manuscript… someday, maybe I’ll feel freer and can do it more often!)

1. Intro: talk about giving and receiving

2. A parable about dependence… we do not own the land, we do not own the fruit.

Apply that to our faith and we remember that we did not create these lives… God did. And we do not own these lives… God does. We owe everything to God. Everything that we are and everything that we have has been given to us, and like these tenant farmers, we are utterly dependent upon our Lord.
But inherent in that relationship is a question: Are we going to joyfully return the fruits of our labor back to the Lord? are we going to work each and every single day for his glory?
Or are we going to hoard our gifts and talents, our labor, our fruits, and only work for ourselves?
In exchange for all that we have received… what are we willing to give back?

3. A parable about mercy… we got three chances.

Mercy is NOT getting what you deserve… being spared from judgment. At its roots, the word we translate into “mercy” is about compassion and pity. God sees our desperate need to cling to sin, God sees our utter inability to help ourselves and he shows pity upon us, he shows mercy upon us.
This may not seem on the surface like a parable about mercy… but if we remember that these tenants received three chances, we recognize the patience and the kindness of this landowner.
I have recently begun watching the new Doctor Who series. For those of you not familiar with the show, a time lord known only by the doctor travels through time and space in a blue box, or phone booth. As he travels, he helps peoples who are being invaded or oppressed or unable to defende themselves from hostile species. The tenth doctor, played by David Tennant, was known for showing mercy… by giving these monsters and enemies one chance to reform their ways.

“Would you declare war on us, Doctor? “I’m so old now, I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it.”

One warning seems fair. Picture a landowner finding out that three of his men were killed trying to bring back the grain. Let me take that back. One warning seems more than fair enough. One warning is plenty of mercy shown. I would have carted those tenants off to the local authorities and thrown them in jail, or kicked them off the land.
But our landowner sends back another group to receive the grain. And when everyone he has sent has been killed, he sends his son. His one and only son. Rather than bring armies down on top of these wicked tenants, he sends his son. His heir. This parable shows a lot more mercy than any of us would have.
These wicked tenants had three chances to give back to the Lord what they owed him… how many chances have you been given?

4. A parable about grace

If mercy is about NOT getting what you deserve, we have to remember that grace is getting what you DON’T deserve. Grace is always a gift. It is a surprise. But the word we translate into grace also has roots in the idea of favor, of being loved and appreciated. In spite of our many failings, God abundantly bestows grace and life and love upon us. We may not deserve it, but because of the goodness of God, we have been blessed.
You and I are sinners. Throughout our lives, in little and big ways, we have turned our backs upon God. We are only human, after all, and there are so many things in this world that tempt us.

This parable has reminded us of the many times that we have not gotten what we deserve as a result of those failings… the many chances that we have had to reform our ways, but the end of this parable brings the reminder of judgment.
As the people and the religious leaders hear the story, they know what the outcome should be. When asked what the owner should do, they quickly respond: He’ll kill them – those tenants are a rotten bunch. Good riddance! (the Message).
And Jesus seems to lean this way as well. He quotes scripture, reminding them that the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. He tells them that the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. He says that if we refuse to produce fruit and give God his glory that the kingdom will be taken away from us. The hammer of justice is about to fall… that seems to be the message here.

Yes, there will be judgment.

Because when the Son of our Master comes to collect what we have promised to give… in our sinfulness, we refuse. In our pride, we take instead of receiving. In our anger, we kill him. And out of God’s justice, the kingdom is taken away.
If the story ended there, we might consider it a fair ending. We get what we deserve. Probably less than what we deserved.

But the story doesn’t end there… this parable continues to be told throughout the gospel, because you see, we know what happens when the Son of God is killed. It isn’t the end. It isn’t over.
We stand today on the other side of the Resurrection.

We know that our act of hatred was responded to with an act of absolute love.
We know that in being rejected, Jesus Christ gave all the rejected a place to belong.
We know that in giving up his life, Jesus Christ gave life to us all.
And we see in this parable the greatest irony of all: we may have killed the Son hoping to take away his inheritance and keep it all for ourselves… but in his resurrection, he made us all brothers and sisters, children of God, and heirs of the Kingdom of God.

You see, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus… the sending of the Son to the greedy tenants in the vineyard… was not a test, not a trap, not a plan to bring judgment, not a warning… it was grace. It was a gift. It was an act of love. Jesus sat down with his disciples on the night in which they betrayed him and he took bread, broke the bread and gave it to them saying: this is my body, broken for you. And he passed around the cup reminding them: this is my blood shed for you.

5. Today, we are the tenants in the vineyard. We have been given the awesome task of being servants in God’s kingdom and we have been asked to bear fruit for our Lord. No matter how many times we have failed in the past, today we have the chance to start all over again. We have the chance to recommit ourselves: to confess our sins… to receive God’s mercy and grace… and to go out there into the world as his children. May we not take these precious gifts for granted.

The Gift of Gentleness

Posted on August 1, 2010Leave a comment

What is meekness? Gentleness?

The opposite of gentleness is seen in both of our readings today…

First, from the book of Kings:

1. Elisha is a man of God and yet he is human… and in a moment of frustration and embarrassment, he lashes out at a group of young boys.

2. Is that part of the scene something familiar to you? Can you remember the grumpy old man who lived down the block from you and would shout curses from the windows? Do you know of rude young people who jeer the elderly, the disabled, or anyone different from them?

3. Now, perhaps letting a slip of the tongue speak out a curse against the boys is one thing… but our young prophet Elisha doesn’t quite have the power of God firmly in his grasp yet. Aristotle once said that a person who displayed gentleness would be angry only “on the right grounds, and against the right persons, and in the right manner, and at the right moment, and for the right length of time.”

4. This is NOT what Elisha did. He may have been angry at their teasing of him, but they were only children, and rather than an eye for an eye – his curse called out bears from the woods that killed those children on the spot. We can look at this and firmly say it was ANYTHING but gentle.

Secondly, we see the opposite of gentleness in our gospel reading today from Luke.

1. Jesus sends forth the disciples at the beginning of our chapter with guidance as to what to do if people are rude and inhospitable to you: Shake the dust off your feet, turn and walk away.

2. yet by the end of the chapter… the disciples have already forgotten his example. When a town will not welcome them, James and John run back and ask Jesus if they can call fire down from heaven to destroy them…

3. Again – we have rash, arrogant, and excessive behavior… which Jesus quietly rebukes and they move on.

So, what is gentleness?

The Full Life Study Bible: restraint coupled with strength and courage.

Aristotle: halfway between excessive anger and indifference.

Paul demonstrated the kind of restraint Nathan had when he confronted David. As he writes to the Corinthians he asks them: “What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit.” (1 Cor 4:21). He could be angry. He could be harsh. As a teacher, he probably knew something about discipline… but he wanted them to repent and transform their lives not out of fear… but out of the love and gentleness that was shown to them.

In John Wesley’s writing, we see the spirit of gentleness in his command to “do no harm.”

As our former Bishop Reuben Job has reflected upon that command, he writes: “I have found that when this first simple rule was remembered, it often saved me from uttering a wrong word or considering a wrong response.”

He adds, “I have also found that this simple step, when practiced, can provide a safe place to stand while the hard and faithful work of discernment is done.”

Maybe that is the key. Responding in gentleness allows us to take a step back and to determine proper response. And I think that if we are faithful to the scriptures we will find that gentleness should be the core of OUR response to wrong in the world…

Think of our gospel reading…

The brothers recall how the power of God was unleashed on people and communities unwilling to repent and they believe they are justified in doing the same.

But “Vengeance is Mine.” Says the Lord.

These words come from Romans 12:

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You will heap burning coals on his head… that sounds an awful lot to our modern ears like we should send people to hell. But a colleague shared with me that this injunction is actually similiar to the first too – to feed and give drink to our enemies.

You see, in ancient cultures, fire was everything. Without a fire you had no warmth, nothing to cook over, no protection. A fire meant life in your home. And if your coals went out – your family faced death.

Sometimes if someone was nearby, you could take a container and they would fill it with some of the coals out of their own fire.

This passage says – if your enemy is hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; if the fire in their home has gone out… if the light of hope has gone out… if the fires of love had gone out in their heart… HEAP burning coals on their head. Overcome evil with good. Love them. Be gentle to them. And by doing this – you will light a fire in their heart.

And in our gospel reading, when Jesus rebukes the disciples, Jesus he is not only giving us an indication to how we should respond to injustice – with gentleness… but also how God-in-flesh responds:

“Jesus’ awareness of His power enabled Him to be gentle to those in need. The broken reed He would not crush but would fully restore. The flickering wick of a lamp He would not put out but would cause it to burn brightly again.” (Stanley Horton)

That is not to say that there will not come a time when there will be judgment. God will do what he has promised and will make all things right. But that judgment is not for us to make. Our job is to point to the truth and to love with generous hearts.

But as we look at our fellow brothers and sisters, we must remember that the gentleness of Christ died for us while we were yet sinners…

The gentleness of Christ is his power… Again from Horton: “ He gently takes the sinner and makes him whole.”

The Gift of Goodness

Posted on July 25, 2010Leave a comment

We’ve heard of goody-two-shoes. Good riddance. Goodness gracious great balls of fire. And Goodbye. Things can taste good, we like to read good books and tell good stories. We tell our children to be good and to get good grades.

But what does it really mean to be good?

The Random House dictionary has 41 different definitions for the word… and that’s just the adjectives.

But in general, I think we usually say that something is good if it fulfills our expectations – if it does what it is supposed to – and if we get some kind of benefit from it.

Take our cookies for example. If we had taken a bite of the cookie and they were old or dried out… they wouldn’t be so good. They wouldn’t have been all that they were made up to be.

In the same way… we are good when we fulfill the expectations of ourselves and others and if we benefit others as we do so.

I keep using the word benefit… and that is because there are lots of things that fulfill their purpose that we would never call good. For example – those cookies might taste good – but if you never got to eat them… if I never shared them… they would have been good to no one but myself.

Or, think about what makes a good chef’s knife. It is sharp, it cuts the way that it is designed to, and we can use it to prepare food and to eventually be fed. We benefit from the design and use of a good chef’s knife.

But in the hands of someone unskilled, like a child, the knife becomes dangerous and what we thought was good could harm them.

In the hands of someone who is angry or revengeful – the very thing that we called good only a moment ago can turn into a weapon. It still has the same qualities that fulfilled its purpose… only it is being used for ill rather than good.

So to be good… we must fulfill the expectations of ourselves and others and benefit others as we do so.

Throughout the scriptures – we hear stories of men and women who were good: Noah was a good man and so his family was saved from the flood. Lot was a good man and so his family was rescued from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Rahab the prostitute took in the spies from Israel and her family was saved from the battle of Jericho.

But there are plenty of people who were not so good. Who didn’t do what was expected of them. Who lived not to benefit others, but to benefit only themselves.

And it is to such people as these that the prophets were sent. Prophets like Samuel, Elijah and Elish, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habbakuk, Hosea… and our prophet for this morning: Nathan.

We have here a story of paradox. David was a man after God’s own heart. We always think back on all of the good things that he did – his trust in God, his loyalty to Saul, his music, and his love… but in some ways, David was a kind of bad dude.

As we heard this morning, David breaks two commandments all in a weeks time. He sleeps with another man’s wife… one of his soldiers Uriah’s wife Bathsheeba… and then to cover up the fact that he has done so – he has Uriah killed out on the battlefield.

Nathan’s job here is simple… bring God’s judgment upon David for these acts. But what I want to look at this morning is how the goodness of Nathan shines through.

First, Nathan helped the truth to come to light… Ephesians 5 says that God’s children live as children of light… “for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.” He didn’t shy away from the fact that David had done wrong, but made sure that David knew that he had done wrong.

Second, Nathan knew what David had done wrong… He knew that he was unrighteous

The right thing to do as soon as David confessed would be to have David stoned… but goodness goes beyond simple righteousness… goodness goes beyond simply pointing out the wrongs in others.

He not only told the truth, but nowhere do we have any indication that Nathan is prepared to follow the letter of the law. He instead waits for a response from David.

As people of faith, too often we are quick to bring judgment upon others and stand waiting with signs of condemnation. We are good at bringing unrighteousness to light. We are terrible about leading people into repentance.

When our righteousness is only about what is right and what is wrong, it becomes a weapon of judgment.

But by telling David a story, Nathan does just that. He helps him to see what is wrong, and in doing so, he also provides an opportunity for David to confess, to repent, and to live a different life.

Third, Nathan blessed David because of his repentance

He didn’t just bring the right thing to light, but he went the extra mile. Nathan did what was needed to set David back on the right path… what was needed to build him up and to help him live a better and more faithful life.

There would be consequences from his actions… and yet there was also room for God’s grace and mercy to flow back into David’s life and Nathan not only acknowledged that, but helped to point it out.

As Christians, we believe that all have fallen short of the glory of God. All of us are in need of grace and repentance.

I believe the basis of righteousness is fact that God sets us right. God forgives us. God leads us on the right paths. It has nothing to do with how many answers we get right or how many good deeds we do. It has everything to do with God.

But you see, that grace and that mercy that flows into our lives is not ours alone. It is meant to be shared.

If we fail to extend grace and mercy and love and forgiveness to our brothers and sisters, than we merely turn the precious gift we have been given into a weapon of destruction.