Message Given at Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal in Covington, GA
https://www.youtube.com/live/lrgC3qMtx_M?feature=share&t=1770
Good Morning on this fifth Sunday in Lent.
We skipped the Decalogue this morning, the recitation of the
10 Commandments. In many ways, I think this is fitting especially in light of
the scripture from Jeremiah.
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be
like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt – a covenant that they broke … but this
is the covenant that I will make … I will put my law within them, and I will
write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people...”
This has long been one of my favorite scriptures, feeling
like we are in an age where this is true. I look around me in the world and see
people who do not go to church doing God’s work. Corporations that are
proactive about human rights and making better decisions for our planet. I
believe the Holy Spirit is at work in the world, and yet we have so much work
to be done. Thirty seconds watching the news reminds us that we do not yet live
in paradise.
And then we come to our scripture in John. Jesus is in the
last hours of his life, and the Romans have come for him. He says, “The hour
has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single
grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it,
and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be...”
This is the essence of Lent. To lose our life in the world.
To find our life in Christ. To remember our covenant with Christ – now written
on our hearts in such a way that we no longer must recite the Law of God. It is
firmly planted within us. In this way we remember our covenant with Christ, the
Lord, our redeemer, who gave his life for us. Who like a seed was planted.
At the beginning of Lent I discussed with you the importance
of fallow ground. This pandemic has given us a period of time to let our lives
as our land rest. This Lent has given you the opportunity to refocus your lives
in relation to your walk with Christ. And here we are; Lent is coming to a
close.
Today I ask you what seed have you prepared to plant in this
new season?
Jesus compared himself to wheat. He
called himself the bread of Life. Our communion is centered around remembering
him as the bread of life that feeds us. And here in John, he tells us that we
must be a similar seed. What is your seed? What is it that God is calling you
to do with your life?
Some seeds produce food, like wheat. Some seeds produce
trees that are either fruit bearing, or nut bearing – both good for food, or
perhaps a tree good for shade. A tree good for shelter for birds, and animals
and insects, and children, and people, and picnics. Is your seed a flower that
gives fresh fragrance to those who pass by? Are you a kind word on a hot day,
or a cup of water for parched lips. Is your seed a mustard seed where your
faith is strong and your prayer life fruitful for others?
When Lent is over and we come to celebrate the resurrection,
the new life in Christ, who’s seed is sprouting in Spring and bringing new life
to the earth, will you be prepared to step into that which God is calling you?
Have you done the work this Lenten season in giving up those things in your
life that are a distraction from your calling and refocused on what God has for
you to do?
I met a man in the hospital this past week. As soon as I
walked into his room, his eyes met mine and he started mumbling how he never
wanted to be the man he had been or do the things he had done ever again. He
was recovering from a bad episode where the bottle had become his solace, and
depression had overtaken him. He asked me to pray, and when I did the power of
God was so overwhelming, I had to inquire whether he had a calling on his life.
He admitted to me that he had walked away from his calling and that he
regretted it. He didn’t tell me what the calling was, nor does it matter what
the calling is.
Walking away from his calling, not planting the seed God had
given him, has brought him to a life of depression, alcoholism, and
despondency. He knew in his heart why he was where he was. God’s law is written
on his heart, like it is written on your heart, my heart. We know what God’s
call is.
My friends, you are in covenant with Christ. You have a call
on your life. Your life in Christ does not end at baptism, it begins. You have
here scripturally Christ’s call to lose the life that you know and to be in the
life that he has called you to. If you like my friend in the hospital are
suffering from depression, or dissatisfaction, despondency, or frustration, alcoholism,
drug addiction, or any other physical or mental or emotional ailment or ism,
ask yourself if you walked away from God’s call on your life. Ask yourself, “what
is that thing that I am supposed to be doing? that has been nagging me, that thing
I have been running from? If you are honest, it is on the tip of your tongue.
It is in your face. That, my friend is your purpose in life. It is your seed.
The good thing about seed is that they keep for long periods
of time. A seed you have been given even twenty years ago is still good for
planting. It might take longer for it to take root and grow, but it is still a
good seed. The bad thing about a seed is that if you continue to hold onto it,
if you don’t plant it, it will not grow. It cannot grow in the palm of your
hand. It cannot grow if you eat it. It cannot grow if you leave it on the shelf
of the recesses of your mind.
And a seed like the pea under the mattress of the princess
will continue to be an irritation, a thorn, a source of disruption to you
because that is why you are here.
A seed requires good soil, and sunlight, and water. Some
seeds require more attention than others. Grass can be scattered, covered and
left to grow on its own. Some require more specific attention. They must be
cultivated in a greenhouse before being transplanted.
You have a covenant with Christ. Christ has asked you to
follow him. His example is to be a seed, let your life be planted and grow
within the sun and shelter and cultivation of the Lord your God.
I saw an article about a man in Indonesia. For decades he
has planted banyan trees in the hills where he lived. The land had been over
farmed and cut and burned, and they suffered terribly from drought. After
decades of planting and suffering the ridicule of his friends and neighbors, he
has created a forest that supplies food, and water and shelter for all of them
and neighboring communities. He planted a seed, many seeds, and he didn’t give
up in the face of ridicule. He is an example of a person who may not know
Christ, but he is answering the call of God, the Law of God written on his
heart.
Can you imagine your life or the condition of this planet if
Jesus had used his power to avoid the cross and run from his calling? Can you
imagine our world if he had not become the seed of wheat that is our bread of
life?
Now imagine the world that you have created by not answering
your call. Imagine the world that you have created by holding onto that seed
whether because of fear or selfishness, stubbornness, or ambition. Your life
matters. People do not eat if you do not plant your seed. They do not get fed
or sheltered or cared for if you do not plant your seed. Your life and your
calling matter.
If you look at this church and this community, what will it
look like when the doors open back up for Palm Sunday and Easter? Will this be
a barren land? Will this space be filled with the results of your work in your
ministry that God has called you to? Will the seeds that you have planted in
your life bring fruit, and shade, and shelter, and fragrance to this community?
The world is still hungry and hurting. We are called to be
Christ to those who are hungry and hurting. This community has those who are
hungry and hurting. This is your community. It is your call. It is your seed.
What will you do with it?
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