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"Planting, Watering,
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F.
Harry Daniel|
Scripture Readings: Jonah 3:10-4:11 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." And the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The LORD God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?" And he said, "Yes, angry enough to die." Then the LORD said, "You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?" 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building. Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all
and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of
Christ's gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. (NRSV) |
Jonah is about how grace-rich the prophet was,
and so are we.
All belongs to God who sends his rain on just and unjust
All includes Jonah’s enemies. Remember that dedication I told you about in Carlyle Marney’s Faith in Conflict: "To Victor, who agrees with me in nothing, and is my friend in everything."
Each one of us is given one life and one death and both belong to God.
Life is a pilgrimage, full of 2nd chances; God has our good at heart if not our convenience and comfort. God’s love is victorious love. God’s final victory will be by invincible grace. The world originally and finally is God’s. The crooked will be straightened. True, death separates, but love unites. The story has not ended, God is not finished with us.
We may always look forward to wonderful companions & neighbors whom God sends across our path: some for a long time, others for a short time. Both are gifts.
1 Corinthians 3 teaches that the whole field of the church belongs to God.
We all work together. No one minister is responsible for a church’s life. God takes the long view and sends one after another, and we work, but God gives the increase. I have done a little pruning, a little weeding and I hope a whole lot of watering with the gracious love of God.
You are gifted with a strong staff.
It has been a privilege for me and Betty to participate for a short time in your pilgrimage toward the kingdom.
New opportunities and challenges are before you.
Listen, encourage, support.
The church has some things to say no one else can say.
Ephesians 4 is about the church’s oneness in the triune God.
Yes, this is your sanctuary, but 2nd Presbyterian Church, Lexington is God’s church.
When in your brokenness you have come into this sanctuary, it was God who healed you.
In a real sense you did not pick this congregation. God has a reason for your being here and God has added new friends/members/neighbors/fellow laborers for you to work with together.
You have been mentored, loved and nurtured: make a list and give thanks.
Think of all those treasured human beings in this congregation who are God’s gift to you. The glory of God’s grace is that most human beings are made by committee. Here that committee is this church.
Because of this community of faith,
when you stand before an open grave, you know the words are more than words,
when you rise to a difficult situation and you say that you didn’t know you had it in you, you didn’t, these ones around you rose with you,
when you were sick: that will to health was as much without from this church as from within,
when you were depressed, and hope was dying a friend restored your soul.
Look around,
give thanks,
how grace-rich you are,
what gifts and talents you have.
I am not worried about you.
These three texts describe what the church is about, and how it ought to be about it.
I have a little, final advice to give (once an interim always an interim!)
Practice community, life is communal always communal.
Listen to the story. Don’t ever assume you have got it! It’s too rich and has so much more to give you.
Worship God.
Study and understand more what God is about and what the good is.
Treat others with extraordinary respect.
Choose to love the church, but to love God more.
Take some risks, participate in another’s life.
Spending your days in the fast lane of life impairs the quality of your seeing. If you want to see the depths, you will need to slow down. You live in a world of theophanies. Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you.[1]
Be careful of what you dislike, hate, the line between what and who is easily crossed.
Learn from failure.
Choose as the discipline of life to give more air time to our good news rather than our bad news.
Respect diversity, if we all acted and thought alike, there would be no challenge to be faithful!
Seek the well-being of the world God loves.
Work at removing the yokes and burdens that weigh down you and your neighbor.
Invite, invite, invite others. We live in a throw-away society, one that throws human beings away. Oppose that trend with all your faith!
Why do all this – God, the triune one is the awesome, passionate, caring, purpose-pursuing, future-creating One who is giving us far more than we have even begun to ask for or imagine.
Rejoice, again I say rejoice. Drop a few "Hallelujahs" and "Amens" along the way to startle your friends, set your heart singing and your mind thinking. And if you are really into it say a few "Glories"!
Thank you for your presence and participation, your
support and your friendship, your grace and your love,
Shalom.
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[1] Macrina Wiederkehr, A Tree Full of Angels,
xii-xiii.