Today was our last day at Messiah United Methodist Church.
It was an incredible day. God is awesome!
Our church is amazing! I am so so very thankful.
A friend joked with me this morning that I'll be the first person taken to the hospital because of dehydration from tears! :)
I held up well. God is so good!
Joy and Sadness collided to create overflowing gratitude in our hearts!
We have so loved it at Messiah and we trust and know that God is calling and sending us once again.
We really struggled with what to preach.
What do you preach on your last Sunday?
We had all kinds of ideas, but none felt ...right...
I prayed.
I
got incredible wisdom from one of my best friends who said, "You asked
what to preach? Preach the Gospel. Do they need to hear a word of
hope? Preach hope? Do they need to hear peace? Preach peace? Preach
the Gospel!"
I
felt led to the lectionary-- we haven't always preached the lectionary
consistently at Messiah- often doing wonderful and creative sermon
series.
But I went to the lectionary and it was what God was calling us to preach.
This text and sermon were just right for transition.
God works!
It is awesome!
When I don't know, God always knows-- I just need to listen.
Our children's sermon was super fun- we called it "Miracle Grow"
The
kids were awesome. And as always Gracie brought us both a note.
Thankfully Sophia sat while Kevin and I both led the message. Gracie
played with my stole.
What follows is our sermon.
I love my husband so much. I love sharing in parenthood with him.
I love sharing faith with him. I especially love sharing in the call with him.
And this day we had the joy and honor to share in our last sermon here together.
(The
formatting, etc. may look a bit different depending on the preacher- we
formatted what worked for us.... and I simply used the same copy here)-
you'll see each section indicated who is preaching.)
Revs.
Kevin and Beth Anderson
Ezekiel
17: 22-24, 1 Corinthians 3: 6-6
Mark
4: 26-34
“Growing
in Grace and Wisdom”
Kevin Part 1–
(Setting up Parable of Scattered Seed)
When
Jesus arrives by the Sea of Galilee, crowds of people gather. They’ve heard of
this Jesus who has healed and preformed miracles.
They’ve
heard of his teachings and have come to listen to his word…..
So many gather that Jesus climbs
into a boat and begins to teach the crowds
just off shore, he teaches through a
series of parables.
When the Disciples asked why Jesus
used parables to teach the crowds
the Word of God, Jesus replies,
“The secret of the kingdom of God
has been given to you.
But to those on the outside everything is said in parables.”
The disciples come to understand
that Jesus is the Messiah,
but for the people to understand who Jesus is,
who God is, and their relationship
to God,
they need to relate their life to
God’s mighty acts...
so the crowds gather…Farmers, herders, fishermen, and
those in fields of trade such as stone-cutters, carpenters, and merchants
gathered to hear the Word of God, to
hear these parables.
Jesus uses their professions-- connecting
their story with God’s story.
The
parables begin with a story that we might be a bit MORE familiar with, the
parable of the sower.
The parable of the sower tells the
story of a farmer, the seeds that he scatters and the ground which receives it.
It challenges each of us to be open
fertile soil for God’s word to grow, and yet it can also bring a sense of
discouragement to the work we do in ministry
as it tells us that much of the seed we plant will not bear any fruit-
it may fall besides the rocks, be
scorched, or choked
depending on the soil and how well
the seed is sown.
Whereas
the parable of the Growing Seed tells the story of a farmer who works and
toils, day and night, to grow his crops in a labor of love.
he makes
great effort to scatter the seed in good soil, with the great hope
that it
will produce a fruitful harvest.
When he works and even when he sleeps, the seeds
grow.
So while
the farmer puts in all he has into the seeds with love and care,
he still does
not create the harvest alone.
Some believe that the point of the
“Parable of the Growing seed”
often called “The Seed Growing in Secret”
was to give more comfort to the
Disciples
and people who serve as farmers of
the word.
Comfort for those worried that the
seeds that they sow
will just be lost in the thorns,
choked by weeds,
or eaten by the birds hovering
around them,
planting in them the seeds of
discouragement.
It is easy to get discouraged when
we think or feel
that we are alone and isolated as
farmers of the WORD.
Whether we are clergy or laity
all people struggle with our
failings in life as we strive for success. Discouragement can lead to
depression….
yet the reality of it all is that we
are never truly alone in anything we do.
regardless of the time of day, the
project at hand,
the amount of success or failure
that life can bring
God is there with us cheering us on,
and ushering in comfort in hard
times of famine and drought.
While there are times of harvest and
times of pruning,
God continues to grow with the power
of the Holy Spirit
to scatter more seed for the
harvest.
This is comfort for us
God is always present, and always
there in all ways-- at all times.
As the Psalmist says…………..
“You have searched me, Lord, and
you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my
thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand
upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to
attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your
presence?”
PAUSE:
…God is ever present,
and just like the sower we do not
tend our life and fields
alone and isolated. God is working.
God proclaims through the prophet
Ezekiel, “I myself will plant…
All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord….
I the Lord have spoken; and I will accomplish it.”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
emphasizes
the actions of God, what God can
do.
The parable of the growing seed
reveals the just because we do not always see
each way a seed we plant MAY grow
does not mean that seed DOES NOT
grow
God
can use any seed to bear good fruit.
Beth--
Part 2- (What this does for us- Seeing)
We rarely see the full picture of what God is creating—doing—planting—calling….
When I answered my call to ministry – at first I
struggled to believe that God was calling.
Did God know me? Me? Could God
use me?
I could not
see what God saw. I did not imagine that
God could use me.
Has God called you and you haven’t seen it?
Because the thing is- God is always calling—
What is God calling
you to now?
How is God growing
you now?
What has God grown in
and around you that is just now bearing fruit?
It’s
hard to see the way God sees.
Once I accepted my call to ministry – I still only
saw this much (blinders).
I thought God had called me to be a chaplain in a
hospital serving the poor.
And God just kept
growing.
More kept being
revealed.
God kept saying- “And this too”
And God grew me- to keep saying, “Yes.”
It’s so hard to see what God is always doing- always at work—all around and just below the
surface.
As a US-2 missionary, I spoke at churches about our
bag lunch program. When I called to
confirm at one church that I was their mission speaker they said, “Yes – you’re preaching and leading our
worship that day.”
“Oh no,” I said, “ I’m just
your
‘mission speaker’, they said- “no –
you’re our preacher for the day.”
Are there places in your life where you say “I’m just
this….”
“We
are only just that” ….
Well--
I preached by accident that first
day—and a powerful Holy Spirit miracle
grow call of God was saying, “And this….Grow.”
It’s quite powerful to experience this.
We’re in the season of Pentecost now talking,
thinking, re-discovering the power of the Holy Spirit—and this is how The Holy
Spirit works—we don’t see always, but we
feel, we stretch- we grow.
This parable of the “Growing Seed” ---the “Seed
Growing in Secret” reveals- this is how God
moves – almost in secret- because we cannot see.
I love Hymn 707 Hymn of Promise-
The repeating line is that there are things
God is doing- miracles God grows—and they are “unrevealed until
its season, something God alone can see.”
When God sent us to Messiah—Kevin and I had just
graduated from seminary - we were starting out—our plan was simply to love God and to love you. And we
have. We do—we love you.
---------We thought= we’d settle in a year or so and
try to begin our family.
/// We
could only see so much. /// J
We wanted to plan
--- make sure we were ready for new changes.
Well,
God was working- even when we didn’t
fully know- even when we could not see.
Grace was already
on the way—
God’s
grace is always ahead of us….
And Sophia followed in
the same way.
(God’s
wisdom always knows before we do)
Without a plan, without the “proper preparation,”
without reading all the baby books… without
an instruction manual.
God
sent Grace and God sent Sophia to us.
And
God gave us you.
We love you. You’ve loved us.
You
became family. …..
God and You have been our instruction manual…. for
children, life, ministry….
You’ve “ordered your lives after the example of
Christ—and surrounded our children in
steadfast love” so that they have grown- in the faith – “in this way
that leads to life eternal” [i] And we, are eternally grateful.
We’ve all grown—even when we haven’t
noticed perhaps- God’s been growing us all.
And
God’s been calling us – to grow some
more.
To see more- to share and scatter more
seeds of the contagious joy of Jesus Christ.
Earlier this spring, I ordered all these books on pastoral
transition- on starting in
your new appointment.
One day recently, Kevin came and kindly helped me
pack up my office.
I had all the
books I wanted to read sitting in one particular spot….
But I forgot to tell him that.
So all those books that
I wanted to read
to tell me how to move into a new church got packed.
I managed to
find one of them--- as if that will give me all the answers-
As if reading the right book, having a plan—will
be the miracle.
And it won’t make the miracle— but, it is good compost,
nurturing
God’s growing.
But my plans – they aren’t a
miracle.
They don’t make
things grow.
God does that.
God grows.
“Unrevealed until its season- it’s something God
alone can see”
God is a grower-
who is growing you--- even when you
can’t see or understand…..
And
While
God works-
We must be open to hear the “And this”
call
and
receive the seeds of God’s grace, wisdom, and love.
And God grows us.
Rooted in Christ.
And …. Joy
thrives.
Kevin-
Part 3 (All we can’t see- aka not all
about the planter)
John Chapman, also known as Johnny
Appleseed, was a missionary,
a pioneer, a farmer, a sower of SEED
and God’s WORD
He stands as a living example of
these parables today.
to provide another source of food
for those that were hungry.
His ministry became legend as well
as the blessing named after him
A blessing used at many Anderson family meals.
The Itinerate process in the United
Methodist Church
reminds me of John Chapman’s
mission.
We are called into a ministry of Seed.
Planting, growing, nurturing,
cultivating, pruning, and planting again.
And we do this not alone but with God
Not alone but with the people of God.
It is not all about the Pastor, and
it is not all about the church
but it is all about God’s actions,
and the harvest that comes from
working together
to vision, to grow, to plant, to
seed
and to reap the harvest of ministry
together.
This is the good news of our ministry together!
This is the hope for the present and future
of those who have been here before
are here now and for those
that God is calling in this time to
this place. Creating a beautiful Collision.
God has tilled the earth and soil,
preparing for what comes next,
The hope, grace, love and wisdom of
God
rain down on all of us as one body in the planting business.
While we are farmers of the Word, we
are NOT alone in our toil.
I am not a professional gardener,
but I do understand
that when you overwater a plant the
seed cannot grow.
and when you fail to water it, the
plant never even has a chance.
And yes instead of planting seeds altogether, instead of gardening,
you could go up to Michaels and
purchase fake plastic plants.
But even though they might look nice
when we place them along our path, they are stagnate, they do not grow
and they do not wither,
all they do is collect dust….
Seeds, soil, visioning, faith,
planting, working together..Now that
takes trust
There’s no guarantees that you, the
farmer, will bring forth fruit.
Yet we are called to try, to put
forth the effort, a labor of love
Just as the sower has done day and
night.
The Parable of the
growing seed reminds us
That we are to trust in
the Actions of God
God
will work. It’s not all about the planter.
A
shoot may spring up where you least expect.
God
has planted me in ministry with amazing people
in places where ministry grows.
The love of Christ is rich for reaping, seeds find home on
good earth.
This has been Messiah for me.
I am thankful for Messiah and this
Parable of the growing seed,
because I know that God has brought
me here and is bringing new people here to this Church, this community, this
home.
I know that God is growing new things that we cannot even see
yet.
We are not alone in ministry, we are
never alone.
We all partake of the planting,
experience God’s growing,
and share in the harvest as one.
Beth-Part
4 (The Hope we Have)
Paul says to the
Corinthians,
“I planted, Apollos
watered, but God
gave the growth.”
The ministry of all is important, valued, and
can yield powerful fruit!
We all do
some seed scattering, planting and some watering.
Those who came before
and those who come after.
We hear the call again “And
this”
God doesn’t
say “Do this, not that”
God
doesn’t say, “But, now, do
this.”
The growing that has occurred is never left out, discounted, never dismissed--- it’s all addition, multiplication, all growing
ALL
“And”
“And, now this—Go-- Be planted and plant
again, scatter seed once more,
Grow
in grace,
grow in wisdom, grow in love…keep growing.”
Let’s never dismiss God’s miracle growth.
It may not be
what we planned-or thought to
plant.
It may not be
what we saw- but God
saw fit
to scatter the seed, plant, and grow.
Let
us see the possibilities—
Let us value the
seed and see all it can do.
We can look at seeds and say that isn’t enough- we say that isn’t the right approach, this doesn’t
fit what we thought the plan would be….
But
what if that
is
a mustard seed waiting to grow?
That’s
what we’ve experienced.
Mustard
Seeds!
Of
Grace,
Mustard
Seeds
Of
Wisdom
Mustard
seeds of LOVE
SO much LOVE!
What if God is working and we don’t know?
Because--God’s
always growing !
Tell somebody!
“God
is
ALWAYS
GROWING!”
God’s
a miracle grower!
In
you,
In
Me,
In
all of Us,
In
Messiah!
God is growing!
Thanks Be to God! Amen.
Today was such a powerful day!
We are forever grateful!
We are filled with Deepest Love and Overflowing Joy for Messiah!
We thank God for all of you!
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