Tour Guides for God (Sermon for 6/14/09; Proper 6B/Pentecost 2B)

Tour Guides for God
Sermon for 6/14/09 (Proper 6B/Pentecost 2B)
Mark 4:26-34; Ezekiel 17:22-24

And now for the interactive portion of our sermon. Raise your hands--How many of you have ever raised a garden--be it for vegetables or flowers? OK, you can put your hands down. Now raise your hands again--How many of you grew up on a working farm or live on a working farm today? OK, you can put your hands down. As I suspected, many of us have had at least some experience working in a garden or farm where we worked the soil, planted seeds or seedlings, and watched as the seasons changed and brought different looks to the garden in the cycle of life. But even thought many of us have experience with gardens, I doubt that many, if any, of us rely solely on our gardens and farms to feed our families. Thankfully we have grocery stores, farmers markets, and restaurants that provide most of our food these days. At the same time we have choices for the source of our food, we can easily loose our connection to creation and our Creator because we spend less and less time with our fingers in the dirt and our senses heightened by the changing seasons.

Jesus lived in an agrarian culture where farming and crop cycles were a tremendous part of basic survival. During those days, I can only imagine how closely they watched the seasons, crop cycles, and weather just to be sure there would be food to last through the year. As we read through Scripture, we quickly notice that crops, trees, bushes, seeds, plantings and harvests cover a huge landscape of Jesus' parables. We read two of these very parables today--the first one that only appears in Mark, and the second about the mustard seed that is likely much more familiar as it appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Of these two seed parables, the growing seed parable resonated with me much more this week than the mustard seed one. I can relate to that someone who goes along, plants some seeds, and a while later realizes how much they have grown. Steve and I have gotten into vegetable gardening this year for the first time. A couple of months ago I ventured into my local Home & Garden store and walked out with seeds, dirt, peat cups, and hope for what we would be harvesting later this summer. I diligently planted the seeds, remembered to water them occasionally, and low and behold, in a few days we had sprouts growing up. Then, as many of you know, we bought a house the end of May, and the first thing we did after our closing was to head to our new house to build the raised-bed garden.

We needed to transfer our seedlings into the ground quickly, since they were quickly outgrowing the small peat cups. I set up the soaker hose on a timer and spent the next two weeks sun down to sun up trying to get everything moved from one place to the next.

All of the sudden one day last week I looked out in the backyard, and was amazed to see our garden. It's huge--so huge in fact that yesterday afternoon we spent time digging up some of the squash plants and transferring them back to big pots to make some room for the rest of the garden--I guess I should have listened to the spacing directions on the package better! Amazingly, after only a few weeks our lettuce is ready to eat. We picked our first lettuce Friday night, and it was so exciting to eat our first real dinner in our new house and enjoy the lettuce of our labors.


As I've thought about the parable of the growing seeds and my own gardening experience this year, one detail in particular jumped out. In Mark 4:27 the text says, "and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how." This gardener does not know how the seeds grow. Yep-I relate to that! Can anyone else relate? Sounds to me like Jesus shared this parable and used me as the example--I'm pretty much clueless as to how the whole seed process works. I just know it does--with a little water and sun added in, and voila--we have fresh veggies for dinner. This little phrase "he does not know how" in the Greek uses the word that we derive our word "automatic" from. The seeds grow automatically. But this word in the Greek subtly shows that in fact, it was God's work that helped the seed grow automatically. God provides the sun and rain. God provides the seed. God created the soil and God's hand is right there tending the crops.

This parable deals with the ordinary, mundane, and not always so exciting process of planting, growing, and harvesting. It takes place in the minutia--the stuff of life that most of us likely do somewhat automatically without thought. We watch the seasons change, but sometimes it's hard to tell when the change has actually taken place. We generally wake up one morning, turn off the heat, forget the scarf and hat, and go about our business, not realizing that in fact winter is finally over and spring is here to stay. We notice the days getting longer and longer, but just keep going about our ordinary lives--not thinking about the movement of the created universe that makes all of these things possible. Our lives are very much automatic--winter leads to spring, trees grow leaves, fields become vibrant with growth, and then it's time for the harvest and the process starts over again.

The someone in the parable might not know how it all happens, and we might not understand seed germination and growth, but our Creator God certainly does. God is at the heart of this yearly planting, growing, and harvesting. God is present in the ordinary, mundane details, even when we're on autopilot. God is omnipresent--everywhere--and has a hand in every detail, no matter how small--from the mustard seed to the tall cedars that soar. Seeing the crops and watching the seasons change help us to know God is in fact Creator and is not a distant, far off God. God is present here and around us and in us every moment of every day. One writer I came across this week said about this parable that "Jesus invites us to see and to hear God in the familiar rounds of daily life... to sit still and contemplate quietly until the commonplace wakes our minds and hearts to wonder." [1] Does your garden cause you to pause and wake your mind and make your heart wonder?

This past week in our Velvet Elvis small group, we read a section that caused much discussion and connects with this parable. Rob Bell is discussing mission trips, which many of us are either just returning from, or about to leave out on. Bell is relating Paul's work with different people groups in Acts 14 to current mission endeavors today. Paul tells the group he is working with, "God has not left himself without testimony; [God] has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; [God] provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." [2] Bell then says, "Missions then is less about the transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of a God who is already there. It is almost as if being a good missionary means having really good eyesight. Or maybe it means teaching people to use their eyes to see things that have always been there; they just didn't realize it. You see God where others don't. And then you point [God] out. Perhaps we ought to replace the word missionary with tour guide, because we cannot show people something we haven't seen. ...So the issue isn't so much taking Jesus to people who don't have him, but going to a place and pointing out to the people there the creative, life-giving God who is already present in their midst." [3] He goes on to explain, "Tour guides are people who see depth and texture and connection where others don't. That is why the best teachers are masters of the obvious. They see the same thing that we do, but they are aware of so much more. And when they point it out, it changes the way we see everything." [4]

Tour guides for God. It is certainly a different way to describe our mission adventures. It might be a good bumper sticker or T-shirt slogan. But something in that resonates with me deep down. God is present everywhere. God makes the sun to shine and the seeds to grow automatically--we do not know how. God is at work in the mundane, ordinary actions and interactions, and when we take notice, we can draw closer to our Creator through creation. It is up to us to see with new eyes, intentionally pay attention, and notice where the seeds of faith, love, and hope are sprouting around us. Maybe God's presence will be obvious and you can't miss the sign at all. Or maybe it's a secret garden that isn't really located on the map, but you can see glimpses of our Creator in the flowers and trees around you. It also reminds us that sometimes the seeds are planted and we must wait patiently for them to sprout to be tall enough to be seen through the dirt. Sometimes we are planting seeds that will take months or years to be able to identify. Do not give up hope--growth is taking place with God as the gardener.

This summer, I invite you to think about where you see God around you. Where is God working automatically, so much so that we are oblivious and need new eyes to see God's presence? Where can our mundane, ordinary experiences become places to pause and begin to wonder about all God has created? How can we connect with our Creator through gardening, hiking in nature, hammering nails, painting walls, or having conversations with friends? How can we be tour guides to show others where God is already at work? And how can we help others see with new eyes to point out God in their midst too? And just as Thanksgiving is a celebration of the bounty of the harvest, let us not forget to give thanks for the garden bounty, the signs of God in our midst, and all the new eyes that become tour guides directing us closer to our Creator God. Amen.

[1] Lamar Willimason, Jr., Mark: Interpretation Series (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1983) 100.
[2]Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005) 87. Bell references Acts 14:17.
[3]Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005) 87-88.
[4]Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005) 89.

"The Outpouring of God's Spirit" Pentecost Sermon 5/31/09

Sermon 5/31/09 "The Outpouring of God's Spirit"
Pentecost, Year B
Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27

Have you ever been at a point in your life when you just wanted to hear a word from God? Maybe it was years ago or maybe it's today. Maybe you were looking for guidance to help make a difficult decision or maybe you were seeking comfort in the midst of pain, peace in the midst of strife, wholeness in the midst of dis-ease. Maybe it wasn't that it you wanted to hear from God, but that you NEEDED that word from God? A word, any word would set the mind at ease that God is speaking, that indeed God is present. God has not forgotten about us. When doubts creep in and the lack of audible words from God is overwhelming, many of us, I believe, long to hear God speak a word, any word to fill the void we are feeling and make God's presence known in our midst. Silence is not something that many of us are comfortable with these days--I'm guilty of it myself. I'll turn on the TV or radio just to have some background noise as I read or play a game or even clean the house. Silence can be deafening--especially silence from God.

When it comes to our longing to hear God speak, what may differ about that word for us is how we would like God to deliver it. We've been talking in our Velvet Elvis Conversation Group the past couple of weeks about that exact idea, as many of us have questions and thoughts related to what we want to hear God say and how we want to hear it spoken--be it booming thunder, a whisper in the wind, or maybe a word from a stranger. Some of us long for the burning bush along I-40 as we drive to work, so that we, like Moses, turn our heads, stop alongside the road, and take notice. Some of us would prefer the bright, flashing neon signs of Time Square, where God spells out the message on the marquee and makes it so bright we can't miss it even if we wanted to.

The more I've thought about hearing God speak and our desire for a word from the Lord this past week, I've come to wonder if it is actually our true desire to hear a word from God, or if it is more that we desire to just know God is present. It's likely that we can handle the silence, as long as we know God is there, because often silence could mean something is wrong or God is not listening. We want assurance that we are not forgotten or alone. We matter and are noticed by our great Creator, and we are loved. I remember a retreat I attended in high school where I had an experience of feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly that it was undeniable, though there was no word from God that came with it. It was a warm, peaceful, calm moment that I truly do not have words adequate to describe. To this day I hold that experience in the back of my head and heart because it offers me that assurance that I matter to God, and God is present in my life.

For those followers of Jesus who gathered 50 days after Jesus was resurrected from the dead, Pentecost was just that experience that some of us seek--where God's presence was undeniable as it flashed brightly across the Time Square-style marquee inside a room in Jerusalem. These disciples are the same ones who gathered together in fear just after the resurrection because they didn't understand what was happening. They wanted a word or sign that things were going to be ok--God was still with them. On Pentecost, God's presence in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was so bright and powerful that even those outside the room took notice, stopped what they were doing to go see, and were amazed! It was a theophany, an experience of the presence of God--not unlike Moses' burning bush or Jesus' baptism when the dove descended and the voice of God sounded through the thunder. God was clearly present and at work, and the world took notice.

There are a few significant details to this important passage in Acts. As we think about God's Spirit being poured out into the world, we notice that the tongues of fire land "on each of them" as it says in Acts 2:3 and "all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit" in verse 4. The Holy Spirit was given to everyone --the whole community was the beneficiary--and no one was excluded. Also as we think about hearing God speak, we notice that the event inside was such a big deal that those outside were even included and came to join in the festivities. They were called to the Holy Spirit's Welcome party by hearing their own native languages being spoken. If we were wandering the streets of Moscow or Beijing and heard English being spoken loudly inside a building we were passing by, we very well might take notice and stop what we're doing to listen to what's going on. The list of places that are noted in the passage is important as well. A glance at a map showing where these locations are will show how spread out the regions are. They cover all around the Mediterranean Sea, north into Europe, south into Africa, and most of the Middle East. It symbolically and literally represented the whole known world that was present to experience the outpouring of the Spirit. There is no mistaking that the Spirit came for everyone, not just those few who fit into the room that day.

The writer of Acts is careful to note this theophany of God because it was an important event. Some call Pentecost the birthday of the church. It certainly was the full fulfillment of God's coming into the world. Pentecost is not an isolated event, like we sometimes mistakenly think, but is part of the Lent and Easter journey. God began to fulfill the promise of coming into the world through a manger and a baby and later a cross and empty tomb. But as we think back to Christmas, the shepherds were local residents. The magi were from the east, but they were few in number, and we don't hear about what happened after they saw the baby and went home a different way. Jesus lived and taught in a relatively small area of the world, and though he had affected the whole world since his birth, his physical location during his life was limited. The empty tomb was discovered by only a few at most. Here at Pentecost, we receive indication that the message of Jesus is finally being broadcast to the whole world though the work of the Holy Spirit.

Peter's speech in the second half of our Scripture text this week takes the message of Pentecost one step further--just in case anyone is still feeling left out from the outpouring of the Spirit. Peter reminds the listeners that the Holy Spirit is fulfilling the prophet Joel's words from long ago. "God declares that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18 NRSV) Men, women, young, old, slave, and free--everyone is included. The Spirit of the Lord is poured out for everyone, and God is present for everyone.

But what about those of us who maybe aren't in a place today to affirm that God is present, speaking, and at work around us? What about that deafening silence where we long to hear a word from the Lord? It is in times like these that proclaiming God's Spirit was poured out for the whole world on Pentecost can become so important. It gives us a Scriptural place to pause and rest for a moment while we wait for our word from the Lord. It also gives us the reassurance that God has been, is, and indeed will be faithful. The radical inclusiveness of Pentecost gives me hope that we will all feel God's presence and hear that much desired word from the Lord at some point--just maybe not in our own timing.

I had preacher Barbara Brown Taylor's book, When God is Silent recommended to me this past week, so I read it as I prepared for today's message. This small book left me with much to ponder, and at one point she references Fred Craddock, another well-known preacher. He said, "The voice of God in Jesus was not a shout. In him, the revelation of God comes to us as a whisper." She goes on to say, "In order to catch it, we must hush, lean forward, and trust that what we hear is the voice of God." [1] I believe this is where being part of a community of believers becomes so valuable. It is in the listening together and sharing with one another that we confirm and affirm where we collectively hear God whispering through the Spirit's interactions with our lives. We can use one another to test the messages we are discerning and barely hearing through the silence, and understand what God is saying.

I remember standing on the top of the mountain at Laurel Ridge one cold fall evening with a group of college friends after a night hike. It was so beautiful and clear that we felt we needed to stop and pause and notice the beauty of God's creation around us. We huddled in prayer because it just felt right to pray at that moment. As we said, "Amen" and looked up at the stars, we all saw the most beautiful, brightest shooting star that, to this day, I have ever seen. We all gasped as we got goose bumps. At that moment we all agreed that it was the exclamation point that God placed on our prayer and the assurance of God's presence with us on that mountain. Our small community discernment helped us to see God's presence through the silence.

Barbara Brown Taylor also offered an analogy that I found helpful, as I have pondered silence from God. She likened it to an eclipse of the sun. [2] During an eclipse, it is not the sun that moves, but instead is something that comes between the sun and us. God doesn't change, but sometimes there are things that get in the way that block out the rays of the sun, and prevent us from feeling the warmth on our faces. Being in community with believers is a place where we can seek out and remove the stuff that blocks the sun in order to help us feel the warmth on our faces and the words in our hearts.

Also, maybe the silence we hear from God is purposeful. Maybe the silence is there to draw us into the mystery that is God. It draws us into a place that we would never have journeyed had the noise surrounded us. Taylor suggests, "The possibility that silence is as much a sign of God's presence as of God's absence--that divine silence is not a vacuum to be filled but a mystery to be entered into, unarmed by words and undistracted by noise." [3] I believe it is in these times that community can be there for us to just sit in the silence and keep us company as we journey deeper into the mystery of God. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for someone is to just be present where no words are required or needed.

So on this Pentecost Sunday, I invite us to join in the conversation that started all those years ago in Jerusalem. The outpoured Spirit of God is loose in this world and this energy cannot be contained! Let us continue to listen together, share together, sit in silence together, gather together, and see and proclaim the Spirit's work in this place and throughout the world. Will you join me as we live out our own Pentecost and listen for a word from the Lord together? I hope so! Amen.

[1] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent (Chicago, IL: Cowley Publications, 1997) 57.
[2] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent (Chicago, IL: Cowley Publications, 1997) 73. She was referencing Martin Bubel's The Eclipse of God.
[3] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent (Chicago, IL: Cowley Publications, 1997) 118.