Good morning, church! It finally feels like spring! Occasional sun breaks bring some much needed warmth, and send us Seattlites scrambling for sunscreen and hats. Birds singing, pollen flying, azaleas and rhododendrons coming into full glory. And the true meaning of ‘growing like a weed’ is evident before our very eyes!
What I love about spring, beyond the beauty of flowers and light for after-dinner walks, is the sense of renewal and rebirth. Blinking at the bright sunlight, smelling the sweetness of cherry blossoms, anything is possible. The unknowing, which seemed so ominous in the shorter, colder, darker days of winter, now feels hopeful.
Anything could grow this quickening season. The soil is ready for seeds and seedlings. Any perennials which didn’t die from drought last summer or a deep freeze in the winter are starting to show signs of life. At my house, blueberries and apples are blooming and will soon set fruit. Possibility and their cousin Hope flit joyfully like hummingbirds and bumblebees.
Trinity buzzes with emerging life. Worship and coffee hour feel strong and lively. 3rd Sunday community lunches with our WHEEL sisters are gaining strength. We have more baptisms coming up in early June. The art gallery has reopened and our building is once again humming with concerts and rehearsals during the week.
Other seeds in various stages of germination include 1st Thursday compline, ministry with children and their families, adult education, and getting out into our neighborhood. Yet other seeds, planted long ago, with deep roots into our faithfulness and history, are beginning to send up shoots.
While we can guess at what will bloom, the color of the flowers, and fruits that will emerge, gardening is full of unknowns. The quality of the soil. The availability of water. Proportions of sun and shade. We plant seeds and nurture a garden in partnership with God, and with all hope for the bounty of beauty, produce, and delight.
Jesus offers some advice to gardeners: “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” (Jn 14:12) I know, it doesn’t sound like gardening advice. Stay with me.
Jesus is sitting with his followers after the Last Supper. They have shared a bountiful banquet of food and love. Knowing that he will be leaving them, Jesus is preparing them for discipleship. He has prepared the soil and planted many and varied seeds. His disciples will grow something greater than even he has accomplished.
Those disciples witnessed his ministry of teaching and healing, how he met the most unlikely people on the fringes and connected with them. Through him, they glimpsed God’s hope. In faith, they watered and fed the seeds he planted in them. They told stories and invited people to experience the beauty and belonging of the community Jesus modeled. They reached out to those who society and religion had pushed to the margins and isolated - in those times, eunuchs, women, enslaved people - and welcomed them. They nurtured the seeds planted by a God who dreams that every human being will know the fullness of a life of love and belonging.
Beloveds, the garden of our life together at Trinity holds so much possibility and hope. Our community worships together, learns together, grows in faith, serves one another and goes out into our neighborhood to serve and invite others in. No one person does all of these things because no one of us has all the skills and talents, or time, to do all of it. Together, we tend this garden of our life and God’s hope for us. Each of us brings our little bit of faith, our experiences, our ideas and passions and desire to learn. We mix it all up with our time and money, amending and the soil. We nurture new seeds and old roots with the water of our sweat and tears. The Holy Spirit breathes warmth and life into us.
We continue to labor in love and hope because we never know exactly what will grow and bloom. Because Jesus promises that our life of faith, our community of hope, will be more fruitful and stronger than the garden he began.
Our world, our city, our neighbors, all humans, are drawn to a garden of beauty and plenty, where living water springs and the trees and plants vibrate with life, a place that invites people to come and stay awhile. Trinity, we ARE that garden - already and not yet.
As we look around to admire the flowers already blooming, the buds that promise more flowers, and fruit setting to ripen later, we look at the changing climates of our life and context. Jesus invites us to roll up our sleeves and join in tending the garden. To wonder which new and mysterious seedlings to nurture. To notice who lingers just outside the garden hoping to be invited in. To keep our gaze on the impossible and glorious hope that, through us, God’s kingdom of love, forgiveness, and abundance becomes reality for all people.
From experience, I can tell you that when the gardening tasks seem overwhelming, like when the weeds are already 4 feet high, the best way to begin is to choose something we love and do a little at a time. So I invite you to plant a bulb, nurture a passion, join your energy with what God has already begun growing here at Trinity:
Join our Neighborhood Clean-up Team on Saturday to beautify our blocks and meet other people who care about our environment.
Join the baptism class on Saturday morning to take the next step in faith.
Take in the beauty of our art gallery or a music program, and invite a friend!
Sign up to bring something for the 3rd Sunday Community Lunch.
Bring a symbol or tool of your work or ministry to church next Sunday as we bless the work of our lives.
We never know what will grow when we nurture the seeds God has planted.
Let us pray.
God of sunbreaks and lifegiving rain, bless your garden of Trinity. Nurture in us delight and courage to try new plantings. Keep our gaze on the hope and dream of your kingdom, and send your Holy Spirit to guide us into fullness of life. We pray in the name of Jesus, who said to ask in his name. Amen.
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