Sunday
06/17/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Sowing Seeds”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 20
New Testament
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Gospel Lesson:
Mark 4:26-34
My dear friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome
again on this our Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Father’s Day, Graduate Recognition
Sunday, and this my last Sunday preaching as your pastor. I will be in the
office this week, however.
So four Sunday’s after the Holy Spirit moved, the church
was born, this day that we honor fathers and all the men in our lives that have
and continue to love and care for us. Those role models, and people that have
and continue to shape us. This is also a special Sunday that we honor and
celebrate our graduates. As I just said, it is also my last Sunday preaching as
your appointed pastor. Melissa and I knew that this day would come eventually,
yet when I sat down to write this sermon, I thought how I can condense five
years here into one sermon?
I don’t think that it is an accident that the lectionary
gospel reading for this morning is about “The Parable of the Growing Seed” (Mk.
4:26-34, NRSV). This is a scripture about growth, harvest, and new life. In
this parable, or story, or analogy, Jesus once again says:
“The kingdom of God is as if someone
would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and
the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of
itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But
when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest
has come”
(Mk.
4:26-29, NRSV).
Jesus
said that God’s kingdom is like us scattering seeds, and seeing the growth, yet
not necessarily expecting it or understanding it. Yet, then we reap the
harvest. In the five years that I have been blessed to serve here, like this
parable, I, and all of you have sown in a variety of ways, seeds of faith and
love to many. We don’t always see and or understand the growth, but looking
back, and looking out this morning, I see the growth. I see the growth in new
members, new attenders, deepened faith, outreach, mission, repairs and upgrades
to the church, and giving that has increased. By just about every measure the
seeds of faith and love that we have scattered have sprouted and grown, and we
are and will continue to reap this harvest. This has all occurred not because
of me, or Melissa, or even you directly, but it has all occurred because we
have allowed God to work through us. We have allowed the Holy Spirit to flow in
us and through us, as people have come to Christ, as we continue to transform
this community and this world.
Understand
that this work that we are about, is the power of God through the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, which is the hope of the world. This power, this love, the
movement of the Holy Spirit is something that we are called to partake of, to share,
and to make known. The power of the church therefore, rests not solely in the
pastor, but in all of us. For we are all pastors and priests. The future and
the success of this church, its ministries, its vitality, and its witness to
the gospel of Jesus of Christ in the world then, rests on your faithfulness,
devotion, and the work of the gospel of Christ in the world.
In our reading from 2 Corinthians for
this morning, the Apostle Paul says once again:
“for we walk by
faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV).
Our faith in God, our witness to the
gospel of Jesus Christ, and us being empowered by the Holy Spirit, is how the
church grows, moves, lives, and thrives. The change agent, the growth, the
power, rests solely in Jesus Christ and his gospel through the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Well just how much faith do we need to
accomplish all of this? The gospel of Mark reading for this morning continues with
Jesus saying:
“He also said, “With what can we compare
the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard
seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on
earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs,
and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in
its shade”
(Mk.
4:30-32, NRSV).
Jesus says, that with our faith, even if it is as
small as a mustard seed, that God can use that faith to grow it into a great
shrub or tree. From that one seed we can reap a harvest for Jesus Christ. As
the Apostle said once again this morning in 2 Corinthians:
“for we walk by
faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7, NRSV).
The gospel reading concludes this
morning with us hearing that Jesus spoke more parables to the Apostles, to
explain more what the Kingdom of God is like.
So “Sowing Seeds” of faith, faith
as small as a “Mustard Seed”. When we have these things coupled with a desire
to share the truth, love, and hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will see
a church that is alive in the Holy Spirit, growing, flourishing, and filled
with love and hope. You will see a church in mission transforming the world. Most
importantly, we also see people coming to the life giving hope found only in
Jesus Christ.
What I have seen in this church, through this
church, and among the people of this church the last five years, is “Sowing
Seeds,” and faith growing. This can continue and will continue as long you stay
connected to Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In my time here, it is has been an unbelievable privilege
and honor to baptize members of your family, and others. To be able to hold and
love that child, as the church made a covenant to love that child in the name
of Jesus Christ. It has been an unbelievable privilege and honor to provide
pastoral care for many of you and your family members. You allowed me into
hospital rooms, homes, nursing care facilities, and etc. Many you brought me
into hard and even sensitive areas of your lives that I might minister and show
the love of Christ. While some of these moments and times were hard, they were
all an unbelievable privilege and honor.
I have had the unbelievable privilege and honor of
doing funerals and burials for some of your family, friends, and people that I
had never met. Each one was a child of God, and it was a privilege and an honor
to speak on their behalf. It was an unbelievable privilege and honor to say the
historic Christian prayers and words at their burials and memorial services.
It was also an
unbelievable privilege and honor to do the weddings that I did, and see and
witness the great anxiety, love, caring, and cake that those days had. What
memories, what love.
Yes indeed, over these last five years you all have
entrusted me with very much. You have allowed me to minister to you, your
family, and this community, as you have done the same for me. You have loved Melissa
and I, cared for us, and treated us like your own family. All of this, I believe
is what Jesus was proclaiming about “Sowing Seeds” and about growing faith and
the Kingdom of God.
I know that some of you might be apprehensive about
the future of this church, but remember the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ
is in you, and will continue to work through you if you let. Continue to share
that love, hope, and salvation that is offered through Jesus Christ, and the
power of the Holy Spirit.
I would ask you to continue to pray for your new
pastor and there family, and the mission of the United Methodist Church, of “Making
disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world” will continue.
The work that we have to do in this community and in this world is immense, and
it will continue.
So I say, stay in the game, stay suited up, the
mission of Christ continues, until we go to be with him, or returns in glory.
It has therefore been an unbelievable privilege and
honor to serve as your pastor. Know that before I got here five years ago that
I was praying for you. Before I got here I already loved you, as Jesus has told
us to love each other. Know that I will continue to love and pray for you. I
also know that we all don’t always agree on everything, but if we disagree, may
our love for each other be steadfast.
I also ask for forgiveness for any offenses or harm
that I have caused and of you, as I know that you have and will offer me the
same. I am far from perfect, but our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is perfect. I
pray that we would continue to seek after Christ, knowing that through him and
his gospel all things are possible.
So if we stay focused on Christ, his gospel, his
love, his truth, and speaking, living, and doing this in the world, the church will
flourish, grow, and continue to transform the world. When this happens will all
say as Saint Julian of Norwich said so long ago:
“All
shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well”.
(https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/156980.Julian_of_Norwich)
I thank you all for your love, your
support, your prayers, your council, and your friendship. It has been a great
honor and a privilege to serve as your pastor. Know that you are all loved and
prayed for. Blessings to you all in the name of Triune God. Amen.
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