“Rags on His Feet”

Meditation on Luke 10:17-24

for the Seventh Sunday in Easter

     “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”

      And Jesus said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

      At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

     “All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

      Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” (Luke 10:17-24)

   

     A businessman walks into a Kmart in Clark County, Kentucky.  The Kmart is going out of business and is just a couple of days away from shutting its doors.

     The businessman is just doing some shopping for his jewelry exchange store.

     On impulse, he asks the cashier what will happen to all the unsold items when the store closes.  The cashier lifts her shoulders.

    They will be sold to Kmart “power buyers,” she says.  Whatever that means.

     So the man decides that he will be a power buyer, though he is no Donald Trump.  He buys up everything that is left in the store.  It takes 6 hours to check him out.

    Clothes. Shoes. Coats. Office supplies. He buys it all.  He pays $200,000.

    And then he gives it all away to Clark County Community Services. The local charity provides food, clothes, and other help to those in need. There wasn’t room to store everything, so the man rented storage space for the charity, too.

   “To be honest with you, I could have made $30,000-$40,000 on it,” he says.

    But he has seen people struggling.  The people who frequent his jewelry exchange store. Needy people come in, he says, to sell their stuff so they can pay their bills. And survive.  

     “It's bad nowadays,” the businessman says. “I just told (the clerk) let's just give it away to charity.”

     It is the largest single donation the organization has ever received.

   “There won’t be any children in the county going without a coat this winter,” a representative of the charity says on a video clip, smiling.

     Some of the media are calling the man the “Summer Santa.”

     But that isn’t his idea.  The businessman isn’t seeking a lot of attention. He just saw an opportunity to help people in need.  So he did. 

      You see, he remembers what it felt like to be poor when he was a kid.

    When his family didn’t have money for shoes, and he tied rags on his feet.      

    

***

      In our Luke reading today, the “70” Jesus sent out in pairs come back all excited about the demons they cast out in Christ’s name, with Christ’s authority. 

     Jesus had equipped them for the journey by saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 

     “Go on your way.  See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 

    “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.  And greet no one on the road. 

    “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’  And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. ….

    “And whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick who are there and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

     But when the 70 messengers return from the mission, happy the demons submitted to them, Jesus rebukes them.

    Instead of rejoicing in their power over the demons, they should be rejoicing that “their names are written in heaven,” Christ says.  And that they have had the truth of the kingdom revealed to them, when it is hidden from so many.

     The 70 don’t fully understand this loving and righteous kingdom Jesus speaks of – the one that is coming near.  And their motivation for following Christ isn’t that they have a burden for those who are suffering. They are intrigued by the miraculous.

      Some Christians, even today, get caught up in spiritual warfare.  Movies like “The Exorcist” still draw the crowds.  But I think those who focus too much on the spiritual warfare piece can be distracted from the real message of the coming kingdom—when the battle has already been won for us and we are called to live in love.

       While casting out demons is an important part of Jesus’ ministry and it does reveal His divine identity, He does it to free people from the bondage of possession.  He casts out demons out of compassion—to give people new life. 

       Notice the 70 don’t speak of the lives and health restored to the people who were formerly demon-possessed.

        But it isn’t all their fault they don’t understand. The story hasn’t played out. No one understands the true message of the kingdom and Christ’s mission until after our Lord has been crucified and risen from the dead.  And the Spirit has been sent to dwell within the hearts and minds of Christ’s followers.

        As I considered this text this week, I wondered about us. If we have been good messengers—we who have heard and been witness to the full gospel through God’s Word and can testify to the truth about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. 

        Do we rejoice every day that our names are written in heaven? Or are we distracted and distressed by the evil we see in this world—and our longing for miracles and the power of God unleashed over the power of darkness that brings sadness, sickness, and pain?

        Then I thought, “What would it look like today to live out our joy in our salvation, in the coming kingdom, and our names being written in heaven?”

        And the story of the Summer Santa came to mind.

        Although I don’t know if he is a Christian, here is a man whose generosity shows his gratitude for what he has been given. Here is someone who wants to “give back.” His kindness and concern for the poor reveals a wisdom and understanding of the kingdom, when we are reconciled with God and each other. And we have learned to forgive, care for, and love as the Lord forgives, cares for, and loves us.

         Friends, may your gratitude to God stir you to acts of generosity and lovingkindness, like those of the Summer Santa.    

         The compassionate Kmart shopper who was moved to help others because he remembered when his family didn’t have money for shoes.

         And he tied rags on his feet.

Let us pray:  Heavenly Father, we thank you for revealing the good news of the gospel to us.  Thank you that our names are written in heaven and that we belong to you.  Thank you for your unconditional love and patience with us as we continue this journey, being messengers for the gospel but not always understanding the tasks you have given us. Forgive us when we fall into anxiety over the evil in this world and when we fear for tomorrow.  Give us faith to trust that you have already won the spiritual battle for us through Christ’s atoning death on the cross and His resurrection. Grant us a vision of our place in your peaceful, heavenly kingdom drawing near, a vision that brings us joy, purpose, and hope for every day. In Christ we pray.  Amen.

“Dreamer”

SERMON FOR RCW BACCALAUREATE

At Emden Christian Reformed Church

 Renville, MN            

    "Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

      Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

    Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.”

    His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

     But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?”

     So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind." (Genesis 37:1-11)

   At 17, Joseph had everything going for him. 

   He already had a steady job with a secure future, one that allowed him plenty of free time and space to roam.  He was an apprentice shepherd, a helper, to his older half brothers who watched over their father’s flocks and guided them to pastures near and far. 

   Joseph was his father’s favorite son, next to the baby, Benjamin. Whatever Joseph wanted, if Jacob could make it happen for him, he would.  And Jacob, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Abraham, was a wealthy farmer with a great deal of land, livestock, and servants.

   Joseph was nice looking, too. Women noticed how handsome he was. And Joseph loved to show off his fabulous, one-of-a-kind coat that his aging father had made especially for him---to show him he loved Joseph best of all.   

    He wore it all the time—as if it were a trophy he had earned, instead of a gracious gift from a loving man who was reminded of Joseph’s beautiful mother, Rachel, every time he looked at him.

    Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.  She was Jacob’s first and only love, though he had other wives, including Rachel’s not so attractive sister, Leah.  Joseph’s half brothers who tended the flocks were sons of Leah, and Leah and Rachel’s servants. 

     They resented Joseph.  And why shouldn’t they?  Didn’t Joseph tattle on them all the time—bringing bad reports to their father?  Making their father think less of them—and more highly of him?

   And then there was that ridiculous ornate coat that Joseph wore all the time even out in the pastures—just to lord it over them how he was their father’s favorite.

   And those dreams Joseph bragged about all the time. Dreams where they would bow down to him.

   They wanted to shut him up—for good. 

    Black thoughts would lead to black deeds.

   “Dreamer,” they hissed behind his back.   And it sounded like a swear word.

    “Dreamer!”

***

   

     Joseph’s life will abruptly change at 17—when his brothers act on their resentment, throwing him into a pit in the wilderness and leaving him for dead. Merchants come along, pull him out, and then take him to Egypt to sell him into slavery.

    The boy who had everything going for him suddenly finds himself stripped of his identity, family, wealth, and security—all worldly comforts. 

    He doesn’t even have his elegant robe anymore that marked him as special.

   But he is still special. He belongs to the Lord.  And the Lord is with him wherever he goes.

    And the Lord has a plan that Joseph at 17 can’t possibly imagine.

    Joseph has spiritual gifts he doesn’t know about. He has the gift of prophecy that will allow him to interpret dreams.  This gift, which Joseph will recognize is from the Lord, will catapult him to second in command over all Egypt when he is able to interpret pharaoh’s troubling dreams. 

   And Joseph will receive other gifts and help from the Lord throughout his life.  Joseph is a popular leader who will make important decisions that will save thousands of people, including his own family, during a great famine. 

***

        Our graduates have also received gifts and talents from the Lord.          

        God has a plan for each of them that will affect the lives of many people—including their families and friends here in their hometown.

        Some of you, graduates, already have an idea of your identity and purpose and what the Lord will require of you to develop your gifts and talents.

        Some of you aren’t sure, yet, what you will do next.  You may not know what you are good at—and you may not know what gifts and talents the Lord has given you, let alone what you can do to develop them.

        To those who already have definite goals and plans, here is my advice:

        Be open to what the Lord has for you.  Don’t be discouraged if the plans and goals you have now don’t work out the way you expect them to.

       To those of you who do not yet have plans and goals for the future, and to those of you who are fearful about what is to come—take comfort.  God knows your future!  He has planned it. The Bible assures us that the Spirit is perfecting you for good works the Lord has preordained. 

        If you trust Him and allow Him to change you, He will shape you into what He wants you to be. 

***

      Joseph’s life did not turn out as he expected.  But it was because the Lord had something else, something bigger, in mind for Him.   God’s plan was about the salvation of many people—and not just the wellbeing of Joseph and his family.

     Joseph, the man of God, bears little resemblance to Joseph at 17, a petted, spoiled child. He knows his prophetic gifts are from the Lord to be used for others.

     He knows the Lord has made him a dreamer! 

    The best part of Joseph’s story comes at the end, when there is reconciliation. Joseph’s brothers, who thought Joseph was dead, discover that he is not only alive, he is in a position of power and authority over them.  

    They are relieved that he is alive, and are sorry for what they had done.  They seek forgiveness from the brother they now respect and appreciate for who He has become.

    And the dreamer learns to forgive.  God leads him on to do many more great things.

   The Lord never gave up on Joseph. And He will never give up on you!

   Ask Him for a vision for your life, to reveal His will for you through people and circumstances around you. 

   Ask Him to make you a dreamer, too!

   And He will place you where He can best use you and the gifts He has given you.  Just like He did with Joseph.

    Be open.  Be flexible. 

    Don’t be discouraged it it takes a while before you know, really know, what God wants for you. It may take a lifetime.

    And don’t give up on your dreams if you have hardships and suffering.  It doesn’t mean your dreams are wrong!

   The Lord will use hardship and suffering to shape your character, just like He did for Joseph. He does this because He loves you!

    Remember that your identity as God’s precious child will never change, even if the circumstances in your life abruptly change—stripping away your worldly comforts, status, and security.

    You are God’s own.  Today, tomorrow, forever.

    Seek your identity and purpose in Him.

    Hold onto your faith.

    And wherever you go, God will be with you.

    He will lead you on… to do many great things. 

 

Let us pray.

      Thank you, God, for being with us now in this place and for your Word and Spirit that dwells within us.

      Thank you for your plans for us and for the salvation of the world, and for giving us gifts and talents to use for you.

     Show us your will for our lives and give us worthy work. 

    Provide for us, teach us, and lead us, Lord, to develop Your gifts and do many great things in Your name. 

     Guide us to love and serve others. Open our hearts and our eyes to the needs of the poor and help us to give generously.

    Help us to never forget our roots in this community of faith.  Continue to nurture and nourish our faith as you take us to where You want us to go and make us into the people you have planned for us to be. 

     In Christ we pray. Amen.

“She’s All That”

Meditation for May 13, 2012

     “A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
     She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
     She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
     She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from far away.
     She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.
     She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
     She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong.
     She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
     Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
     She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.
     She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.
     She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
     Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.
     She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.
     Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
     She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
     She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
     Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her, saying:
    ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’
     Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
      Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.” (Proverbs 31:10-31)

***

     On Mother’s Day, I can’t help but think of the women in my life who have made a difference. I often talk about my grandmother, my mother’s mother, and the role she played in helping to shape who I am today.

    Grandma gave me my first Bible--- a white leather bound King James with gold trimmed pages. The words of Jesus in red.  Grandma used to tuck us into bed at night when she and my grandfather visited us in Maryland.  At Grandma’s encouragement, my sister and I used to read our Bibles and pray simple prayers, asking God to bless everyone we knew—all our family and friends. Even our pets.

    My grandmother influenced me in other ways, too.  Or at least she tried.  I wasn’t at all like my grandmother—who was dainty, quiet, and loved to cook, sew, and clean house. I was noisy and dirty and liked to be outside where I could roam and explore. When I was indoors, I got in trouble for running through our ranch style house from end to end, jumping from throw carpet to throw carpet, pretending I was leaping from island to island in a great blue sea. 

    I liked to play with cars, trucks and tractors, and make things—usually requiring messy materials, such as paint and glue.  I seldom had clean sneakers and my clothes had stains and holes from crawling along the ground, climbing trees or crossing slippery rocks in the creek. 

     Grandma used to pray for me.  A lot.  She worried about me— how I would turn out. Whether I would ever be a good wife, mother and Christian.

    I had my own ideas and dreams.  Being good and quiet all the time was just not very fun.  Or very easy for an adventurer like me.

     I realized at an early age that Grandma struggled with fear and anxiety.  She was afraid of many things.  She was not a risk taker.  

     She liked the safety and security of home.  She didn’t have career ambitions, though she wanted to be a teacher when she was a girl. But she dropped out of high school in 11^th grade and went to work with her older sister Bertha as a waitress on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. 

    She was a product of the Depression—and was terrified to be poor or hungry. She was one of the eldest of 13 children. She grew up on a farmette, sleeping 3 to a bed in the house her Norwegian immigrant father had built. They relied heavily on the food they grew or raised. They had apple trees, a vegetable garden, chickens, goats, and pigs.

    She was a very capable woman, as our reading in Proverbs describes the ideal for our gender.  But her fears kept her from doing many things that would have enriched her life.  Her anxieties stole the joy out of many days and nights. 

     The fears increased as she grew older and lost her sight. She imagined all sorts of devils in the shadows.

     She came to stay with me when I was a wife and mother. I would pray with her and ask Jesus to comfort her and make His presence known. That helped some, but even God frightened her, at times.  She wasn’t sure of His grace and Her safety in His arms. 

    She feared the Lord’s judgment, though she had been a good and obedient Christian, a virtuous and capable woman, her entire life. She didn’t understand that fear of the Lord means having awe, respect, and adoration for Him and His power.

    In Christ, we have perfect peace in His perfect love. We have been forgiven for all of our sins! We don’t have to worry.

    We can trust Christ’s words in John, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.”

***

    The Proverbs 31 woman is, indeed, capable.   As we read, we should bear in mind that this acrostic poem, where each of the 22 lines begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, was a teaching tool for young people.  And it was written by a man from the perspective of a husband seeking the ideal wife.  

     The author lays out the most important things to him in the beginning.  He can trust her, and “he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

      He provides a long list of responsibilities and chores that she must do faithfully and well.  Here’s a few: sewing, weaving, and spinning wool and flax with her “willing hands.” She was not only skilled; she had a good attitude about work. She was never idle!

     She had great business sense—turning a profit with her merchandise and investing wisely in farmland—considering a field before buying it.  Then, with her strong arms, planting a vineyard herself.

    Snow doesn’t worry her—for her household has plenty of the finest clothing she has made of crimson—the color and fabric worn by rich people and royalty.

    She stays up late and gets up early, burning the candle at both ends, to make sure all is done and her servants have work to do when they wake up every morning.

     And her husband, because of his efficient, wise, kind, hardworking, thrifty wife, has time to go sit at the city gates with the other men, where all the important decisions are hashed out and where they can find out all the latest news and gossip in the community.

     Kind of like the men gathering at Bart’s Restaurant every day at 9 a.m.

    Her children are happy and praise her.

    Her husband is happy and praises her, too!

    And why not?  She’s all that!  And more!

***

     My grandmother is with the Lord now.  And I know that she has been set free from the anxieties and fears that plagued her throughout her life on earth.

    I am grateful for the faith she taught me and for encouraging me to pray, read the Bible, and go to church. I am grateful she cared enough to pray for me and worry about me.

     I think she would be happy with how I’ve turned out—well, she would like it that I am a pastor.  But I am still messy and noisy and headstrong.  At least I have learned to leave my dirty shoes in the garage or mudroom.

     I will never be anything like the Proverbs 31 wife who can handle that long list of responsibilities and sleep so little.

     But the reality is, no one can do all those things well and keep on doing them every day. Nor should they try.

      My message to women today is this, “Don’t compare the talents and gifts God has given you with the wife of Proverbs 31. Or any other woman.

    “Be yourself. Be who God wants you to be!”

    The Proverbs 31 wife is just an ideal dreamed up by some ancient man. Even he knew she was rare—probably nonexistent. Why else would he start the poem with, “A capable wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” 

   The most important thing we can learn from this poem is the line of wisdom near the very end.  Don’t chase after the kind of beauty and charm that is only on the surface. Your heart is what counts.

     “A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

    Fear God—and don’t be afraid. Give Him your awe, respect, and adoration.

  Don’t you know that in Christ you have already been perfected in God’s eyes?!           

  You’re ALL THAT!  And more.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Son, who has done the work of cleansing us from sin and perfecting us.  Thank you for having planned a future with hope for each one of us and for guiding us along this journey of faith.  Thank you for the women You have placed in our lives to make a difference—to help shape us into what You want us to be.  Forgive us when we are too hard on ourselves and strive after imaginary ideals or surface beauty.  Teach us how to fear You and let go of any worldly fears and anxieties.  In Christ’s Name we pray.  Amen.

 

“Abide in Me as I Abide in You”

Meditation on John 15:1-8

May 6, 2012

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the Vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

      You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

     I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

       If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (John 15: 1-8)

     Nathan was around 12 or 13 when he became my piano student. I met Nathan’s mother through a local homeschooling group.  She had about 8 children; most of them, like Nathan, were adopted.

    And most of them, including Nathan, had special needs.

     I was teaching piano because another homeschooling neighbor asked me to teach her daughters. I was in no way a qualified piano teacher, but, when she kept asking me, I decided I would give it a try. I had no idea if I could do it or not.

    Word got around, and before long, I had 12 students—including Nathan’s younger sister.  It was a challenge for me because I was learning how to do it as I went along. I was also homeschooling Joshua and Jacob and caring for my youngest, James, who was about 2.

    But I always looked forward to lessons with Nathan.  He was different than all of the other students.  He could sit down at the keyboard and play songs he had heard—complicated songs. He was even composing.  But he couldn’t read music. And Nathan had some learning difficulties.

    Adding to the challenge was that he didn’t want to learn to play the traditional way—starting with scales and learning the notes and so forth—like most piano teachers do. 

      That was boring.

     But Nathan wanted to play, and his amazing, loving, patient mother recognized his passion. She asked me to work with him.

    At our first lesson, I asked him, “What kind of music do you like?” Turned out, he liked pop, showtunes, and jazz.  Forget “Kumbaya,” “Go Tell Aunt Rhody,” or “Michael Row Your Boat.”  He wanted to play songs from Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera or Cats.

    His first assignment was to find a song he wanted to learn and bring the sheet music to class. I would teach him how to read music using that song. And we would build his skills from there.  

    He brought “The Entertainer.” The Scott Joplin rag was the theme song from the movie The Sting, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. He could play it already, without looking at the music.  But that didn’t matter.  I could tell when he wasn’t reading music because he would leave out notes or add notes that weren’t on the page. 

     We’d laugh about it.  And I would show him where to place his hands—which keys corresponded with the black scribbles on the page.

    He mastered an easy version of “The Entertainer.”  Then he brought in a more difficult version.  He mastered that.  Then I introduced him to other music by Scott Joplin, such as Maple Leaf Rag.

    He mastered all those, too. And he was actually reading the music, though he would sometimes add new intros or change the ending—making it more dramatic. 

    He definitely had a gift.

    I was sad when, after 2 years, my piano teaching days with Nathan came to an end. We were moving from Maryland to Pennsylvania.

     But Nathan, at that point, was ready for a real piano teacher.

     Being Nathan’s piano teacher was the beginning of something new for me.  It was the first time I would take a risk—and venture to do a job I didn’t know how to do.  I would do that again when I became a journalist. And here I am with you now, still learning how to be a pastor.  

      Being Nathan’s teacher taught me how to help others find and develop their gifts. And I learned that I liked doing that. But it also revealed to me a weakness in myself—that I only liked trying something new if I thought I could do it well. I didn’t have enough confidence in the Lord as my guide and teacher. I was afraid to fail. The Lord needed to cut that part of my character away. Chop it off, if I were to bear spiritual fruit for Him! 

    I had to learn to be a risk taker, to do the uncomfortable thing if it meant serving the Lord with all of my being.  I had to learn to trust Him and His power to work through me—or else I would never be able to be the person God wanted me to be.

***

    Christ gives us the image of the Church as a vineyard in today’s gospel. We are connected to God, our heavenly Vinegrower, in Christ, who is the True Vine. We are His branches. The Vinegrower prunes us all, according to what He has planned for us—the shape of our character, works, and lives.  No one escapes those pruning shears!

     God cuts away at us—removing parts of our character and things in our lives that get in the way of us bearing good fruit. Don’t be alarmed when the Vinegrower starts His pruning work in you.  Expect this as part of your faith journey.

    And don’t be dismayed when our Vinegrower removes branches that DO bear good fruit. This is part of our faith journeys, too, so we will bear MORE good fruit.

     Friends, the Lord promises that if we abide in Him, He will abide in us and we will bear MUCH fruit. 

    But if we fail to abide in Him, we are incapable of good works. 

    Jesus says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”

 ***

     Out of the blue, I received a letter and photograph from my former piano student who had captured my heart.

       The boy I had known had become a handsome young man, graduating from high school, like Rachel and Maya this month.

     My eyes filled with tears as I read how he had continued with piano and voice lessons.  He was headed to college to study music. And he was thinking of me. He thanked me for helping him, for encouraging him.

    Nathan is now a professional singer/actor and dancer. He has performed in many Christian and secular productions. What impresses me most is that his long list of credits includes mission work in Africa.

   He thought it was cool I was studying to be a pastor. I thought it was cool he remembered me!

   I will never forget Nathan. He showed me how to follow the passion God has placed inside of us, even when there are challenges to overcome. 
   God will make a way for us to do what He wants us to do, to do what we are passionate about.  He will bring the right people into our lives to help us along the way.

   I pray that our graduates, Rachel and Maya, will trust that God will do the same for them.

   And may we all learn to trust that Christ abides in each one of us, always, as we abide in Him.

 Let us pray.  Heavenly Vinegrower, thank you for giving us The True Vine, Jesus Christ, to make a way for us to be reconciled with you.  Thank you for forgiving us for our sins and doing your pruning work in us for Your glory.  Give us courage and patience for when we need to do things that make us uncomfortable, things we aren’t sure we know how to do, and things we aren’t sure we will be able to do.  Help us to submit to Your Will for our lives and trust that You will give us everything we need to do whatever You ask—including help from other people.  Teach us how to abide in You as you abide in us.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.