This morning I would like to share few thoughts on, what I feel is important to hold on to as we all travel life’s journey of faith.
First:
Most of the important things of life are Invisible; but they are more powerful than the things we can see
- this starts with the Spirit of God,
- the spirit that gives life
- Hebrew word - Ruah - means Wind or Breath
- without air - we cannot live
- and extends to every facet of life.
- love cannot be touched
- mercy cannot be touched
- self respect cannot be touched
- but while they cannot be touched they have an impact
- the breath of life is seen in the rising and falling of the chest
- the love of God is seen in the kindness of strangers,
the acceptance of family members, the food on our tables
- mercy is seen in every act of compassion
- and self respect is seen when you treat yourself as an important person - too important to destroy with fast cars, overeating, or feelings that "I am no good"
- One of the most important – and most invisible thing in life is Trust.
- without trust a person cannot function
- a person cannot become close to another
- a person cannot escape fear
- the most important thing we can do is Trust God,
- trust God that he will be our refuge and strength in times of trouble
- trust God that he will be present with us and help us accomplish all that he asks of us
- trust God that he will give us the power we need, the people we need, the joy we need. Trust in the promises, in his character.
Trust is spoken of in today's gospel reading. We plant a seed, and it grows - whether we are awake or asleep, it puts forth first a shoot, then a head, then the full kernel in the head. By some means or other - life comes out of the seed that is planted. So too out of Trust planted in our Hearts comes life, and love.
Second:
The most successful lives and the greatest of accomplishments and the Kingdom of God itself, is and are based on and arise out of the smallest and least significant things. This too is spoken of in the gospel today -- by asking us to consider the mustard seed great bush birds can shelter in it, but it is small at first.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is like the mustard seed; and his life shows that this is true. the kingdom of God works, God works, with the little things. We are wired on big, on grand, on flashy -- big cars, big houses, big buildings, huge stages and tremendous sound systems, we are impressed by big money, big fame, big status.
God chooses what is little to work with - from Jesus – a carpenter born to a peasant girl, to the 12 disciples - simple fisherman - to you and I. The Bible says over and over again that God loves the little ones, the humble ones, the people that others despise and reject.
The Bible says the most important things are the little things and that in the end they will overture the big things, that will bring down Kings and show the emptiness of wealth and power. The signs of God's kingdom are not big churches, big congregations, or gold and silver and fantastic wealth – but bread and wine - stuff that can be found at the corner store, and in most people's refrigerators – Ordinary Stuff for ordinary people.
God's work is done by some flashy people - Billy Grahams and Florence Nightingales, and Bishop Desmond Tutus - but most often it is done - and done well by you and I.
- Whenever we give a panhandler a dollar
- or we help a person whose car is stuck in the ditch,
- or help a person across the street,
- or give a few a can of beans to the food bank
- or drop by to visit a shut in, or lift for someone without a vehicle
- or run meals on wheels around
- or pick up old candy wrappers and pop cans lying in the woods
- all these little things - all these acts of care - are God's work.
Out of them grows the Kingdom of God. Without them there is nothing- God's kingdom is found in the bread and the wine we share here together, in the meals we share at home, in the fellowship we have with others that sees in them another human being in need of love, grace, acceptance, and who is loved by God.
Third-
Living Faith meaning focusing on the Good-not evil, it means believing in Good, not evil. I am sure you all remember the story of Chicken Little – he thought the sky was going to fall in, and ran around warning everybody, he fretted and fumed and worried. Many people are like Chicken Little they look all the time at the darkness and evil in our world. Unemployment drug addiction, crime, pollution and war haunt their waking hours.
- Fear is fostered in their hearts - fear of failure,
- fear of losing what they value,
- fear of being alone,
- fear of death.
We rob ourselves by focusing on what is bad, and the more we look at it the bigger it gets. Fear is the dark room where we develop our negatives. When our focus is on God- and on his Goodness, that is the character of God. Then we will radiate, we will bring light to others as well as discover lights in ourselves.
Look at the simple and ordinary miracle - Corn: for a example, the farmer puts put a little single seed in the ground in May - and with the right conditions - by September he has a plant that is over six feet high and which contains literally thousands of kernels of corn. How do they do it?
Growth is a remarkable thing - and growth is what our scripture lesson today is about, growth from a tiny seed to the largest plants, growth - which seems to occur as if by magic... you plant a seed you provide some water and nutrition, perhaps you even cultivate the ground, but in the end what happens is beyond human control, it is virtually beyond our imagining - it is a miracle - the miracle of God the miracle of life.
Look at the daily Goodness of life - loving families, happy marriages, people working together, playing together - think of the good things - not the bad - and it will be for you God’s seed of love growing in your hearts. We believe in the Goodness –in God- and that is all we need to pay attention to and do.
Fourth:
God is the author of all good stuff - it is God who sows the seed and provides for its growth into the kingdom of God. Allow ourselves to be God’s field – open ourselves to God and his Word – by reading, meditation, thinking about it and acting on it. This is best done with others who also want to be God’s field, the place where his Kingdom grows.
Remember the best stuff is invisible. Let us live by Faith, by looking at the Goodness of God, mainly God’s character. When our journey end in this life, God will bring us into the fullness of his Kingdom, where peace and joy will be ours. Alleulia
A gentle reminder not to forget Father:
| When I was | |
| - four years old: | - My daddy can do anything. |
| - five years old: | - My daddy knows a whole lot. |
| - six years old: | - My dad is smarter than your dad. |
| - eight years old: | - My dad doesn't know exactly everything. |
| - ten years old: | - In the olden days when my dad grew up, things sure were different. |
| - twelve years old: | - Oh, well, naturally, dad doesn't know anything about that. He is too old to remember his childhood. |
| - fourteen years old | - Don't pay any attention to my dad. He is so old-fashioned. |
| - twenty-one years old | - Him? My Lord, he's hopelessly out of date. |
| - twenty-five years old | - Dad knows a little bit about it, but then he should because he has been around so long. |
| - thirty years old: | - Maybe we should ask dad what he thinks. After all, he's had a lot of experience. |
| - thirty-five years old | - I'm knot doing a single thing until I talk to dad. |
| - forty years old: | - I wonder how dad would have handled it. He was so wise and had a world of experience. |
| - fifty years old: | - I'd give anything if dad were here now so I could talk this over with him. Too bad I didn't appreciate how smart he was. I could have learned a lot from him. |
What do you think is special about your father?.... Mine taught me all about hard work – pride in getting a job done well.
Happy Father’s Day
-- Amen--
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
June 18, 2006