Gardens of Faithfulness

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I have a memory of Third Grade. There was a lesson my teacher taught in Third Grade about plant growth and everything that goes along with that. And I remember it because what we did was really cool, at least it is in my mind. He brought in a bunch of what looked like little twigs or maybe sprigs, and he said we're going to plant these and these are going to turn into pine trees. They didn't look like a bunch of pine trees to me and any of my fellow third graders, so we just kind of looked at it. But he said that's what we're going to do. So we dutifully planted them, and then we watched them over the weeks. And it was incredible because this thing certainly did start to grow. And before you knew it, it had pine needles on it. And by the end of the unit, it was probably 12-18 inches tall. But, frankly, it looked more like somebody went out and cut a branch off a tree and just sort of stuffed it into a Styrofoam cup with dirt in it. The diameter of it was only maybe my pinky, you know, 3/8 of an inch or so. But now after the unit is done, we have to decide what are we going to do with these because not everyone in the class had a tree they planted. So what we decided was we'd all put our names in the hat and the lucky winners would take the tree home and plant it in their yard and watch it grow. Well, unbeknownst to my family, I was one of those lucky winners. So I went home carrying my tree, fully intending that we're going to plant this in the yard.

Well, believe it or not, Mom and Dad said, yes, we could plant it in the yard. They didn't know where I wanted to plant it, where it did get planted, right in front of the house. Front and center, that's where I wanted my tree to grow. Now, in looking back, I'm guessing my parents figured it would never last through the winter and that would be the end of it. Little did they know how hearty pine trees are in Michigan . That little guy took root, and it started to grow. To make a long story short, by the time I graduated from high school, it was over 6 feet tall and it had a trunk on it between 6 and 8 inches thick. I have no idea how large it is now, but it was so cool for me because, as I grew up over the years, I watched my tree grow. It started out just down here and each year went by, and I watched it grow.

In the home God has designed for us, He has a place where we can watch things grow. In the home God has designed, we step outside and we see He's planted a garden for us. And we can watch that garden produce a crop or have beautiful flowers or tall trees. The garden God has planted is the garden of faith. God has given each one of us the faith we had in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and now we get to watch that faith grow. So God gives us the faith and then our response to that is that we grow in faithfulness to God, that we mature in that faith, that we grow in our relationship with God. And how neat an experience it is in our families and our home to watch the faith and to watch the development of that faith grow and mature over the years.

I don't know much about gardens, but I do know three things. The three things I know about gardens are, first of all, this: Gardens cannot be neglected. If you neglect a garden, it's going to be disaster. You can't walk out in the spring, throw some seeds on the ground, and expect by the fall you'll have a bountiful harvest. You can't just plant a few seeds in the ground and think you're going to have beautiful flowers all summer long. It just doesn't work that way. If you neglect a garden, you get what you bargain for. You neglect a garden, it sort of looks like this. (Picture on screen.) Now I have sworn to my wife that I won't tell you where this garden is. I can tell you, though, each day I go out on my deck, I feel that I'm very close to it.

But see, sometimes when you plant a garden, you get busy. And if you get too busy, then you sort of neglect it and you sort of forget about it. And if you forget about it, what happens? If you don't water it, if you don't fertilize it, if you don't cultivate the soil, pretty soon the weeds rush in, the weeds take over, and you really don't have a garden anymore. All you have is a mess. You cannot neglect a garden.

And you cannot neglect your faith. We cannot neglect our faith. We cannot receive the gift of faith God has given to us and then never do anything with it and never seek to grow in that faith, never seek to cultivate that faith because we run a pretty big risk. Jesus talked about this in one of His parables. He talked about the parable of the sower and the seeds, how some of the seeds fell on the rocky ground, some of the seeds fell on fertile ground, some of the seeds fell among the thorns and the thistles. Then Jesus explains that parable in Luke 8. And He says this about one of the seeds that was planted, “The seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who hear but they go on their way and they're choked out by lots of worries, riches, and pleasures and they do not mature.” The parable is about faith, God spreading the seeds of faith, offering it to everyone. And He says, “Those that fell among the thorns, as they walk along their way, they get distracted by these outside influences in the world. They get distracted by the worldly pleasures. They get distracted by stress and worry and they neglect their faith and it doesn't mature. And if it doesn't mature, then it gets choked out by the weeds.” God has given us our faith, and that faith is supposed to be a part of every moment of our life. If we neglect that faith, if we regulate that faith down to one hour a week, we run the risk of it being choked out.

What I'm trying to say here is there cannot be a disconnect between our spiritual life and the “real life.” There can't be a disconnect between church life and home life. They should all be one in the same. The faith God has given to us is a faith that is meant to be lived. We're to respond in faithfulness and to grow and mature in that faith. But if we neglect that faith, we run the risk of that faith being stunted or, at worse, being gone.

It's so important in our home that we don't neglect our faith. In other words, in our homes, if prayers are never spoken, if in our homes we never talk about the word of God, in our homes if when we're faced with a tough decision, we never seek God out and seek His will and His direction, if we neglect that faith, if there's disconnect between what you do here on Sunday and what happens this afternoon, that neglected faith can be influenced by all the things that are happening in the world. And the weeds of the world, the stress, the worries, the wanting of physical property and money, if all that starts coming in, it can choke out that faith. At the very least, it stunts our growth. At the very worst, it robs us of faith all together.

Faith can't be neglected just like gardens can't be neglected. Gardens have to be cared for.

The second thing I know about them: You have to care for a garden. It's not only that you don't neglect it, but you have to actively care for that garden. That means you're going to have to water the flowers. That means you're going to have to till the soil up. It means you're going to have to go in and pull the weeds out so you can have a good crop or have a nice looking flower garden. You take on a responsibility when you have a garden, whether you're too busy or not too busy, the responsibility is still there.

We have a responsibility with our faith. God gives us the gift of faith, but there also comes a responsibility with the gift He's given to us. Now make no mistake, God is the one who created faith in each one of your hearts. He called you to faith by the power of the baptism. Through the water and the Word, He washed away all of your sins. He planted faith in your heart so you know Jesus is your Lord and Savior. He called some of you by the power of His word. You were stung by a guilty conscience or the law that's written in His word, but then His gospel came in and it told you about Jesus and how He lived and He died for you. And you know that and you believe that, and you cling to the promises of God. He's the one who's giving you that faith. But a natural response to that is to live a faithful life. When God has given us the gift of faith, when we have experienced His love, the natural response then is to live out that faith, to have faithful lives. It means we want to be a god-pleasing people. It means we want to live our lives according to how God wants us to live. It means we want our relationship with God to grow and mature. It's interesting how that happens, how our faith grows and matures and how the faith can be taken care of and nurtured. Certainly, it happens through the means of grace that is His word and His sacraments that He's given to us, but it happens in other ways also.

Did you notice in Paul's letter to Timothy what he said to them? In the beginning of the letter, it's just sort of an introduction there and he says, “I've been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now I am persuaded lives in you also.” You see, the home Timothy grew up with was a home God would have been pleased about. Because the home he grew up had a garden of faith. In other words, Timothy could see faithfulness all around him. To be certain, I'm sure he learned God's word, probably memorized scripture. But even more than that, he saw faith in action. There was no disconnect for him. He saw that faith being lived out in his grandmother. He saw that faith being lived out in his mother. You see, the interesting thing is this: God gives us the faith, but faithfulness often is caught more than it's taught. Faithfulness is often caught more than it's taught. When you see those family members around you, when you see others living out their faith, you catch that faith. It isn't something that can actually be taught to you. Now don't get me wrong, we are to study God's word diligently. We are to be here in God's house to hear from His word. We should be in bible class and in small groups and Sunday School and in Faith Alive. We want to know the knowledge God has for us, but there can't be a disconnect between the knowledge God has for us and the lives we lead. You see, faith often times is caught, not just taught. For Timothy, I'm sure he learned the scriptures but then he saw the scriptures being lived out. It became real to him.

The same is true in our homes, especially true in our homes. Faith is to be taught. Faithfulness is also to be caught as we see inside our home people living faithful lives. A great example of that has been the past five weeks on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, third graders and their parents and sometimes grandparents have gathered right here in the sanctuary. And what they've done is they've had a special bible they've been highlighting passages in. DeAnn McCue, our Director of Family Life Ministry led that for five weeks, so parents have been sitting next to their son or daughter, highlighting scripture passages in this bible. And then, a week ago, they wrote a special message in that bible, the front cover of it, and on Wednesday night, they presented that bible to their son or daughter. Now that's what I'm talking about. You see, a lot of things were taught for those five weeks. I have no doubt DeAnn did a fabulous job of pointing out God's word and the application of that word, but they caught probably even more because what they caught was this isn't just something I learned in church, but this is important to Mom and Dad. This is important to Grandma and Grandpa. This is real life stuff. In our homes, faithfulness needs to be caught. It means we have prayers before meal and at bedtime, when we're faced with a tough decision, the first thing out of our mouth is, “Well, I wonder how God would lead us in this?” If your children, if your family, if your friends can see you living out that faith, then that faith is caught by them. It isn't something that's just learned but it's real. That's how we take care of the garden God has planted, how we take care of the faith. Yes, it's learned but it's also caught.

The third thing I know about gardens: Gardens only grow because of the grace of God. Gardens only grow because of the grace of God. That little twig I took home and planted in the front yard, you know, today I'd have sided with my parents. “The thing's probably going to die in a couple of weeks and go away.” But, by God's grace, by His creative power, it took root and became a large tree. Every time you put a seed into the ground, maybe you're not as fascinated by it as I am, but I am. How can this little seed all of a sudden produce either beautiful flowers or a tree or it has something like produce we can eat from? It's amazing to me. Jesus said, “Look at the mustard seed.” You take a mustard seed, and you put it into the ground. What happens? It's the tiniest of seeds and it grows up to be one of the largest plants. That's an illustration, a living example, of God's creative power. There's not one plant that grows except by God's grace. And the same is true with our faith. Our faith grows because of God's grace. Not only does God give us the faith, but He gives us the tools and the means by which that faith can grow. It can be caught. It can be learned, but the power behind all of it is God.

Paul, in writing to the Church at Corinth , pointed that out: He wanted them to know where did their faith come from? He says, “I planted a seed. Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” Paul is talking about the fact that he went there and started the church. Apollos came in and pastored the church, but God is the one who made it grow. God is the one who made their faith mature. The same is true for us. Whether our faith is being learned or whether it's being caught, God is the one who causes our faith to grow. Whether we're studying God's word and it applies to our life or we come and we receive the sacrament, this true body and blood, it's God who makes our faith grow. Maybe it's just watching in our family and seeing the faithfulness of other family members, but God is the one who causes it to grow.

You see, God not only plants the garden, God gives us the tools to take care of that garden and then God causes that garden to grow.

This week, we finish out the home that's designed by God. It has all these different characteristics, the fruits of the spirit as Paul calls it in Galatians 5. When we step outside the house, we see a garden, a flourishing, beautiful garden of faith. That's what God has designed for your home, that your home would have a garden of faith planted by Him and then the faithfulness taken care of by you. There's no disconnect, the faith that's given is the faith that's lived out as well. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church