Teh Garden blogging is back

My favoritest thing to do in the world is back.  I am so filled with joy that I can plant things in the ground and watch them take hold of the soil, grow roots and bloom.  It may not look like much now, but God willing I will have another healthy harvest. 

I love how my vegatable plants bear fruit.  I love watching my flowers bloom.  It makes me feel like I'm co-creating with God and that is medicine for my soul.

Commencement Speech for the Class of 33 CE

John 14:15-21

It is graduation season again. In these weeks we will see excited people donning caps and gowns for a ceremony to mark the ending of one phase of their learning to transition to another way of learning, be it further education or embarking on their vocation. The staple of all graduation ceremonies is the commencement speech. In it the speaker is invited to give the graduating class words of congratulations, motivation, advice, and assurance. These will be the words that will guide the graduates as they move into the next chapter of their lives. So far this year persons of note have shared their wisdom in commencement speeches.


President Barack Obama commended the graduating class of Booker T. Washington High School by stating “You’ve always been underdogs. Nobody’s handed you a thing. But that also means whatever you accomplish in life, you’ll have earned it”

World renowned actor and director Denzel Washington asked the graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania. “Do you have the guts to fail? Because if you don’t fail, your not even trying. Nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks”

Former President Bill Clinton encouraged the graduating class of NYU to always to hold fast to their persistence, “If you pursue your dreams you can’t quit, when you fail you can’t quit, when you mess up you can’t quit and you can’t quit when life seems to give you a tough hand”

And actor Tom Hanks charged the graduating class of Yale with the following statement, “Your career as human beings and as Americans is to stand on the fulcrum between fear and faith, which way will you lean?”

This morning’s gospel reading is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. This is Jesus’ commencement speech to them as he is coming close to the end of his earthly ministry. He begins his speech with advise, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) We remember that throughout his ministry Jesus lifted up love of God and love of neighbor as the greatest of all commandments. As Jesus puts it, upon these to commandments hang all the law and the Prophets. Now it’s kind of odd join love with obedience but the commentaries state that in order to understand this passage which joins love and obedience, we have to think of love as other than an emotional feeling.(1) “Feelings are not commanded, but love can be, for to love is to be for another person, to act for another’s good, to do that which brings benefit to the other.” (2)  The love that Jesus is commanding is something that goes far beyond the warm fuzzy feeling we have when we like somebody. The word that Jesus used to describe love was Agape. Agape calls communities to love in spite of not because of. It calls all to share not because it is to their advantage, but because it will advantage others. This is a love sacrifices the self rather than sacrificing others for the common good.

Now the graduates at hearing the commencement speeches are listening to them with mixed emotions. Mostly they feel joy and pride for their accomplishment, but there is some nervousness. They wonder what will happen when they leave their institution to pursue other things. No longer will they have the safety net of their particular school setting. In their next setting they’ll have more freedom but more will be expected of them. Many sitting in the audience wonder how are they are going to do this. In Jesus’ farewell discourse/commencement speech he tells his disciples that it will be up to them keep the ministry going, and yes they became very anxious. But Jesus tells them that they will not have to do it alone. He will send them another advocate, the Holy Spirit who will be with them forever. “This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be with you.” (14:17)

Now the Holy Spirit is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith. We can’t see it but if we are open to it we can feel it working in our lives. A couple of weeks ago in confirmation class we talked about the Holy Spirit. The conversation was awkward at first, how do you describe something that you can’t see or even know exists for sure. How do we can we know if we what we experienced was the work of the Holy Spirit or just some weird coincidence. For all of us it came down to whether or not we were open up to the Spirit’s working in our lives and if we were willing to go with it. One of the group talked about how the Spirit is like a gut feeling. She shared a story of being tempted to blow off her homework until study hour the next day but her gut kept telling her to do her homework that night which she did. Thank goodness because her school had a fire drill during study hour. There were other stories of Holy Spirit moments, stories of where the right people show up at the right time. Or how in the midst of struggling with something, something was heard that spoke to the struggle. But where the Holy Spirit does its most profound work is within communities of faith as they prayerfully discerning God’s will.

______ is my assistant in teaching confirmation and I asked her to share a story of a time when she felt the spirit working at our church. She talked about the work of the search committee of which she is a part of. The search committee has been given the important task of searching for your next settled pastor. This is no ordinary job search, it’s not like secular jobs where you can put an ad to the paper, vet candidates and then chose one who can best do the tasks. This is work that is not be taken lightly or even rushed because what they are seeking is not just a person with a certain set of skills but a person who will be your next spiritual leader. What is interesting about this process is that God has already picked the person that will be your next settled pastor but the search committee has to be open to the Holy Spirit so that they may find this person. _____ told us that each meeting begins with a prayer invoking the Holy Spirit to move through them as they discuss potential candidate’s profiles that they’ve already read in the attitude of prayer. ______ said that the meetings are full of ah ha moments where it was clear that the Spirit was working within them and between them. Someone would see something in a profile that they thought was notable but were reluctant to bring it up to the group. Instead of keeping to themselves, they would share it with the group and the response would be “yes that caught my eye too.” She also said that people felt safe to disagree with each other in love and respect because they knew that the work ahead of them was guided by the Holy Spirit and not by their own wants and needs.

The Holy Spirit works in its own time which can be frustrating for many of us who are used to getting things quickly especially in this day and age where we can have what ever we want with the click of a mouse or trip to the store. Sometimes waiting for the Spirit to do its work can make us anxious, wondering if our prayers will ever be answered and leave us wondering what are we to do in the mean time. Jesus knew that his disciples were feeling this anxiety when he told them that he would be leaving them soon. But in his address he assures his disciples that he will not leave them orphaned, that he will come for them, that even if the world cannot see him, they will see him and because he is in God, and God is in them, thus Jesus will be in them by the power of the Holy Spirit. The good news is that God is within us and God is between us and this comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. All we have to do is be willing to open ourselves so that the Holy Spirit can work within us. Amen.

(1) “Sixth Sunday of Easter” Preaching through the Lectionary Year A, 280


(2) Ibid. 280

Shepherd and Sheep

Psalm 23
Acts 2:42-47
John 10:1-10

A few months ago, at the beginning of a Church Council meeting we studied the text from the book of Acts that we read this morning. The discussion around the table was quite lively as we talked about what the first century church must have been like. Someone thought that the early was like a good family because they took care of each other, holding all things in common, selling their goods and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. However this was a stretch for many of us because we live in a culture where we are encouraged to consume more than we share. We also talked about how the early Christians believed that the world would literally end in their lifetimes and that the church was just waiting for Jesus to come back to take them to their final glory. Well obviously that didn’t happen but suffuse it to say it’s not so hard to give up your individual livelihood to give toward the common good. However we remembered that many of the Early Christians lived on the margins as second class citizens in Palestine, they were at odds with the Jewish religion which they were a part of and they were dealing with the oppression of living in Roman Occupied Palestine. They didn’t have a lot individually so it made sense for everyone to pool what they have together in order to sustain themselves.


We know that things have changed dramatically for the Christian religion since the first century. Christianity has grown from being a counter-cultural minority movement to become one of the most powerful religions of the world. However through all the changes one thing has always remained true, that we the church are always completely and utterly dependant on God just as sheep are completely dependant on their shepherd. We did not do this on our own.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”

Anyone who has ever raised sheep knows that sheep have to be constantly watched. They have a tendency to stray. They do not know how to protect themselves and so they are vulnerable to predators. They have a limited ability to find things on their own such as food and water, and so they have to be herded, they have to be led to where they need to go. The sheep are dependant upon the shepherd for their safety, their sustenance, their very survival. Sheep cannot live without the shepherd. So too it is between the Church and God.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.”

(Psalm 23:1-3)

In the Gospel Jesus tells his disciples that they need God just as sheep need a shepherd. “Very truly I tell you; anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:1-4) Using the images of shepherds and sheep Jesus is trying to help his people understand that without God the disciples are in danger of going astray. That without God’s protection and guidance they are vulnerable to forces of the world that would seek only to steal, kill and destroy. But the people did not understand what Jesus was saying to them. So Jesus continued:

“Very Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (10: 7-10)

Sheep cannot sleep in the open, they could be stolen, they could be killed by wild animals. Most farmers put their sheep in a pen but when it was not possible the shepherd had to literally become the gate to pen the sheep in. The shepherd gathers them in, watches them and even sleeps with them so that he could protect them from being stolen or killed by wild animals. Under his watchful eye, the sheep are able to go about doing what ever sheep do in safety.

We can see in the Book of Acts that the early Christians knew that they could not do it on their own, that without God, they’d be like sheep without a shepherd. They lived in a way that honored God, by sharing what they had, claiming Christ in their midst who is shepherd and nourishing the good that is with them. They held fast to the teachings the apostles and used what they learned in every decision they made for themselves and their community. They were devoted to fellowship which was more than just being friendly and warm to each other but striving to have quality relationships with each other built upon the foundations of love and respect. Most importantly, they prayed!!!!! Through prayer they would lay at God’s feet their needs, their concerns, their joys, their fears and in prayer and ask God to guide them in finding an answer, to give them strength in the darkest of despair so that they can face their fears. Through these things their faith became authentic and because of the effects of their authentic faith, God added to their number. As the church grew spiritually, the church grew in numbers, According to the book of Acts first by 3000 converts, then 5000 converts and now over 2000 years since its beginning we have billions of Christians in the world.

Were the early Christians perfect at becoming a church, well no. We only need to read further in the book of Acts and the letters of Paul to know that they had difficulty in living according to their faith. But the good news is that God was always there to as their shepherd. God continually called each of them by name and led them to where they needed to go so that they may have life abundantly.

As a Christian community we are called to live in the same way that the early Christians did, by sharing what we have with glad and generous hearts, claiming Christ in our midst who is our shepherd and nourishing that which is good in us, all the while praising God and having goodwill for all people. Yes we may encounter times of despair and anxiety wondering some days if we will survive, but if we trust God to guide us down the right paths, God will to lead us to green pastures and restore us to wholeness. All we have to do follow our shepherd’s voice. May it be so. Amen.

The Road to Emmaus

Luke 24: 13-35

It is on the road to Emmaus that Jesus makes his first resurrection appearance in the Gospel of Luke. We enter into the story as Cleopas and his companion, whom many believe to be a woman, probably his wife, are leaving Jerusalem after the Passover to go to home Emmaus. It is not hard to imagine the heaviness of their hearts as they walk away from the greatest tragedy they had ever witnessed and the most disillusionment they had ever felt. Only a few weeks ago, they saw Jesus, the one whom they believed to be the Messiah, sent by God to free Israel from the oppression of the occupation of the Roman Empire. They were part of the crowds that waved palms and laid cloaks on the ground as Jesus made his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. They remembered shouting with the crowds, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” believing that Jesus would get rid of the Roman occupiers and take over the as King of Israel thus giving Jerusalem back to the Israelites.


Cleopas and his wife had expected to see a military or cosmic revolution, instead they witnessed an execution. Jesus, the one whom they placed all their hopes on died in the most shameful way possible, he was hung on a cross like a common criminal. The one whom they thought would be their savior was now dead and all their messianic hopes died with him. They journey on the road to Emmaus with their heads hung low, feeling like fools for believing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah.

It is at this moment of desolation, of hopeless, of disillusionment that Jesus meets Cleopas and his wife on their journey. The gospel is careful to point out that their eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus. They had not yet understood why God sent Jesus to live and die the way he did. Their view of redemption was too narrow to conceive of the salvation of the world through the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

When Jesus caught up with Cleopas and his wife, he asked them what they were talking about. They stopped walking. With sad faces and a bit of incredulousness Cleopas answers him, “What rock have you been hiding under Mister, don’t you know what has happened in the past couple of days in Jerusalem! It’s all that the people are talking about.”

Jesus was not put off by their rudeness, instead he asks them to recall the story, to bring him up to speed so that he might understand the things that happened Cleopas’ perspective. Cleopas explains, " Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people…our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:19-21b)

“But we had hoped” In spite of Jesus’ miracles, in spite of Jesus’ radical preaching about the kingdom of God, in spite of the women coming from the empty tomb to proclaim that Jesus was still alive, Cleopas and his wife are unable to believe the realness of Jesus’ resurrection or even his messiah ship because their vision of redeeming Messiah was too narrow to conceive of liberation through the promise of resurrection. “But we had hoped…” with these words we hear Cleopas giving up on his dreams of salvation. How many times have we said, “But we had hoped…” “But we had hoped that he wouldn’t get laid off.” “But we had hoped that the new treatment would put her cancer into remission.” “But we had hoped that we’d be parents by now.” “But we had hoped that our committed relationship would be recognized as a real marriage.”

I recently saw a TV show where two of the female characters decide to get married. Callie and Arizona had been in a relationship for over a year and are even raising a child together. They had reached a point in their relationship where they were ready to make a lifetime commitment to each other and they wanted have that commitment blessed in front of their family and friends in a ceremony officiated by a priest in a church. Unfortunately a number of events happen that get in the way of that dream. Callie’s mother who is a devout Catholic does not support the relationship or even Callie’s child because it was conceived out of wedlock. Callie dis-invites both her parents because she can’t deal with her mother’s negativity, thus her father won’t be there to walk her down the aisle. Then on the day of the wedding the priest’s wife gets in a car accident and he is unable to officiate because he has to be with his wife in the ER. Seeing that her wedding was not going to go as she had hoped it would Callie decided it off.

Callie’s good friend Miranda comes over to talk Callie into putting the wedding back on. Callie tells her it’s not happening, every thing that she had hoped for: her mother’s support, her dad giving her away, being married by a priest in a church - none of these things were going to happen. ”It’s not even legal,” Callie laments, “There’s no priest, it’s not going to be in a church, it isn’t even real. What’s the point.”

But Miranda tells Callie, “First of all you do not need the law, or a priest or your mother to make your wedding real. And the church can be anywhere you want it to be…because where do you think God is. God’s in you…God’s in me. God’s right here in the middle of us…Now some churches haven’t caught up to God yet. Your mother hasn’t caught up to God yet and by the way she may never catch up but it’s OK. If you are willing to stand up in front of your family, friends and God and commit yourself to another human being to give of yourself in that kind of partnership…for better or worse, in sickness and in health, Honey that is a marriage, that is real and that is all that matters.” (1) The definition of real marriage that Miranda shares with Callie is much wider than the dream wedding that Callie had hoped for.

Messiah-ship, salvation and redemption is much wider Cleopas and his wife hoped for. Jesus tells them, “’Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24:25-27) The promised redemption of scriptures was not just about the redemption of the nation Israel but the salvation of the whole world. Jesus reminded them that prophets from the time of Moses had never been accepted by their people but were persecuted for the saying the very word that God had sent them to share and because Jesus was a prophet sent by God to share God’s word, of course he was persecuted, even killed for sharing the radical good news of the gospel. However, God vindicated Jesus by showing victory over death by raising Jesus from death show the world that ultimately good overcomes evil, love overcomes hatred and that not even death can contain God’s aim to set things right for all creation. That the risen Christ is the Messiah because the promise of new life is the salvation of the world and that is all that matters!

It has been said if you want to see Jesus, go to church. That in community we see Jesus in us and between us as we hear the scriptures and break bread together around the communion table. Through the sharing of the word and sacrament we become transformed, our lives are changed because we see can God’s love and grace in action. This is what propels us to go out and share the good news outside our walls that God so loved the world that he sent his son to be with us, to preach to us, to die for us and to be risen to give us life ever lasting. Yes many parts of the world have not caught up to God yet but that’s ok because God will always catches up with us. May it be So. Amen.



[1] “White Wedding” Grey’s Anatomy aired May 5, 2011.