Wadhams United Church of Christ
2569 County Route 10, Wadhams, NY 12993
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Sermon by Steve Smith Order of Service
June 15, 2008
This is the second year running that I’ve tried to develop a sermon around our strawberry theme. The idea of trying to preach on strawberries might sound a little nuts to you, but when your pastor is on his last Sunday before a vacation, he can sometimes come up with strange topics. I thought I’d hit pay-dirt this time around when I typed the phrase “strawberry theology” into Google and it actually gave me a message besides “Nice try, preacher.” One site in particular was actually named “Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology,” but it turned out to be a place where a bunch of erudite pastors hold forth on various themes, none of them having anything to do with strawberries or rhubarb.
Since I’m not even one hundred percent sure of what the word erudite means, it was a dead end all the way around. Needless to say, I was left to my own devices, which is pretty much as dangerous as letting a toddler run around with the sharpest pair of scissors in the drawer. Sure, the chase might seem thrilling for a few minutes, but the longer you leave me to my own devices, the more likely it is that I’m going to cut a hole where it doesn’t belong. But back to strawberries and theology. I’ve been under the impression that it took several years to establish a strawberry bed, but one site I looked at under “strawberry cultivation” contradicted that little bit of folk wisdom. In fact, they strongly recommended that you rotate the location of your bed every two to three years, buying new plants each time, because the roots tend to grow too close together.
Apparently the subsequent encroachment results in the soil becoming depleted and the quality of your berries goes downhill. Looking for spiritual applications, I find myself wondering if the same thing can be said about churches. While it might feel more comfortable to keep doing church the same exact way over a period of several years, or decades, or even over an entire lifetime, the reality is that a steady diet of sameness can result in a long, slow decline in the life of the church. Trying something new and different in worship or in what we do outside of church, while initially anxiety provoking, could prove to be a fresh source of renewal for us.
I know that at a personal level, I’m easily bored by any particular spiritual routine or practice, so I find that I need some variety in what nurtures my soul and inspires my growth. Sometimes, I find spiritual wisdom in the saints of the Catholic tradition, while other times the outside-the-box mindset of contemporary Christian authors invites me to look at my world in a new and different way. I’ve even occasionally looked at materials from other faith groups to see if their perspective can enrich my soul. For instance, a Native American writer sketched a worldview based on the role of strawberries in his Native heritage. Their annual festival at the harvest of the strawberry is a celebration of their survival, and pointed him to the peace-making work of a visionary figure who brought several warring factions together to form the legendary six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy of upstate New York. For him, the strawberry festival was an annual renewal of this vision of what it means for widely divergent groups of people to live together in the harmony of community.
I continue to be amazed at the wide variety of viewpoints held by the individuals here in our small church. I’ve never been aware of such divergence in any of the churches I’ve served in previously, but here there are worldviews represented that are nearly polar opposites of each other, and somehow we manage to get along without killing each other. This group continues to be a living example of what it means for a widely divergent group of people to come together to seek the harmony of community. Our strawberry festival, then, is an annual renewal of this vision and a celebration of what divine love can do in our midst. Our continued presence in the community is another example of those inspiring words in the lesson from Genesis: “There is nothing too hard for God.”
I love the story of Madame Tallien, a prominent figure in the royal court of Emperor Napoleon. She was famous for bathing in the juice of fresh strawberries, an indulgence that required 22 pounds of berries. I’m guessing she smelled like strawberries for a few days afterward. While it no doubt gave her skin a rosy glow, I can’t help but wonder if it also served to dye her clothes a delicate pink as she proceeded to perspire after her bath. As arcane as this story might be, it does raise a point worth pondering: do we approach our lives from a self-indulgent perspective, or would we be the kind of people who would take the 22 pounds of berries and cut them up to put in the freezer, to be shared with friends and neighbors?
Is the mark that we leave on our world a crimson stain of greed and selfishness, or do we leave the strawberry glow of divine love and mercy wherever we go? When we leave people we have been with, are they going to remember the way we wanted to talk only and always about ourselves, or will there be a lingering sweet scent as they realize that someone took the time to listen to them and to value them as a human being? Will they be left feeling like we came to encroach on their lives, or will they feel renewed by the provision of grace delivered through someone who has a vision of what God can do through a life lived in service to a greater cause?
Following that line of thought further, one of the fun facts I uncovered about strawberries last year was that it is the only fruit that has its seeds on the outside. For me, this is the link to this morning’s gospel lesson. While we might like to meditate on the wonders of love, our meditations are pointless unless they move us to demonstrate the transforming power of that love by behaving lovingly toward the people God brings into our paths. When Jesus sent his closest followers out into the world with this message of love, his instructions were very clear: let that love show in what you say and do.
The seeds of divine love, if you will, were plastered all over him. People could hear it in his voice, they could see it in his face, they could feel it emanating from him with every breath he took. Mind you, this was a former tax collector, now collecting the stories of how that love impacted people wherever Jesus went. This was a former tax collector, who had once been universally hated. He had personally heard that love in Jesus’ voice, he had seen it in Jesus’ face, he had felt it emanating from this incredible man when he stood in front of Matthew to challenge him to embrace a completely different kind of life.
“Whenever Jesus saw the crowds,” he writes, “he was moved with compassion to the depths of his being.” While it might be easier in some ways to picture God as an impersonal force who is far distant and disengaged from the tragedies and trials of this world, this image of God doesn’t move me or inspire me. Give me instead a God who is moved by our pain and suffering, and I’m much more likely to get up and follow where God calls me to go. Jesus gives us a living representation of such a God.
Jesus was moved to compassion by the world’s pain, whether it came in the form of sickness, blindness, deafness, paralysis, seizures, leprosy, or any number of life-limiting, soul restricting diseases. He was moved to compassion by the world’s sorrow, whether it was a widow now burying her son, or weeping at the graveside of a dear friend. He was filled with a desire to wipe the tear from every eye, and he longed to ease the pain that surrounded him at every turn. More than that, he was moved to compassion by the world’s hunger. The mere sight of a tired and hungry crowd was a call upon his power, no matter how tired and hungry he might have been himself. He could never be content to satisfy himself while others went without.
He was moved to compassion by the world’s loneliness. When he saw the lepers standing at a distance, calling out to him, it broke his heart and moved him to connect with those who had been forced into lonely exile. Mother Theresa looked at all the diseases plaguing modern identity, and identified the single most pernicious disease of our time. “It’s not AIDS, or cancer, or heart disease,” she said. “The most devastating disease of our generation is loneliness.” She spoke those words before the popular advent of the internet, where lonely people sit in isolation from human contact or touch and use an impersonal form of communication to try to connect with a distant and disengaged world.
Like Jesus before her, the seeds of divine love were plastered all over her. The leading officials in India had all kinds of reasons to discourage her from focusing her ministry within their borders. They considered her a crackpot, and openly doubted that her singular efforts would make any difference amid the sea of need that surrounded them all. But she proved them wrong, didn’t she? Because nothing is too hard for God. And when we get to wondering whether our feeble efforts make any difference amid the sea of need surrounding us, we need to celebrate the lowly strawberry, covered with seeds, reminding us that love never comes back empty. Enjoy the festival!
Order of Service June 15 , 2008 Back to Sermon
"NC" refers to The New Century Hymnal, The Pilgrim Press (1995)
Welcome, Announcements, Joys and Concerns
A Candle for Peace NC #573 (vs 3)
Call to Worship
Leader: God of peace, thank you for the peace you bring as we gather this day to worship you.
People: We offer praise for your gift of grace, even when we are reluctant to receive, or don’t recognize, your help.
Leader: We ask for your forgiveness, and for the strength to turn away from fear and selfish motives.
People: Bless us so that we may open our hearts anew and have the courage to serve you.
Leader: Help us to rededicate ourselves to your calling, to greet the stranger, feed the hungry, clothe the poor.
People: Be present in our worship, and fill our hearts with the desire to serve you.
Hymn NC #16 Let Us With A Joyful Mind
Responsive Prayer
Leader: God of blessing, you call us to venture into the unknown and trust that you know the way.
People: We are often afraid, reluctant to answer you, hesitant to take the risks.
Leader: Give us faith to overcome our fears. Remind us of your power to sustain us when we are weak.
People: Jesus, come to us now, we need you. Heal what is broken and bring us back to life.
Leader: In the Gospel stories, it was touch that healed: someone touching you, or your touch in someone’s life. It is touch that heals.
People: It is your touch that makes us strong again. Draw near, that we may reach for you. Touch the tender places of our lives, that we might grow strong.
Leader: Heal our despair, our fear, our lack of trust, that we might follow you with hope.
People: When we are afraid to answer your call, give us faith and courage.
Leader: When we feel life seeping from us, draw near that we may touch you.
People: When we feel dead and unable to respond, touch our lives with your love.
Leader: When we are filled with doubts or lost in despair, shine your light upon us and teach us to hope against hope.
People: When we treat others with disrespect or exclude them from the community we find in your presence, correct us in your merciful love.
Leader: May we live in the midst of your blessings, ever rejoicing in your love and sharing that love with
Pastoral Prayer, Lords Prayer
Hymn NC #25 O God, Our Help In Ages Past
Psalm 63:1-8, Genesis 12:1-7, Matt 9:9-13, 18-26
Sermon Strawberry Theology
Offering, Doxology, Dedication
Hymn NC # 459 Come, O Fount
Benediction
Leader: God has not given us a spirit of slavery to fear, but a spirit of strength and love.
People: Touch us with your Holy Spirit. Let your Spirit renew us, nourish us, strengthen us, guide us and intercede for us.Leader: As redeemed children of God, go forth with confidence to love God and serve your neighbor. Go in God’s peace.
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