Sermon Title:
"Grows Best In Full Son"
Scripture: Ephesians
5:8-14
Given on Sunday,
March 2, 2008
This passage
from a letter Paul to the church members in the city of Ephesus, has
words in it that connect with growing plants: light/dark,
fruitfulness/fruitlessness. This was Paul's way of helping the
church members in Ephesus know how to grow a strong faith, in the face
of a non-Christian society.
He told them
that he (Paul) had planted seeds of Christian living in them,
and that the thing they needed most now was to let the light of Christ
shine into their lives, so that those seeds could wake up and
grow to turn their darkness into light and their fruitlessness
into fruitfulness. This is what the passage of scripture means in
this reading when it says, "Awake, O sleeper and rise. And Christ
will shine on you."
In your own
life, there might be a similar question. What seeds ought I
to plant in my life that would be pleasing to the Lord and that
would bring forth the kind of harvest worthy of Christian living?
To answer that,
consider this way of looking at you life as a garden.
First, plant
three rows of peas. Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of
soul. Then plant four rows of squash. Squash
grumbling. Squash gossip. Squash indifference. Squash
selfishness. Plant four rows of lettuce. Let us be
faithful. Let us be kind. Let us be patient. Let us
be true friends. No garden is complete without some
turnips. Turn up for worship. Turn up for events.
Turn up to help others. And in every garden, be sure to plant
some thyme. Time for family. Time for friends.
Time for serving. Time for God.
Water your
garden freely with faith; cultivate with spirit; enrich with love, and
prepare to reap the harvest in accordance to how you have sown.
This being March
2, it will be the gardening season outside in a few more weeks.
But here, in the Lenten season, this very day, the fruitfulness of
faith is already in season.
We hear Paul
saying to us, as he did to the Ephesians:
"For it is light
that makes everything visible. Wake up, O sleeper, rise and
Christ will shine on you."
May you plant a
life garden that seeks Christ's light. And may it bring forth the
fruit of Spirit in you.
Devin R. Jones, Pastor of St. John's Church.
Cappeln, MO