Thought for Today
Genesis 3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Jeremiah 6:16 Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Greta and I just came in from working in the garden. We don’t walk in our garden “at the time of the evening breeze” because the mosquitoes from the pond on our northeast are out in droves then. So, we play in the garden in the mornings. We usually come in about 9:00 am. Out of respect for our families and friends in Houston, I will not say we come in because of the heat (it was 79oF) . . . but we do. Irrespective of the time or temperature, however, we do find ourselves in the presence of the Lord God in our gardens.
When we celebrate the Eucharist, as part of my Words of Institution, I use the passage above from Matthew. I particularly enjoy the words about finding rest for our souls. I associate rest for my soul with that peace which Jesus gifted to his disciples and to all of us.
When I am in our gardens pruning, weeding, feeding and tending to all the myriad of gardening tasks, I find that sense of peace, or rest for my soul of which Jesus spoke. My heart is not troubled, I am not afraid (although I do keep a wary eye out for honeybees and bumblebees).
In our harried world of political turmoil, hurricanes, uncontrolled forest fires, war and rumors of wars, where do you find rest for your soul, the peace of freedom from fear? Where do you find the presence of God? Where do I? Maybe even more importantly, do you or I seek out that presence of God, or do we hide among the trees of life’s gardens?
The Bible tells us, “Deuteronomy 4:29 you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul” and Jesus promises, “Luke 11:9 Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”
We are promised peace, rest for our souls. But, there’s always a “but.” We are called to take Jesus’ yoke upon us, to seek, to search, to knock. Being a Christian, being a disciple, walking in the ancient paths, the way of God requires a deliberate, conscious choice and effort on our part.
I am a great fan of the Epistle of James. I know that Martin Luther and John Calvin, 2 of my Reformation heroes did not favor James. But, I find that epistle directly confronts the false dichotomy of faith versus works, “2:17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.”
Christians are called to ‘do.’ Called to seek, search, knock. Called to take on the yoke of faith, to read and study scripture and then to love God and love our neighbor. We know that “Genesis 2:7 the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. . . . 15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” Tilling and keeping covers a whole host of ways we can express our love for our Creator God and our love for each other.
The Christian faith is a dynamic, vibrant, life-filled clarion call to service. And, there are as many ways of answering that call as there are Christians. The apostle Paul wrote about the gifts of the Spirit, enumerating various ways Christians are called and equipped. An integral part of our faith is discerning to what service God has called us, and then answering that call.
Our time in the gardens of our home is one of the things to which God has called Greta and me. With that service, and with the other things to which we are called, we find that promised peace, that rest for our souls.
Stay safe, find your own peace and rest, trust God,
Pastor Ray