Springwood Presbyterian Church: Whitsett, NC

A friend who’s a Master Gardener told me about the Moringa tree.  I ordered seeds from our Presbyterian Medical Benevolence Foundation and plan to plant one next Spring and see what happens.  [I ordered 25 sets, each with information about the tree and its uses, plus 2 seeds, so 25 of you can take a packet—or 50 of you can each have a seed.  The envelopes are in the vestibule for you when you leave.]  The Moringa is a tropical plant called “the miracle tree”, because its leaves, flowers, seed pods, and roots are edible—and very nutritious.  By weight, its leaves are 40% protein—twice the protein of milk.  They contain 7 times the vitamin C of oranges, 4 times the calcium in milk, 3 times the potassium of bananas, and 4 times the vitamin A in carrots.  A few years ago, Presbyterian mission co-workers in the Congo began a project of giving seeds and seedlings away and teaching people to use the leaves as a nutrition supplement.  At present, 25 Congolese villages grow Moringa trees and harvest the leaves to feed their families.  Hundreds of lives have already been saved.  Countless malnourished Congolese children have recovered strength and just might live into adulthood.  Surely the people of these 25 villages are happy.

The Hebrew word that we translate “happy” and the Greek word we translate “blessed” or “happy” aren’t about a “yippee!” kind of enjoying ourselves.  They mean, rather, being so rooted and grounded in God, and in God’s teachings—so confident of God that we can entrust our lives to God and live with a sense of joy, no matter what changes in the day-to-dayness of our lives.

The beginning of the new church year after a long summer and a drought that has harmed many plants is a good time to consider how, like the tree of the psalm, we and the church become rooted in God.   

Our rootedness begins with our awareness of God’s presence in our lives and then a habit of prayer: talking to God and listening for God.  Prayer opens us to God’s will and enables a closer relationship with our Lord.  Whether we are praying for ourselves or others--praying aloud or in silence--praying in church with the congregation or alone in the car, prayer is our affirmation that God is part of our lives.  It’s our “yes!” to God’s presence.  By bringing our lives into alignment with God’s will, prayer waters our spirits and makes them fertile ground for the seeds of God’s word in scripture.

This is the message of Psalm 1.  It invites us into the joy of God’s law that we absorb as we study scripture in a prayerful way.  We can study scripture in many ways, of course: as history, as literature, as poetry.  Each one teaches us something useful.  But only through prayerful study, seeking the Spirit’s guidance, are our own spirits fed. so we can then feed others and provide shelter for the lost--so storms won’t topple us--so we can live at peace with ourselves, in harmony with each other, and fruitful in service to God and God’s world. 

We can study prayerfully by ourselves.  However, our work is more powerful when we do it with fellow Christians: sharing in the wisdom of the gathered Body of Christ--holding our personal thoughts and opinions up to the insights of their reflection--being open to further understanding, and even to correction.  There are opportunities available right now.  In Sunday School, the adult class is learning the fullness of God’s peace, or shalom.  There is also the Wednesday night Bible study: a lengthy examination of the gospel of Matthew, relying heavily on prayer and group reflection. (It’s that group reflection that’s made the study so long—and so interesting!)  You’d be very welcome—come check it out!  There’s the possibility of a daytime Bible study, too, if enough folks are interested.

Corporate worship is another way we sink our roots deep into God.  Although we can worship God anywhere, anytime, all by ourselves, scripture teaches us that God does not call us individually, but as a part of the whole.  Together as a church, we are Christ’s body in the world. 

And so, when we come together, our praise is magnified by the number who are present--our hymns sung more powerfully--our prayers raised for one another and the world--our confessions offered to God--our pardon assured.  In church, we hear God’s word together--we listen together for the interpretation—sometimes, we even compare notes afterwards on what we heard!

It’s only in corporate worship that we celebrate the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  And there at Christ’s table, worshipping side-by-side, and side-by-side receiving Christ’s body and blood, we come to know one another as brothers and sisters in the world-wide family of God.

Service to our world-wide faith family is the fruit we bear when we’ve been immersed in prayer and praise and the study of God’s word.  As we learn God’s priorities for justice and integrity, for abundance and love—then we’re propelled into the world to act on God’s prodding.  This year, what is God prodding us to do?  There are new mission and ministry opportunities nearby, and the possibility of a mission trip to a more distant place of need.  Surely, too, God wants us to continue to go to those places we’re familiar with where people hurt: places where volunteers graciously prepare and serve food for hungry brothers and sisters; where homeless folks find shelter; where meals are taken to senior citizens unable to prepare well-balanced meals for themselves; where students need a tutor, or a friend.  We can help in other ways as well: assisting in the Urban Ministry food drive at Food Lion as some of you did yesterday; bringing your used shoes (or perhaps you even bought new ones) for people in crisis situations as you’ll do later this morning; in November, instead of shopping for gifts that may not fit or be the right color, giving friends an honor card to increase the work that local help agencies provide.  You can be involved in hands-on ministry in so many ways!

In each of these ways, you are responding to Jesus’ call to make disciples, because in every place you serve or worship or pray, you’re planting seeds for folks who may not yet know Jesus—or who’ve lost touch with their faith in him.     

Springwood Presbyterian has a 141-year history of faithfulness and fruitfulness.  You have been faithful to God, and God has been faithful to you. As you embark on the next year of being church in this place, sink your roots even deeper into the good fertile soil of God’s word so you can branch out higher and wider to do God’s work.  Be like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in season, and their leaves do not wither, so that, in all that [you] do, [you] prosper.  That’s where a truly happy life begins.