RVCC Pastor's Sermon

Sermon - September 7, 2008

“Seeds of Hope, Seeds of Promise”

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Luke 13:18-19

Our Holy Scriptures are filled with metaphors, myths, and vibrant images of gardens and seeds and fertility. And no wonder!

The ancient Israelites who told the stories of their people were nomads, desert wanderers who rejoiced in the blessed sight of an oasis where the land was green, and water for their children and animals was abundant. And so from their own life experience they told tales of their own creation in God’s paradise, a garden. Their psalmists sang of walking beside pools of still waters and being shepherded through green pastures.

And Jesus as well wandered with his disciples and friends through the arid hills and dusty valleys of Judea all the while bathed in the hot desert sun. He preached and taught about the Kingdom of God, likening it to vineyards lush with grapes, to immense banquets with table upon table laden with food from the land, endless bread and the fruit of the vine, to seeds as tiny as those of the mustard plant, but hardy enough to grow into a plant so large that the birds would find their safe place in its branches. And though Jesus died on a barren hillside, he conquered death in a tomb set in a garden.

The metaphors of seeds and growth are ones that even we can resonate to – as distant as we are from agriculture and the land, as steeped in technology our world has become. The images are ones that seem to strike a deep and common chord within each one of us.

And so it is highly appropriate that our congregational theme for this year should be one that embraces those images and all that they symbolize: “Seeds of hope, seeds of promise.”

You see, I believe that it is out of the seeds of our hopes that our dreams for this congregation and for the world are born. It is out of the seeds of our own promises to God that such dreams become realities for us. A number of you have shared your seeds of hope and seeds of promise with me, and your dreams and visions make me proud to be your pastor, for you are deeply thinking and reflective people.

Many of you hope to see this congregation grow – in worship attendance, in membership, in activities that involve the Raymond community, but also in local and youth mission, in stewardship and real giving, in spirit and peace. You also hope to see more involvement in worship and throughout our life together by more people in our church family. Those are wonderful hopes and dreams for us!

Many of you have hopes for the world as well. You dream of peace – not just the absence of war, but the abiding presence of the peace of Jesus. You hope for economic stability and safety for all people. You envision a world where we respect and accept each other’s differences. You dream of a time when our leaders will have a change of heart. You hope for a world where we will need less and so will feel compelled to grow less – small is beautiful, as they say. Those are wonderful hopes and dreams for the world!

Some of you are also ready to move beyond hoping to making promises to yourself and to God to make these dreams into realities. And so you promise to counteract and challenge prejudice. You commit to trying harder to love those you fear and do not understand. You pledge to work for peace in your homes and communities, to become more involved, and to pitch in and do your share to make the world a better place. You realize the need for honest communication, and so you promise to be open to others’ thoughts and ideas.

But you also realize that you can not keep these promises alone. And so you pledge to pray – for peace, for the power to make a difference. You pledge to listen more closely when God is still speaking and to continue to grow yourself in the ways of God.

You commit to telling others about your faith – and inviting friends and neighbors and maybe even just acquaintances to join us here at RVCC, where good things are happening. Those are wonderful promises!

“Seeds of hope, seeds of promise.” I think that is a theme that has the potential to energize us and strengthen us as the Body of Christ here in Raymond. I trust that the seeds of our promises can create fertile ground for the seeds of our hopes and dreams.

And if you believe that too and have brought seeds with you this morning, I hope that you will bring them forward and lay them on the communion table. What better place to offer the symbols of our hopes and promises than the table laden with bread and wine, the table of blessing, the table of welcome where who we are, how big or little our hopes are, how strong or fragile our promises are, just where we are on our life journey simply does not matter. All that matters is that we dream – and trust that with Christ beside us and the Holy Spirit with us, our dreams will become reality.

I invite you to come forward with your seeds and lay them anywhere on the communion table.

Sermon - September 7, 2008

“Seeds of Hope, Seeds of Promise”

By Rev. Nancy Foran Luke 13:18-19

By Rev. Nancy Foran
Luke 13:18-19