Easter 3A April 26, 2020
The Rev. Dr. Jeunée Godsey
Rector St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Bon Air, VA
Readings (Link http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Easter/AEaster3_RCL.html)
Good morning Saint Michaels I'm here in front of church because I want to show you something in just a minute. but first let's pray
Lord take our eyes and see through them take our ears and hear through them take our lips and speak to them take our hearts and fill them with your fire. Amen.
As many of you know and for the church here I'm trying to show you we have our community garden 3 raised beds on one side of the wall and three raised beds on the other side of the wall and then behind me here we have a spot where some point this summer will have sunflowers and zinnias rising up to the beautiful, beautiful Flowers that will eventually come and be on our altar when we can all gather together again. Hopefully we’ll gather together before the Zinneas and Sun Flowers are in full bloom.
We just heard a beautiful song and one that I believe relates somewhat to our readings today so I wanted to just remind you at the first verse the first stanza of that song in the bulb there is a flower in the seed an Apple tree in cocoons a hidden promise butterflies will soon be free. In the cold and snow of winter there is a spring that waits to be unrevealed until its season something God alone can see.”
That's certainly true of our garden here we have um we have seeds that Been sewn into the ground but we do not yet know how they will all come out we don't know which ones will grow and which ones won't. [Insert look at Garden Beds 1:09]
Right now there's not a lot going on in these beds they've been prepared the soil has been tilled and fed I believe the seeds are planted and the covering is on top to help make them warm up the seeds warm in to germinate over here we have a little bit happening with the peas you can see that peas or or early sprouts and they're starting to come up I think back there in the corner is just a rogue little Clover. Ah but there's not much going on in the other beds as well over here there are also fairly bare it's just the beginning of the season so we're just waiting for these seeds to germinate and to grow i'm not much of a gardener but when I planted some seeds beside my house this week, I know that the seeds I planted look nothing like what the plants will be in the future. It's hard to imagine when you look at a seed what the future will be it's hidden inside of it the future of that plant is hidden inside.
We can see here at the garden that's right in front of church some evidence of bulbs that have produced their Flowers. This winter of course there was nothing that we could see but now the daffodils have for the most part come and gone. There's these few here. The irises are blooming. They're beautiful! The bulbs of irises have come up and we can see even if you can see way over here in the memorial garden beautiful irises all along the back.
In the bulb there is a flower. In the seed an Apple tree…
That of course is what will have over here when we have our sunflowers and are zinnias I've been so amazed in the past to see all of the bees and the hummingbirds and Hummingbird moths I'll take their shelter in these Flowers buzzing around taking pollen to feed themselves, make honey and to just perpetuate the growth all around.
In the snow and cold of winter there is a spring that waits to be unrevealed until season only God alone can see .
---
Alright, back inside now!
Let me see if I can illustrate more fully what I’m trying to say.
When I planted my own sunflowers and zinneas beside my house this past week, I was again amazed at how little a seed is in comparison to the plant. And how the seek looks nothing like the plant in most cases. If you didn’t have experience to the contrary, there would be no way to know what would come from a sunflower seed, or a daffodil bulb, or a peas planted in the ground. Especially when they are sown, and covered with dirt, it seems as if they are dead and buried. We have to trust in the promise of that seed.
The proper name of the song “In the bulb there is a flower” is Hymn of Promise.
I think that’s the theme that our readings most pick up on this morning.
By the way, you might enjoy looking over the text for the Hymn of Promise even after this morning. For you on our email list, our the text and music to the hymns and songs is attached to the weekly email you get Friday mornings. If you aren’t on our list, just message us and we can send it to you, or get you on our weekly emails.
In the Song, “In the bulb there is a flower,” the last line of each stanza repeats itself. “Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.” That’s the promise of the Hymn of Promise.
I think that’s the theme that our readings most pick up on this morning.
We can’t see what is going on, but God can. And God will reveal it to us in the right time.
In our reading from 1st Peter, it says, “Live in reverent fear during the time of your exile…. Love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable seed -- but of Imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.”
What Peter is saying here is that The word of God has been planted in our hearts. Like all seeds, it starts small. It doesn’t look like much. It has to germinate. But this seed is imperishable seed, seed that births us into new life, into everlasting life.
This seed, this word of God, is Christ himself, Through whom, says Peter, “you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.”
Peter contrasts this imperishable seed of hope with the perishable seed of the world… Those Things we cultivate, but which are ultimately do not bear fruit… things like a focus on money, status, control, the futile ways of the world.
When Peter says, “live in Reverent fear during the time of your exile,” he’s not encouraging his readers to be afraid. Another translation says, “live your lives as strangers here, in reverent fear.”
For me, that means that you and I, as followers of Jesus are in many ways, aliens, strangers, foreigners to the ways of this world. We are In the world, but we are not OF the world. Because we can hold to a reverent fear God, because we are in Awe of God and all that God has done by raising Christ from the dead, we don’t have to live in Fear like the rest of the world.
Yes, this is a time where many people are experiencing fear and confusion. Some are afraid of getting sick. Some are afraid of their financial futures. We don’t know what a new “normal” will look like on the other side of this crisis. But if we trust in the resurrection, if we know the truth that Jesus has been raised, we can look for how God might bring new life out of death.
We don’t know what flowers will come after this time of being entombed like bulbs under the earth. We don’t know what butterflies may emerge after the time we’ve all spent in our cocoons. We need to trust that they can, and they will.
The hymn of promise says,
“There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me,
From the past will come the future, what it holds a mystery.
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see…”
When we look to that fabulous story of the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, we can see that they too were in a place of confusion and darkness. On the evening of that first Easter, Cleopas and his companion are walking dejectedly from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Maybe they just felt they needed to get out of town. The Risen Jesus joins them, but they cannot see that it is him. God is walking with them, but they fail to recognize him.
Jesus asks them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”
And They stood still, looking sad. Can’t you just imagine how dejected they looked?
“Are you the only one in town who doesn’t know the things that have happened?
Jesus is like, “What things?”
I have to imagine Jesus was enjoying this little ruse.
Cleopas and his companion are devastated that Jesus is dead, they don’t know what to make of the women’s news earlier that morning. They don’t know what the future will hold, and they don’t really know what they should do next.
But Jesus opens up the scriptures to them as they walk along, and eventually, they invite him into dinner.
It’s when Jesus takes the bread and breaks it, that they realize who he is.
As soon as their eyes are opened to the truth, Jesus disappears. But what’s more, they are now able to see how he was present with them on the road, even though they didn’t recognize it at the time. They run the 7 miles back to Jerusalem to share the good news with the other disciples, who have also seen Jesus. In fact, the story gets even better. Keep reading in Luke and you’ll see that right after they get back and are sharing the news, Jesus shows up again.
“Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." and eats with them again.
God’s work is going on right now in many ways that are not evident to us. How might you and I be able to look back at this time to find some of the ways God was leading us and teaching us.
Perhaps your practices of daily prayer have gotten stronger.
Perhaps you have gotten to know your neighbors better.
Perhaps you have realized how little your really need and how rich your life can be without all the extras.
Perhaps you have focused more on the needs of others.
I’m not trying to deny the real hardships of this time for many people, but the Promise we have from God is that God can bring about new life, transformed life, even where things seem dark.
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see. Amen.