A Green Thumb

It’s a running joke in our house that I don’t like flowers. This isn’t quite true - flowers are beautiful and I appreciate them. But the truth is that I have the opposite of a green thumb. I think it’s very inconsiderate of flowers to not all live for exactly the same length of time. As an arrangement ages, some flowers wilt sooner than others, meaning that you either have to constantly rearrange and whittle them down, or you end up with a scruffy looking bunch. I don’t like throwing a flower away while it still looks nice, but then it’s a fine line before you have a vase full of sadness. AND plants have the audacity to need regular watering, and I usually don’t remember. There’s an art to tending to plants, and I don’t have it.

But many of you do, and even those of us with a tendency to kill rather than nurture green things probably have some basic knowledge about what plants need.

Plants need water, sunshine, good soil, to be pollinated, to be protected from pests, and to be able to grow good roots. It takes a lot of resources, but when everything is just right, when a tree is able to grow to magnificence, it is a wonder to behold.

People are similar in many ways. For us to flourish, we too need to be nurtured. We need good soil, and we need deep roots.

When you go through the discernment process to figure out if you are suitable to be recommended to train as a priest, you are required to do a fair bit of self reflection. You have to know things like, what has led you to be the person you are - what people or situations have formed you. You need to be aware of how you connect with God, and what will sustain you through hard times. 

In other words, you need to do some self-gardening, and figure out how to be most like that tree Jeremiah talks about - ‘like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.’

This kind of self-reflection is good for everyone to do, and many do it naturally at least to some extent. Asking oneself questions like these are a great way to stay grounded in faith, and to be reminded again and again which priorities need to be top of our list.

So, what is it that nourishes you? Do you know what fills your spirit, and do you consciously make space for it in the business of life?

It’s a question of intention. And I don’t mean good intentions like I have to do exercise, that then never quite happens. I mean real intention, a determination to act in a certain way. The underlying beliefs and commitments that shape who you are and how you live.

Intention is what I think the Blessings and Woes of today’s gospel reading are about. Jesus isn’t saying that being fed and happy are inherently bad, or that being hungry and weeping are desirable states to be in - in fact, God wants good things for us! - but instead he is prompting us to examine our intentions and what we do with our circumstances.

Are we well fed and happy, but content to remain comfortably isolated in our own safe little bubble, with no regard for the situation of others? Or when we are mourning, or scared, or in need, what is our attitude like? Do we remember to rely on God in all things? Whatever situation you find yourself in, it is likely to be short lived in some way as life is so unpredictable, so the underlying question is, what is your intention, and where are your roots?

We have the joy of a baptism today, and as part of the baptismal liturgy we are reminded that faith is a communal undertaking. Just like plants have a list of needs that all need meeting together in order to thrive, we need a whole community of faith to sustain us and help us grow into something marvellous. Just as a plant can’t mature without soil and roots and water and sun, none of us can reach spiritual maturity on our own - we need community, fellowship, conversation, inspiration, to love and be loved, to guide and be guided.

We each need people to encourage us when we falter, and who walk alongside us through every season of life, encouraging us to hold our intentions true. To help us remain rooted in God. This is the reason we have church. This is why we show up. Because we know what we need in order to have fullness of life, and what we need is to be steeped in the kingdom of God.

Society often tells us that success, wealth, and self-sufficiency are the marks of a blessed life. But Jesus’ blessings and woes ask us to reevaluate. Instead God calls us to humility, and to an acknowledgement that we depend on God at all times. Those who are rooted firmly by the stream will not fear in dark times, for they know where their strength comes from. This is God’s desire for each one of us - for our newest member being baptised today, and for those who have been living a faithful life for many decades - that we have, and treasure, above all else, a steadfast and vibrant connection with God.

So what nourishes your soul? What helps your faith grow stronger? Where are your roots?

Baptism is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, but it’s only a step in the process of becoming a person of faith, which is an ongoing daily quest for each of us. Baptism is a declaration of where we take our stand, but we all take the opportunity to remind ourselves, in the renewal of vows, of our lifelong intention to build all that we are around this commitment.

There’s no denying that it’s a challenge. But hopefully we can be more successful at it than I am at keeping plants alive. The truth is that amongst the difficulties of being a person of faith, it is also rather simple. Know your intentions, and make sure they are rooted in loving God, loving neighbour, and loving self. Surround yourself with people who nurture you. Be nurturing yourself to others.

And no matter how old you are, or how long ago you were baptised, may we each draw our life from the living water of Christ, and stand together as a community rooted in God’s abundant love.

Amen.

Jeremiah 17:5-10;  Luke 6:17-26