Between rest and growth
March 23, 2025 Lent 3
Lighting of the Christ Candle
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
Worship is a place to rest.
We breathe deeply here.
We still our aching bones.
We sit in the quiet.
We surround ourselves with music.
Worship is a place to rest.
Worship is a place to grow.
We listen for God’s word.
We invite it to challenge us.
We lean in with curiosity.
We ask questions.
Worship is a place to grow.
So come into this space. Come rest and grow here.
For where two or more are gathered, God is always there.
Hymn: 202 We lay our hurting world at your feet
Prayer of Approach
Gracious God, we come to you with weariness in our souls. WE turn to you for rest that is both creative and recreative, and which restores us as your children.
Creator God, Your Word is like soil, something we can root ourselves in. Your Word is like the sun, big enough to touch everything with its warmth. And your Word is like a gardener, a love that prunes and encourages, waters and delights, seeds and tends.
We open ourselves to your grace, asking that you gather us in and with your Spirit warm our bones, tend to our broken pieces, and show us how to grow. With hope we pray, Amen.
Call to Confession
As people of God we carve out time for confession in worship because it is not enough to hear about God’s grace once. We confess as we remember the ways in which we have sinned again. We bring the ways in which we feel cut off from God. We need the reminder that in God’s grace we are forgiven people, not once but again, and again, and again.
So join me in speaking the truth of our lives, and join me in receiving God’s grace again.
Prayer of Confession:
Holy God, There are days when we fail to rest. We stretch ourselves too thin. We say “yes” to every invitation. We run a million miles a minute. We ignore your command to rest.
There are also days when we fail to act. We wait for someone else. We take the easy road. We find excuses and justify our inaction.
God, forgive our imbalance. Remind us that birds rest, and they also fly. Show us how to do the same. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news! Our God does not keep score. Our God does not hold grudges. Our God does not assume the worst about us. No, our God offers grace, and endless second chances, and boundless love. Let us remember the good news of the gospel:
God’s grace is deeper than the ocean.
God’s love is wider than the sky.
We are seen. We are claimed. We are forgiven.
May this realization change us, renew us and inspire us. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Passing the Peace
Hymn: 204 Thou didst leave thy throne
Scripture:
Responsive Psalm 63: 1-8 p 899
Luke 13: 6-9 p 1620
Sermon: Between rest and growth
Last week we explored the need to spend time growing spiritually and to then use that growth to expand the works of faith in our lives. We learned that in order to thrive as servants in God’s kingdom we need to include both spiritual growth and service. It won’t always be balanced, but the going back and forth is that messy middle that we inhabit. At each end of the spectrum, we find the place that we need to be at that moment.
Today’s stop on the journey to Jerusalem shows us that we need to consider our needs for rest as well as growth. We need to realize that true rest is essential for growth. So we need to learn to navigate that messy middle that contains enough rest to foster growth, and enough growth to be wise about choosing to rest. The problem is that rest doesn’t always look like we think a faith-filled life looks like.
We all have our own idea about what a faith-filled life looks like. Sometimes we can start to believe that rest is counter to who we are called to be. That is especially true in the church.
When I was on the journey to burn-out I started looking for ways to have more balance in my life. I entered a spiritual development course at VST for study leave. The instructor was an oblate in the order of St. Benedict. She taught about singing the Psalms, meditating on the Scriptures, the various forms of silent prayer and the need for retreat. One of the prayers that I learned there is still a big part of my life. It is one of the ways in which I retreat. And I have learned to make sure that I take time off every week. It is true that all work and no play inhibits our growth.
We have questions!
But what if we are only about the resting?
What if the focus on resting makes us unavailable to the people who need us?
On the other hand what if we are only available for others and never take time to rest?
What if our focus on doing nothing stops our growth?
What if our focus on service stops our growth?
There are a lot of things to be pondered here. And it starts with the balance between grace and judgement.
The vineyard owner wanted the tree cut down because it was a waste of space and soil. The gardener pled for an opportunity to work with the tree and see if it could become productive again.
We have 3 short verses that talk about what could be done, but don’t offer any answer if the tree was able to be saved. But because there is grace, there is hope.
That dichotomy of grace, hope and judgement is a part of the discussion that leads to Jesus telling the story about the fig tree.
The disciples are discussing some of the events of the moment. Galileans whom Pilate had killed. The 18 victims of the collapse of the tower of Siloam.
Jesus asked the disciples, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?” Luke 13: 2 NIV and later asked, those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—”do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?” Luke 13: 4 NIV
Sometimes we can get caught up in the belief that these kinds of events happen to those who were sinful and deserved it. The tendency to see fate or karma in these kinds of events can take us away from the real truth, which is that life is random. Jesus says to his followers, when he urges them to live in love for their neighbours, that God “causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong.” Matt 5: 25 NIV Good things come, bad things come, this is just life for everyone. Good things are not a sign of favour, and bad things are not a sign of judgement.
In response to the questions Jesus asked on the journey to Jerusalem, Jesus provided the answers for the disciples. “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13: 3 NIV
That is simply because the universal truth is that the wages for sin is death. Death is separation from God.
So these questions about judgment turn to the lesson for the day.
The parable of the fig tree explores the difference between judgment and grace. Grace is found in rest. This parable differentiates from that rest that is doing nothing, from the rest that can lead to growth.
You see there is a difference. Spending a week sleeping isn’t normal and it may solve the problem of exhaustion temporarily, but it does not solve the reason for the exhaustion. That requires rest that is restorative.
The gardener knows this. He pleads for mercy for the tree and asks only for 1 more year and if the help he gives the tree doesn’t change anything, then the owner can cut the tree down.
It is also important to note that sometimes grace doesn’t look very grace-filled. Sometimes grace can be painful.
The gardener speaks in terms of digging around the tree, breaking up the soil, applying some fertilizer, by which he means manure. I would imagine that this ministration also included pruning the branches to thin the tree and make it better equipped to bear fruit.
Let us also notice that the tree does none of this work. It is all on the gardener to figure out what the tree needs and to apply it. The tree merely needs to submit.
Then, once submitted, the tree only needs to rest and drink in the care being given to it. To drink deeply of the soup of manure and water. To stretch its limbs out to the warmth of the sun when they are no longer encumbered with too many other branches. And then the tree waits for a year. As do the owner and the gardener.
True rest means being in the Lord.
True rest means letting all the other distractions of life go.
True rest means trusting the gardener.
True rest means trusting the grace, even if it doesn’t feel like what we think grace should be.
In this whole process we can see that God is patient. We are so often impatient. We have bought into the work ethic of this world, which teaches us that we must always be productive. The truth is that we were not made to live like that.
In fact, the Sabbath was made for us. Sabbath rest and worship is not an obligation—it is a gift that God gives to us. Sabbath rest is time for us to reconnect with God and creation. We feel the quiet peace among the whispering leaves. We feel the power of God in the stormy waves crashing onto the beach. We feel the refreshing grace in the gentle breeze. We worship and we rest. And then we trust that God will feed us and restore us in the process.
What are the signs in this parable that in the rest God is taking care of us?
We have already seen that the tree does nothing other than submit to the gardener.
The gift of grace is in the words of the gardener who says to the owner, “leave it alone”. The word used is “aphes” and it comes from the same root as the word forgiveness.
What this parable is about is the judgement of grace, where forgiveness and some judicially applied manure, causes us to grow. It happens in the Sabbath rest that is given to all of us.
That doesn’t mean that our Sabbath rest is always going to bring growth. We always live in the area between rest and growth. It is up to us to find the perfect balance in the messy middle. The weekly Sabbath worship and rest are a part of the multiple opportunities God gives us to learn, let go, be better and choose again and again to follow where God leads.
To follow means to repent. It means to repent in all the beauty and richness that God intends.
We may know the Greek word, “Metanoia” which means a change of mind or heart. The word in Hebrew is “shuv” which means to return or go back home.
We change our heart.
We go home.
We learn that our heart and our home is God.
Take a moment to let that sink in. Our heart and our home is God.
This is what Sabbath rest helps us find, our heart and our home firmly rooted in God.
Our roots were able to grow and be firmly rooted because the soil has been dug up and loosened and the water and manure has fed us.
Some weeks we see no growth. Some weeks we see some growth. But the real story comes in a year…when we say I am not the same person that I was a year ago.
That weekly submission to God makes our growth possible. With patience and mercy God has worked on our roots, our hearts and our minds so that we are able to grow and bear fruit.
This is a parable about judgement and grace. We are meant to take note that when we rest, it is more than just a stopping of activity, but instead a rest that brings us into the repentance that leads to joy. It is a rest that brings us into the presence of God.
As we have taken this journey to Jerusalem, we have seen many encounters that Jesus had with others on the road. And yet, we have not learned how any of these encounters bore fruit. We have never heard the end of the story. Do we recall the reporter Paul Harvey whose specialty was to tell “the rest of the story.” We are always seeking to hear how the story ends.
No one is going to tell us the end of these stories. But we will write the ending. We will live out the end of the story because it will be seen in our lives. It will be seen in the ways in which we rest and honour the Sabbath. It will be seen in the ways in which we submit ourselves to the hand of God.
And it will be seen in our growth and the fruit that we bear.
Maybe a handful of figs this year. Maybe a few quarts of figs nest year. Maybe in a few years a bushel of figs.
The continued growth comes as we repeat the whole process of rest and submission to God. We participate in true rest when we ensure that we keep prioritizing “resting in God”.
True rest does not come with an agenda. We don’t rest in God in order to grow. We rest in God in order to enjoy God. We rest in God because he is our heart and our home.
And then, as we rest in God, God ministers to us. Then the side benefit of this resting is our growth. The process never ends, until that one day in glory when we receive our crown and hear the words, well done good and faithful servant. That will be when we know the rest of the story.
Amen
Affirmation of Faith
We believe in a Christ who teaches, sees, affirms, We believe in a God who loves and tends to us like a gardener. We believe that like the trees, some seasons are for growth, and some seasons are for rest. Some days require pruning, and some require planting.
Fortunately, we believe that our green-thumbed God sees us and cultivates the sweetest fruit.
So may we plant roots, reach for the sky, grow where we can, and rest when we need, for we believe there is holiness in the pruning and in the planting. And we do not grow alone. Thanks be to God, amen.
Hymn: 626 Lord of all power
Offering and Doxology 830
Offertory Prayer
Marked by a cross, cherished and forgiven, we come to bring you the gifts of love.
Called to be holy, called to be merciful, we bring you the gifts of love.
God in our hearts, God in our lives, in gratitude for your grace, your renewal and your love, we share with you now these gifts of love. May your blessing be upon them, that through our giving and our living, we may bring your grace and restoration into the world.
Amen
Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
O God, you are love. You gave us your word. You gave us Jesus who
walked a painful road to the Cross. On the journey he shared with us your living water, the bread of life, and the grace of salvation. We need nothing more from you; and yet you give so much more.
Today we are grateful for the opportunities you give us to re-root ourselves in you, to grow more fruitful in you and to live so that your love flows through us and into the world.
We bring you our prayers..
FIRST WITH JOY
We know your love. It is a seed sown in the ground, which germinates, blossoms, and bears fruit worthy of repentance.
The installation of the elevator starts tomorrow.
CONCERNS
WORLD
Broken cease fire Russian/Ukraine
Broken cease fire Gaza/Israel, Lebanon/Israel. Peace in Jerusalem and Middle East with justice for all
O God we are yours. Put us to what you will, put us to doing, let us be employed for you and be exalted in you let me be We freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are ours and we are yours. And the covenant of grace you make for us here on earth, let it flood out of our lives. We bring all our prayers to you in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray saying, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen
Hymn: 638 Take time to be holy
Benediction
As you leave this place, may you find God in every messy middle.
May you know that the world is bigger than two sides. May you trust that you are made in the image of God, and therefore, you contain multitudes.
So may you move through this world with an open heart, with a curious mind, and with the confidence that you do not go alone. God is with you in the garden and the orchards, God is with you in the resting and the growing.
Believe that good news, and go in peace.
Blessing Song: 646 Lead me Jesus I will follow
Lead me Jesus I will follow, down the dusty pathway all along the sea
Teach me Jesus to be loving your disciple I will be x2
3-Fold Amen