Planted by the Water
First Congregational Church of Evanston
Sept 9, 2007 (Rally Day Sunday)
Psalm 1
Rev. Dr James E. Roghair, Interim Minister
Why are you here?
What a good day! Tents! Games! The street blocked off. Kids meeting new Sunday School teachers.
What brought you here this morning? It is still summer, the lakes and the waterparks still beckon. What is special about this day or this place that here in the midst of summer, we declare the beginning of a new fall schedule for the church? We have labeled it homecoming in the bulletin. We have advertised it as Rally Day sponsored by the Christian Education and Spiritual Nurture Team.
But why are you here? And why have you parents brought all these children to be a part of the Sunday School? What is important enough to bring you here?
And under your breath, perhaps at least one of you says: “Yeah, that’s just what I was thinking! Why?” Ponder that question with me for a few moments: Why are we here?
Psalm 1 is basic
I chose for us to read Psalm 1 this morning, it is an alternate for this day in the lectionary readings. But there is something basic about Psalm 1, a good place to start perhaps. It got put at the very top of the Hebrew book of worship for some reason. Does it perhaps set the tone for a worshiping community and for its tradition? What answer will this Psalm will give to the questions of why we come and why we bring our children?
The Psalmist compared human relationships to the things of God, to the relationship of a tree to water. “Happy are those...who delight in the law [or the teachings] of the Lord [God] ... [they] meditate [on the teachings] day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither (Psalm 1:1-3).”
Perhaps you come into the church on a beautiful summer day because you know somewhere deep within you that you need to stay rooted in that water of life – that font of meaning. We might find it hard to pin down exactly what we’re looking for or what we do find. But is it not that source of nutrition – that water of life that we are looking for when we come to church and when we bring our children?
Later in the service we will sing a favorite hymn written, 100 years ago which expresses this source of life in another way. It says, “Joyful, joyful we adore thee, God of Glory Lord of love; hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above.”
We come away from the nourishing heat of the sun and the refreshing moisture of the lakefront, because we recognize that there is other water that nourishes our souls and there is other sun that gives us light. We are like flowers opening before the sun of God or like trees rooted in the teachings of God.
Oases in the desert
In the Middle East where the Bible originated, there is much desert. Someone who had experience of the desert said:
From a vantage point high above the desert, one can readily see where there is water. Look for the trees! Spotted in the dry vastness of brown, there will be clusters of green at an oasis or ribbons of green following the course of a river. The trees thrive in the wilderness because their roots search out and find the water by which they remain rooted. Not all the water is visible on the surface of the ground. Much of it remains hidden underneath; yet, it is there nonetheless. The tree trusts to find it by sending its roots hopefully even through the parched places. (Emphasis Feb 15, 2004)
Psalm 1 speaks of a spiritual oasis in the desert. It envisions the study of God’s Torah as that oasis where life is nurtured. I wonder if the Sunday School is as an oasis? If this church is an oasis?
Surely we look out at the world in which our children will grow up, and it is a desert. Where are the values on which to stand? Will children find values worthy of their loyalty on the television or in the news media? Will they find worthy values in the schools they attend or the theme parks that attract their attention? They are more likely to see the questionable antics of people who are not very well rooted themselves! It is a desert out there!
The Church and our Sunday School reflect the spiritual oasis that is one of God’s gifts to us. And so we will seek to make sure we are well-rooted – deeply rooted in that spiritual oasis that gives us hope.
Is there some imaginary place up there, where one could look down on the Church and all of its people – all that the Church is and all that it tries to be – and from that point of view we could see just what an oasis the Church is for the desert we live in?
If that vision of the oasis is true – even if it is partly true – maybe that is why you are here. And that is why people bring their children for the beginning of Sunday School this morning. And this is the oasis. And we are trees planted by the water, and we are flowers blooming before the sun of Love. God has given us the gift to be so planted. We have no other choice.
21st Century Christians
We are 21st Century Mainline Protestants. Many people in what is called Evangelical Christianity – which has gotten the attention of the media and gained much political strength recently believe that we Mainline Protestants have lost our way. They think that rather than being oases in the desert, our churches are fossils of a previous era. That the traditions we follow will not carry us forward. That we are a dying breed and that one day the last Congregationalist will walk out of this church, and turn out the lights, and it will be over.
What do you think? How well rooted do you think we are? I happen to believe that God is not finished with this Churche yet. The voice of God still speaks here. We have been encouraging you to read Diana Butler Bass’s Christianity for the Rest of Us. And there are still a few copies of the book in the narthex for purchase of to borrow. We will be talking specifically about some of these things after worship on September 30. Take a look at some of the things that we are rooted in – the tradition, diversity, community.
Ms. Bass has studied and written the stories of a number of thriving Mainline Protestant Churches. These churches have worked hard to be faithful, but they are thriving as oases in the desert because they have remained deeply rooted in the tradition and the practice and the wisdom that comes from seriously understanding themselves as people of God.
Paul Nixon’s book I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church, is another which offers a number of challenging choices for a church, such as: Choosing life over death and choosing community over isolation. There may be a copy or two of it to purchase or to borrow, as well.
Conclusion
All of this reading and talking and thinking together is to reinforce the very reason that we find ourselves drawn to the church – to ensure that we indeed really are the oasis that God has called us to be – a place where children are nurtured.
This movement from death to life, this rootedness in God’s water, this reflection of God’s sun above – this is what has drawn each of you into the fold of the church. May God strengthen your life together, that your roots will go deep into the truth and value that God offers and your Church will thrive.
Amen.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008