Sow your seed in the Spirit

Beloved of God,

    I don’t know at what age I started to become someone surprised by the rapid passage of time. I have lived every day of June, but I still find myself caught off guard that it is over. I hope you are finding time for rest and recreation this Summer and enjoying the gift of rain as much as I am. 
    Please be praying for our youth this Saturday as they participate in the 30-hour Famine. As they fast they will be taking up tasks around the church, including a car wash. If your vehicle needs a little scrub-down, keep your eyes peeled for some great young folks in our lot willing to do just that.
    On Tuesday at 10:00 AM we will be gathering to give thanks to God for our Friend and Brother Terry Hawkins. Terry was a deacon, a teacher, and a beloved member of our family, but he was also someone who did important work quietly and faithfully. As such, there is likely to be a significant presence joining us Tuesday, and you can help us prepare for those folks by letting us know if you plan to attend. Please email April to RSVP.

    Our Scripture reading this week is from Galatians 6:1-16. At the end of Paul’s letters, there was often a section on behavior and discipline. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul uses agriculture as a controlling metaphor to help him do this. Last week we read about the Fruits of the Spirit, which we often think of as the fruit above.

It’s cute! It’s memorable! But if we stop there we won’t recognize that Paul continues to use agriculture as a metaphor right into Galatians 6. 

Gal. 6:7   Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

The fruit we read of in Galatians 5 is always a result of how and where we sow. The life of discipleship isn’t like sitting around eating fruit. It’s more like the work of planting in the right place, tending the field well, keeping at it, and not giving up. We must not grow weary in doing good, just like a faithful farmer doesn’t abandon his fields before a crop comes in. Sow your seed in the Spirit, the new and beautiful part of you that’s alive in Christ. Don’t tend fields in the worst part of who you are; the part you’ll leave behind in a new creation. Be patient. Be faithful. And in time you will be fruitful.

Please join me this week in praying for:

• An end to this pandemic.
• Protection for those among us who are traveling.
• Those recovering from illness or medical procedure.
• Young people in our community, especially those in our congregation who we are called to steward.
• Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level
• Those who respond to emergencies on our highways, in our wildlands, in our communities, and even in our homes.
• Those among us who are facing big decisions, big changes, and big moments.
• Each other! (please email [email protected] if you’d like to be added to our prayer list)

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,


Marshall

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