Sermon – 10-08-23 – Proper 22 – Cycle A
Scriptures: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:7-15; Philippians 3:12-14
Sermon Title: “What Happened to the Seed?”

“The seed is over here on the banner – “Because of You, our Church Changes Lives!”
The seed is in our “Behold” Neighbors-In-Need offering and our skit today.
The seed is in the CROP Walk this afternoon.
The seed is in your generosity toward the many collections we promote to help our neighbors near and far.
And . . . we just sang “You are the Seed..”
You, Kirk and George and David, have become the seed of witness.
Each of us is a seed because someone witnessed to us.
We are growing because we have been nurtured. We have been watered; we have been blessed with the sunlight from God and other people; we have received the necessary influences.
If we take time to assess our growth, do we find we are flourishing generously and abundantly? Or has our enthusiasm waned, has the glow diminshed?
I sense wonderful enthusiasm in our first year as one congregation. Smiles are abundant. We hear many voices of pleasantries, of messages from God through you, messages about administration, messages about spirituality. The seed is flourishing! Will the seed continue to flourish? Is there room for increased production of more seed? When we step from this building, what happens to our seed, what happens to the plant that we are becoming? What kind of plant are we, anyway?

This week someone reminded me – I know – it was Pastor Bob who shared the idea that we can count the seeds in an apple but we can’t possibly know how many more apples will grow from each seed in the apple we are eating. That is the purpose of our lives – to influence more and more people from the seed that God made us to be. We sang, “Go, my friends, go to the world, proclaim the great love of God.” We shall be like the fluff that carries seeds far and wide. Then again, we shall be like the rock that is Jesus – dependable, sturdy.

How can we be fluff and rock both? It is God who enables us to be the dandelion and the clover. It is God who enables us to face the people of the world with smiles of happiness and contentment. Is this a fake appearance? Sometimes our smiles are not genuine but we are in therapy for rehabilitation – not only of ourselves but of the worried, sad world. This past week I watched a person who is moving close to entrance into heaven, put a smile on her face when prompted by a daughter. That was amazing! Was that a real smile or a trained smile? Well, what matters is that for those of us who witnessed that smile, it was transforming! A smile!

“Be my friends, a loyal witness of the Christ who rose from the dead.” Alive! Hallelujah! Let us move forward with our Neighbors-In-Need “Behold” witness for a better physical world. Let us move forward with our making the world better by changing lives. The CROP Walk raises money to change people’s lives. By slowly increasing our giving in faith through our Faith Promises, and slowly, or suddenly, being moved by the Holy Spirit so that our congregation will keep the momentum to becoming a giant seed, ready to explode goodness and love into the world. Amen