Rev. George
Miller
Feb 7, 2021
Luke 6:1-5
Today’s scripture is one we travel
through gently. If used irresponsibly,
it treads upon those whose expression of faith is different from ours.
We are here today not to
harm, but to illuminate, to heal, to experience God.
What, if anything, can today’s
scripture say about the God we worship, the God we call Abba, Father, Parent?
Is God like the Pharisees- looking
with judgement to see if we follow every life-giving law to a “T.”
Is God like Jesus and the disciples,
traveling from seashore to mountaintop, sanctuary to city?
Is God like the grain of the
field?
Is God like the grain…
In “The Message”, Eugene Peterson
tells this story with an extra word. The
word he uses is “ripe.”
In Eugene Peterson’s telling
of today’s story, it’s just not any old grainfield Jesus is traveling through,
it is a ripe grainfield.
Ripe.
Meaning abundant.
At its peak.
Ready to be picked.
Ready to be fully
experienced.
Think about it.
What is our faith about?
What is it that Jesus tried
to teach us?
What is it Paul so often
wrote about?
Was it about earning God’s
love…or was it about experiencing and receiving God’s love?
Did those at the shore have
to prove their worth to Jesus in order for him to get into that boat are preach?
Did the widow outside the
gates of Nain have to pass some kind of test?
No. All they had to do was be present, vulnerable,
and willing to receive.
Could it really be that
simple?
Could God really be that kind?
Could the Lord be so
generous with God’s grace that God is not looking for such absolute strict
adherence that you starve?
That God is not limiting of
where and when you can experience the Lord?
That God is not toying with
us, placing us in empty plots just to watch us fail?
Could it be that Jesus came
to show us just how to experience and welcome God’s ripe, abundant love?
Could part of the Jesus
experience be as simple as this-
If you are in a field full
of the color purple- marvel in it.
If you are in a field full
of grain- taste and see how good it is.
If you are in a field as the
cool breeze of the afternoon blows by, enjoy the wind as it lifts your hair and
plays with your senses.
And afterwards…say “thank
you.”
Thank you God for what you
have created.
Thank you God for what you
provide.
Thank you God for how you
play.
Right now we are living in a
culture with so many rules and so many images of scarcity.
Don’t go there. Don’t touch that.
Wear your mask, but make
sure it covers your nose!
Wash your hands, but not too
much otherwise they’ll become chapped!
We have vaccines; but we don’t
have enough. You’re on the list; but you’re
number 777!
But today, at this moment,
let us take a moment to breathe out all that stuff…
…and then breathe in all the
goodness that comes from God-
-the freedom
-the abundance
-the love.
To proclaim, and to believe-
That God is free.
God is ripe with abundance.
God is ripe with love for all
of us.
God is ripe with grace and
mercy.
God is ripe with new beginnings.
God is a field that is rich
with the color purple, more than enough food to go around, and cool breezes to
move through our soul.
God is ready to give. Are we ready to receive? Are we ready to experience?
For that, let us say “Amen.”
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