Psalm 80:7-15
Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted.
You may be like Jack today. Jack is discouraged. He is broke and lonely. One day his luck changes for the better. A fairy gives a penitent a hatful of magic beans. Jack soon passes by with the family's bouncy bovine, which he trades for the beans. Back home, Jack's mother throws the beans into the middle of the garden in disgust. That night, as Jack sleeps, the fairy causes the beanstalk to grow, visits Jack's room, and sends him sweet dreams. When he awakens, he sees the beanstalk and climbs toward the sky as his mother, friends, and villagers cheer him on. At the top of the beanstalk, the fairy again guides him to the home of a wealthy giant, whose maid hides Jack. As the giant sleeps, Jack steals gold and a magic fowl; the giant wakes, grabs his cudgel, and gives chase. Jack escapes from the giant and cuts down the vine. He takes home the gold and marries his beloved and is rich and happy for the rest of his days.
Jack in the Beanstalk is a fairy tale. Vines don't really grow up into the sky overnight. But that's the way we remember the past sometimes. Like the Psalmist in our text today who remembers the good old days and says to God:
You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;
it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
The psalmist recalls a time of expansive growth in Israel's past. The people had just come into the promised land and were growing like the vine in Jack in the Beanstalk fair tale, taking over the land. Israel, God's vine, experienced fairy tale like growth. But as the psalmist notes, that was then and this is now and now the growth now is slim to none and slim left town last week.
So the psalmist laments:
Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted.
We can relate to the disappointment of the psalmist. Times are hard. Unemployment is up. The economy is down. Growth seems elusive. Some of us are old enough to recall a time of dramatic growth in our churches back in the 1950s and 60s. Since then church membership has steadily declined all across the United States. We cry out with the psalmist, "Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted."
Discouragement is the problem we must address in a time of economic recession and religious decline. In these hard times be careful how you use your time. Isn't this ironic? Despite time-saving devices like email or online shopping, most Americans say they're spending less time with their loved ones these days. This comes from a poll administered by USA Today on how people manage their time. This poll was originally done 23 years ago and was updated in 2008. They tested more than 2,000 people in a web based survey. They found that the majority of Americans feel very busy. 92% say I'm somewhat to very busy. One one hand they say we're happy, we're healthy, BUT we're busier than ever. Last year was busier than the previous year. People say "I wish I was less busy." And they spend an enormous amount of time and money on time saving devices and nothing makes a difference.
You've got to take time for yourself to maintain your strength. Exercise your body and refresh you soul by taking a sabbath day of rest every 7 days. Our bodies and our souls need time for rest and reflection when we are hid away with God and allow God's face to shine upon us. A vine needs sunlight to live, and we need God-light to live. To deny ourselves what we need in order to survive would be suicidal. Develop the self-discipline to give yourself time off every week. We need the rest because real vine growing requires patience. Unlike in fairy tales, vines do not spring up overnight in real life.
Sometimes you may feel like you are not growing at all. Sometimes you may feel like your vine has been cut back. Perhaps a spouse has died and you feel like your heart has been cut out of your chest. Or a relationship has ended. A job has been lost. You may feel like God has cut back your vine. God may cut us back sometimes like a good gardener cuts back on a vine. This is how God prepares us for further growth. It is called pruning. We experience it as painful, as damaging, but sometimes it's the best thing that can happen to us.
You see, God is responsible for the growth of the vine and God is an active gardener in our lives. Our job as God's vine is to take root and grow in the light of God's care. Sometimes your spiritual growth seems to come as fast as the fairy tale vine in Jack and the Beanstalk. Other times you can't even tell you have a spiritual life. God is present in your life both in times of dramatic growth and in times of pruning and cut backs.
You may be familiar with the famous marshmallow study conducted by Dr. Zimbardo and a colleague at Stanford University. A group of four year olds were given one marshmallow and told they were allowed to eat it immediately. They were told if they could wait to eat the marshmallow after being left alone with it for awhile then they would be given an extra marshmallow to eat. Most eat the marshmallow as soon as they are left alone with it but some other children are able to resist temptation. Those children who ate the marshmallow right away are considered to be oriented toward the present. Those who resist the temptation have an orientation toward the future. When the children were interviewed years later when they were 18 years old, there were amazing differences between the children who were able to delay gratification and those children who couldn't resist the immediate.
The present oriented children tested as being moody, over reacts to frustration, indecisive, prone to jealousy and envy.
The future oriented children scored 250 points higher on the SAT. They were described as cooperative, works well under pressure, self-reliant and confident.
The marshmallow experiment is a classic study of how a person's ability to delay gratification even at the age of 4 can predict many significant future outcomes. The experiment and its implications are described in Philip Zimbardo's book The Time Paradox. There he describes what this experiment has to do with you. Your own relationship to time plays a significant role in your personal happiness. Whether you are looking for a better understanding of the world at large, from religion to politics to business or want a better understanding of yourself, The Time Paradox teaches you how to recognize your own attitude toward time and how your everyday decisions are influenced by your personal time orientation. It will help you overcome the hidden mental biases that keep you too attached to the past, unhealthily obsessed with future goals, or too focused on immediate gratification. You can improve your personal success, happiness and psychological health. The Time Paradox will show you how. It's only a matter of time. Making time work for you.
Timing is everything in the church as in life. Let's not lose ourselves in the past as we fantasize about a Jack in the Beanstalk fairy tale of the vine that grew up to the sky overnight. Let's not foster an unhealthily obsession with future goals by always being disappointed that the church is not yet all that is could be or will be. And let's not get too focused on immediate gratification like the four year child who would rather eat one marshmallow now than have two marshmallows later.
The benefits of future orientation also apply to gardening. We have witnessed the resurgence of home and community gardening but they are also discovering that gardening can be a lot of work. Weeding may quickly evolve into a full time taking the fun out of gardening.
Enter Slow Gardening. Inspired by Slow Food, an international movement that promotes local food systems and biological and cultural diversity, the slow-gardening approach can help us enjoy our garden more by taking more of a future orientation to the project.
Gardending expert, Felder Rushing, offers a practical yet philosophical approach to gardening that will help you slow down, evaluate your yard, and follow your own fancy in creating and maintaing a garden. His book, Slow Gardening, will inspire you to rest in the rhythm of the seasons and take more joy from your garden. The future orientation of waiting for the desired outcome - like waiting for that second marshmallow - is what makes this work.
In a similar fashion, God is slow gardening God's people, the church. Perhaps God is now pruning God's church for future growth. I know St. John's is growing down in the roots of prayer because we do have some prayer warriors in this congregation. Such prayer fertilizes the root system of this vine called St. John's Presbyterian Church. Prayer provides the spiritual nourishment we need for further growth. Pray for this church. Do not be discouraged by what you see. God has not forsaken us. God is with us still. You have been praying for this church and have gotten discouraged. You have forgotten that God is the sun and the soil in which we are planted. Therefore, our growth is assured. Often spiritual growth occurs in secret, down under the soil where the roots grow. We are growing strong roots here in this church. Be encouraged. God is still gardening here.
As in the church, so in your life, your spiritual growth may be so deep down in the roots of your life that you see no evidence of anything growing inside. Even so, God is still gardening in your life and in this church. God may be pruning us now for future growth. How shall we respond in the meantime? What is a healthy attitude toward time? Celebrate the past. Anticipate the future. Focus on the present moment which is the only time we ever really have. The Prophet Isaiah put it well: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31) Teach me, Lord -- teach us, Lord -- to wait.
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The Rev. Dr. Jonathan L. Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church, 5020 West Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035 on October 2, 2011.
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