How do we experience Jesus? How is it that we can be close to Jesus? Does it take a trip to the holy land to feel close to Jesus? Or front row seats at a favorite Christian rock group concert? In the earliest centuries of the church Christians did not make pilgrimages to Nazareth or Jerusalem, because they understood that in the Lord’s Supper they are taken to Nazareth, they are taken to Jesus.
We experience Jesus as we hear His Word and wait on his Word. If we are looking for an experience that requires we find some feeling locked within ourselves, then we may be seeking something other than the Lord. “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” Psalm 62:1
We experience Jesus as we hold onto His promises and his promises alone. The Collect Prayer talks about how the scriptures were written for our learning. As we immerse ourselves in the scripture- as we read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the scriptures we are put in a position to embrace and ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life.
This is the focus of our faith, to embrace and hold fast the hope we have in Jesus. Our focus is not to look like we are good people in God’s eyes or our parents eyes. Nor is our focus to make ourselves feel more righteous than our neighbor or to sit in judgement toward other family members or friends. No the purpose of our faith is to embrace and hold fast Jesus.
And what difference does it make if we embrace and hold fast Jesus in our life on a regular basis? What changes in our life? Is it that important to be in church every Sunday? What if we just keep to ourselves for a while, or maybe a year?
In churches all over our nation there are people who previously attended church as part of their life- and then after a period of time of staying home from the initial scare of Covid, after all the details came together about vaccines and what are and what are not realistic dangers, they decided they are not coming back.
Perhaps staying home proved to be a more attractive focus in life? Or perhaps people just asked, what is the point? Do I really need to go to church to have Jesus in my life- if having Jesus in his life is in fact a priority.
What difference does it make? Why should we as the church gather? We could all just be cultural Christians who may come for a Christmas Eve service once every few years- if there is not too much going on with family visits. What difference does it make that we are here on a Sunday morning in June- during a warm weather, lazy summer weekend?
Notice the contrast described in Psalm 1 between those who delight in God’s Word and those who do not. The contrast is between those who are wicked and those who are righteous. There is no in between. Not even close.
Without the faith to look to Christ and hold Christ up as our shield of righteousness- we would not be neutral or indifferent about spiritual matters, we would walk in the counsel and teaching of the wicked- as in we would walk alongside unbelievers and listen to their counsel.
We might consider other perspectives outside of God’s Word, perhaps convince ourselves that there is a middle ground that can be followed where you can please God and still fit in with a certain compassion toward where the people in the world are today.
With enough exposure to views that contradict God’s Word we can find ourselves standing right there in approval of the ways of the fallen world. We might think we are still following God’s law, but there may suddenly be exceptions and clauses to the rules. Choices in life where God’s Word is left on the shelf.
Finally with enough time of meditating on the word of man, we could find ourselves sitting in the seat of scoffers- despising the order and of God’s creation, and mocking the love of Jesus shown to us on the cross by saying it is not enough for the salvation of the world.
Blessed are we as we do not walk in the wisdom of man, but delight in the law of the LORD, and meditate on his law day and night. Day and night, the prayer to start the day and the prayers at close of day give us a routine to meditate on God’s Word. As we face both set backs and periods of gratefulness in our day, we can meditate on God’s steadfast love for us, and our respective vocations to love and serve in the world.
How do we meditate on God’s Word. In Psalm 1 the Hebrew word can mean to murmur, as in to speak softly and repeat, and it can also mean to muse on the word as in amusing ourselves with the Word- to become preoccupied with the Word and ponder it as a source of pleasure.
Day by day as we delight in the Word, we do not always see immediate results, but we see results in due season. We are supplied with everything we need in God’s Word, we are near to Jesus the living water who invites us to come and drink.
Like a tree planted by streams of water we will not wither no matter how intense the sun should beat down on us, no matter how intense the counsel of the wicked is shouting around us,
we have Christ’s righteousness which helps ensure that all that we do prospers. Through the new life we have in Christ we can see our lives gradually transform from selfish and self centered to filled with God’s love so much that we are sacrificing for and giving to others.
In our gospel reading the kingdom of God is described in terms of the power of God’s Word. Just like in Psalm 1 there is an image of plants growing, this time as a result of seeds scattered on the ground. The wheat grows step by step regardless of what a farmer does to it. Although the steps of how the seeds turn into a plant are not fully understood, the farmer knows exactly what to do when the grain is ripe- at once he puts it to the sickle. When the wheat is mature it is time to harvest, that is the most important thing to know for a farmer.
We are the seeds, and the Father is the one who harvests. Through God’s Word sown in our hearts we are nurtured and we grow. With God’s Word sown in our lives we are noticeably different. We are the ones who chosen by God to bear fruit for the kingdom, and through the righteousness of Christ we are no longer destined for destruction like chaff that the wind blows away.
The Father sows God’s Word in us so that we grow in a way that allows us to endure temptations and trials through the power of Jesus. The purpose of all of the time we spend meditating on God’s Word is not so that we can boast, but so that we may be harvested by the Father as those who put all of their faith and trust in Jesus and are washed clean by the blood of Christ.
We may start off small- you may even feel small and insignificant now, as if your faith makes little difference to others or even your own life, but God’s Word is working in you. And just like after a good rain garden plants can seem to grow up overnight- one sermon you listen to can help you spring up in growth of faith. One scripture verse you meditate on (or confirmands learn and memorize) can help you to flourish with the gifts of the Spirit.
Through the Holy Spirit’s gift of repentance one quiet hour of study of scripture can get you back on course if you should find yourself going astray, and your faith can grow like a mustard seed. One reception of the Lord’s Supper and a sin that weighs you down can be lifted, never to hold you back again.
Just like Mustard trees and Cedar and palm tress and all of the plants mentioned in our readings today, we as created beings age. Aging effects all of our bodies year by year we are getting older and more frail. We might even say that what we are capable of steadily decreases with age.
However, this decrease with time is not the case with our faith. Sure, a voice may get older and you can no longer sing in the choir, or no longer climb a ladder to help paint hard to reach areas, and even the ability to memorize and remember passages of scripture can decrease with age.
But our faith never needs to decrease. We are being made more and more like Jesus day by day. This is how our faith is like the mustard seed- starts out small and grows to the point where birds of the air can make nests in its shade. We are all hear to grow as part of God’s kingdom. You all belong here, because the Holy Spirit has called you by the gospel to be part of the Nobel and great Cedar on the mountain top of Israel, our Lord’s Church. Amen.