Overwintering Your Faith
Ephesians 3: 14-21
I have never considered myself a very capable gardener. When I was young, my main responsibility outside the house and in the yard was weeding! We had a large rock garden, which was arranged on a steep slope in front of our house, and to me it was tedious work that had no point. My parents appreciated my work and the weeding, but I never had a sense that I had created or nurtured the garden.
After I was married and had two daughters, Eddie and I bought our first house. Eddie (of course) took care of the outside of the house, while I took care of the inside of the house, except when I tried my hand at planting some flowers. I was just planting and still never considered myself a gardener. These occasional attempts at sowing the soil were mostly limited to the planting of yellow marigolds that sometimes flourished, and many other times did not. Once I got them in the ground, I didn’t pay too much attention to them.
When we moved to our current house, I tried to do a better job and pay a little more attention to my gardening. I tried planting some perennials. A couple of years ago Linda and Larry Fisher brought over some Daylilies from their yard, which were successfully transplanted into our yard. I learned that there was very little you could do to harm Daylilies. They are hardy plants and have multiplied and survived. I continued to plant some annuals, trying them here and there, although a few summers I never got anything in the ground. There is a triangle of sandy soil in front of our house which has been an ongoing challenge. Through all of these attempts I never considered myself a gardener, never tried to learn more about gardening - until someone showed me.
This past spring, when Eddie was beginning his radiation and chemotherapy treatments, Donna Horvath came over and helped me discover my inner gardener. Donna is a very dedicated gardener and has spent a good 24 hours out in her yard. In early May she came over to scope out our yard. I followed her around as she looked at the soil, the sun and the shade. We talked about the changing angle of the sun throughout the summer, types of soil, container planting, watering, and fertilizing. We talked about the importance of weeding and deadheading, and then the varieties of flowers. Later on we planted pansies, snapdragons, licorice vines, impatiens, and only a couple of marigolds, which I put in containers inside the pool area. We transplanted Black Eyed Susan’s and purchased a good number of geraniums, which were also planted in containers. Donna told me that we would be able to “overwinter” the geraniums and use them again next year.
Although I could guess what she meant, I did have to ask her for the definition. A plant that is “overwintered” is cared for in a way to ensure that it will survive harsh winter conditions and temperatures. Sometimes “overwintering” means preparing a bush or a plant outside, mulching the ground, and covering it so that it will be protected, and will come to life again in the spring. In the case of the geraniums, Donna said that in the fall, sometime before the frost, I could bring the containers inside, put them in a sunny spot and nurture them along during the winter. I was skeptical - but she was confident. She thought that the two sunny windows here in my office, would be the perfect spot for overwintering the geraniums. And so in the late fall, since I had not lost any over the summer, I brought the geraniums up here to church and placed them in the sunshine, where I keep a good eye on them. Some are thriving, some look a little weak, but there have been no causalities yet. We will see if they live to see another day!
Since then I have been pondering the term “overwintering.” I have observed the growth and development of my geraniums, from the store to my yard and to the church. I have come to the conclusion that “overwintering” is a helpful metaphor for the care and growth of our faith. Just as something is overwintered and attentively cared for in a way to ensure that it will survive harsh conditions and thrive, so too is our faith. Our faith must be cared for in ways that will ensure that it not only will survive harsh conditions, but that it will thrive.
Overwintering can apply to insects, plants, birds, shrubs, and people who “overwinter” in Florida and return home in the spring. We must overwinter our faith to ensure that it is well rooted and established. At times we must pinch off some old growth, to make way for new shoots and blossoms. We must be intentional with our faith, and take time to nurture and nourish it by learning new things, trying new ways of worship, serving others and practicing our faith.
The Epistles, the letters in the New Testament were written to communities and people of faith, to encourage them to grow in their faith and to instruct them.
Paul, who is in prison, writes to the church in Ephesus with advice so that they may walk faithfully, and grow as new disciples of Jesus Christ. This section of Ephesians 3 contains two prayers for the followers. First Paul wants them to be well rooted, strong and filled up with the Holy Spirit. He wants Christ to dwell deeply in their hearts, individually and as a community. The first prayer is a prayer for inner strength, while the second prayer is for them to be firmly established in Christ’s love – a love that is wide, long, high and deep. It is through this love that one will have power and be filled.
Ephesians 3:
“ 14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom God’s whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of God’s glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
And then an expression of praise:
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”
Each one of us individually , and collectively as a community, need to be purposeful in building strength in our inner being and establishing our roots firmly in Jesus Christ. We do that by overwintering our faith so that we are prepared in season and out of season – for whatever conditions come our way. We overwinter our faith by practicing our faith. Not practicing as in pretending – but practicing as in doing something habitually.
We practice our faith in variety of ways. We must be intentional about our growth. A number of years ago we talked about six foundational practices of our faith. These disciplines were all Biblical and/or historical spiritual disciplines. They were a commitment to:
Pray Daily
Worship Weekly
Read the Bible
Serve at and beyond your local church.
Be in Relationship to encourage spiritual growth in others.
Give of your time, talent and resources.
Michael Foss, who developed this model which he called the Power Surge model, says that the marks of discipleship “focus our attention on the presence of God,” and “they are the wellsprings from which people of faith drink deeply of the Sprit and gain the wisdom, courage, and strength to be the world greatest lovers.” [1]
How do you practice these individually? Are they habits of your heart and life? How do we practice these as a community? Are they practices of our communal heart and life?
Do you pray daily? Worship weekly? Read the Bible? Serve God somewhere? Be in relationship with other disciples? Give of your time, talent and resources?
On Rally Day we began to emphasize the word of God spoken through the prophet Micah. We chose Micah’s words to guide us this church year. What does God require the people to do? What practices of our faith does God require from each of us?
God has shown us what is good.
And what does the LORD require of us?
To act justly and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
How do you practice these individually? Are they habits of your heart and life? How do we practice these as a community? Are they practices of our communal heart and life?
Acts of justice and service?
Loving kindly?
Walking in humility with God?
These are ways that we are required to practice our faith. Our faith will just vegetate without many blossoms if we don’t practice it. Our roots will rot if we do nothing to help them become established. Our faith will wither and wilt under harsh conditions.
My geraniums would not survive in the ground through the winter if I didn’t touch them. They wouldn’t survive if I brought them in my garage, or even just left them in a window. I have to take care of them and I have to be intentional about it. I expect them to survive and thrive because I have been shown the way to do it. I consider myself a gardener.
We are disciples of Christ. The Scriptures and the life and ministry of Jesus Christ show us the way to take care of our faith. When we do this, as Timothy says, we will “be prepared in season and out of season.” 2 Timothy 4:2.
We are at the beginning of New Year and soon we will be offering opportunities to pray, worship, read the Bible, serve, be in relationship, and give of our time, talent and treasure. We will try to bring justice to places and people struggling with deep needs. We will have many opportunities to be kind to one another, and to love one another. We will have celebratory and good times ahead in 2010, but we will also have times of sadness, sickness and loss ahead. Both are part of everyone’s future.
We will walk humbly with God. Having at attitude of humility reminds us that there is one God, and it is not us. With God we have, as we do with one another, an “I-Thou” relationship.
These are ways we can all grow in our faith in the New Year that is ahead. May we each take time and make a commitment to overwinter our faith.
Now to the one who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!
Amen
Rev. Deborah J. Blanchard
January 10, 2010
[1] Michael Foss, Power Surge, Six Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church, Augsburg Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN, © 2000. p. 84 & 88.
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