On Being God's Gardener

            Although I intend to follow the lectionary for most of the Sunday’s during Lent, I’m going to break away from the lectionary in order to focus my sermon time on an important announcement that was shared with the Meriden UM community this week.  The announcement was that I have agreed to accept an appointment to become the next pastor at Christ UMC in Lincoln, Nebraska, effective July 1st—and a new pastor will be appointed to follow me here at Meriden UMC.

            In view of this completely unexpected development, I’ve decided that we would be better served if I preached on 1 Corinthians 3:  4-11.  Two key verses from this passage are vv. 5-6:

 “What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” 

            Whenever we approach a passage from Paul’s First Letter to Corinthians, it’s a good idea to begin with the question, “What’s the conflict this time?”  As the first Christian missionary, the Apostle Paul established a church in the City of Corinth, which at the time was the capitol of Achaia.  After he was certain that the fledging congregation was well established, Paul traveled on to other areas, to spread the Gospel and establish new churches in those places as well.  As he traveled, Paul received updates about how things were going in Corinth, as well as in other cities where he had started churches.

            The news from the church in Corinth was usually bad.  Those Corinthian Christians were always in conflict with one another, about one thing or another.  In chapter 3, Paul addresses one of those controversies.  This particular controversy involves competing allegiances to two pastors.  The first pastor was Paul, himself, who began the church during his missionary journeys.  The second pastor was Apollos, who was a Christian Jew originally from the Egyptian city of Alexandria.  After Paul left Corinth to continue his missionary journeys, Apollos had come to Corinth for a time, preaching and teaching. 

            Difficulties arose within the church of Corinth, when some Christians began to say that they were disciples of Paul, while others who opposed them claimed to be followers of Apollos.  This led to an escalating division within the church.  In order to heal this division, Paul addresses the controversy in his letter.  

            Paul begins by appealing to the metaphor of a gardener.  Since Paul was there first, he claims for himself the role of planting the garden, which represents the church in Corinth.  Yet, recognizing the important role played by Apollos, Paul writes that Apollos watered the young plants which he had planted.  Then, he concludes the metaphor by writing, “For we [Paul and Apollos] are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (v. 9)

            At this point, Paul switches to the metaphor of a building. In verse 10, he writes, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else [Apollos] is building on it.”

            I really appreciate Paul’s two metaphors when thinking about pastoral transitions in a 21st century church.  I believe that pastoral ministry is fundamentally about helping people make connections with the divine, with other persons, and with Creation.  Helping people make connections is a slow process.  Ordained clergy are frequently planting seeds which will not fully mature and produce fruit until after was have moved on.  So, for the nearly four years that I have served as pastor at Meriden UMC, I have tried to water the seeds and young plants which my predecessors have planted—and, I have planted some seeds of my own.  Or, following Paul’s metaphor switch, I have built upon the foundation laid by those who came before me as pastors of this community of faith. 

That is, I have been “Apollos” to my predecessors’ “Paul.”  In a few months, a new pastor will come to Meriden and become an “Apollos” to my “Paul.”  This is the same dynamic that has played out over and over and over in Christian churches down through the ages, since Paul and Apollos in the first Christian churches.

Perhaps ordained clergy get way too much credit when our churches are doing well—and perhaps way too much blame when things are not going well.  As Paul observes while talking about Apollos, “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (verse 7)  Ultimately, it is God who powers our ministry and helps them be successful.  Whether it is ordained or lay, ministry is always about opening ourselves to become channels through which God’s love, power, and healing can flow, as God chooses.

 Come, join us this Sunday, March 8th, as we explore further what it means to become a channel through which God’s love, power, and healing can flow.  Our church is located at the corner of Main and Dawson Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  Our classic worship service starts at 10 am on Sunday mornings. 

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.