11 Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!
(Psalm 97:11-12, NRSV)
Last year, in the earliest days of COVID-tide, I shared these words with you in the midst of my daily devotional:
As I headed toward the sanctuary to start our live-stream, I walked by a table in the center of the atrium, a table placed there by the volunteers of our Wesley Community Garden ministry. At last week’s garden ministry meeting, our volunteers began planting seeds — tomatoes, peppers, and more. We placed them in trays under the glass ceilings of our church atrium. At the moment, we’re using our atrium as a greenhouse.
When I walked through on Sunday morning (just four or five days after we planted those seeds), a tiny flash of green caught my eye. A few of the seeds had begun to sprout, tiny shoots pushing through the dirt and reaching up to the sun. …
It’s a powerful sign of hope… no matter how long this coronavirus crisis lasts, life will continue. God will continue to bring forth new life. It’s just what God does. And it’s what God’s people can do, too.
That was March 15, 2020 — exactly one year ago today.
And guess what, church? Just last week, members of our garden ministry once again gathered to plant seeds for our community garden. This year, we are once again using our atrium as a greenhouse. This Sunday morning, a flash of green once again caught my eye. At this moment, tiny shoots are once again pushing through the dirt and reaching up to the sun.
But perhaps they’re not the only seeds planted at the moment. I was reminded of another translation of today’s scripture — Eugene Peterson’s translation The Message:
11 Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people,
Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil.
12 So, God’s people, shout praise to GOD,
Give thanks to our Holy God!
(Psalm 97:11-12, The Message)
As the seeds in the atrium grow, may seeds of joy grow in you. Even in this desperately trying time, we continue to have reasons to be joyful. We’re still here. We still have breath in our bodies. We still have ways to gather. And we seem to have an end in sight.
In the meantime, plant some seeds.
After all:
Our God is bigger than coronavirus.
Our vision is bigger than coronavirus, too.
We are people blessing people.
We are Wesley Church.
Want to know more?
- Learn about our church and its ministries: https://wesleychurch.com/
- Make a gift to support our mission: https://wesleychurch.com/giving-2/
- View our recent messages: https://wesleychurch.com/sermon-message-on-video/
- View previous devotionals: https://wesleychurch.com/pastor-candys-devotionals-2/
