Dr. David D. Young
February 25, 2007
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
Jeremiah 24: 4-7, Mark 4: 1-9
"The Farmer in the Dell"

Today marks a transition – as we move from our Winter Sermon Series, "Struggling with Tough Questions" – to a Lenten journey dealing with the identity of Jesus. But before we move on I want to make a couple of quick comments. I hope we will continue to pursue some of the tough issues we’ve been struggling with these past weeks – both as individuals and a congregation.

And I hope we won’t let ourselves get distracted and side-tracked by the likes of the Anna Nicole Smith story and Brittany Spears. And I hope we will all hold our brothers and sisters in the Anglican tradition in our prayers asking that God’s light will more and more be revealed as God continues to speak to them about same-sex relationships.

Now…our Lenten Sermon Series.

During my first two years here, I have had a number of conversations with some of you and especially some of our newer members around the focus of Jesus Christ – and just who he was and is!

Without quoting anyone, let me give an overview of those conversations. For some people there has been hesitation toward Jesus because of having had a fundamental background of - Jesus, Jesus, Jesus – with no substantial grounding in the complexity and richness of who he was. For others, there is confusion about the different titles ascribed to Jesus: Christ, Messiah, Lord, King, Son of Man, Son of God and so on. And for others, there is uncertainty as to who Jesus is due to a lack of awareness about what is in the Bible as it relates to Jesus and their faith.

In other words, they know they have a faith and belief in Jesus (at some level) – but they are not able to articulate much when asked about it. On the spectrum of not knowing much at all about Jesus on one end – and knowing a whole bunch on the other – I suspect we all fit somewhere along that continuum. And it was out of all those conversations that I began thinking about this Lenten Sermon Series, "Who Is Jesus, Really?"

We are a church that accepts people wherever they are along the journey of faith – because we believe that no matter where a person is – their faith is a process, a journey – not simply an arrival or ending point. So, wherever a person is on their journey with Christ – they are welcome here.

The United Church of Christ has a wonderful program going called "God Is Still Speaking," one of the advertisements says,

"God accepts all the people, so do we, the United Church of Christ. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey – you’re welcome here."

Our acceptance is based on Jesus’ all-inclusive acceptance. So, we welcome everyone on the journey and today we begin the Lenten journey.

It was about twenty-five years ago when I interviewed for the first UCC church that I served after seminary. And one of the questions the search committee from that church in Fort Wayne, Indiana asked me was the most interesting and difficult question I’ve ever been asked in all my interview processes. And it was this,

"Who Is Jesus?" Yes, Who Is Jesus, Really?

After saying God’s son, I suspect most of us would be hard pressed to give a comprehensive and profound answer to that question.

And so, as we take our annual journey with Jesus toward Holy Week and Easter I could think of no better series to pursue as his disciples than, "Who Is Jesus, Really?"

This past week we actually kicked off Lent with our Ash Wednesday Service as we explored this question and the quest. For you see, here at First Congregational Church we know that questions are part of the quest. And just because we ask questions about the identity of Jesus that does not mean we don’t have faith in Christ.

We simply acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers and that there is always room for growth in our understanding and journey of faith. And lest anyone be saying in their mind,

"Gee, I can’t believe ministers have questions about faith and Jesus Christ."

- Let me tell you, we do…

But I will tell you this, I am suspect of anyone who claims to have all the answers – for that would be claiming to know as much as God. And I’m not even sure God has all the answers. But let’s save that discussion for another sermon.

For now, let’s pursue this question of "Who Is Jesus, Really?" Today and for the next six weeks we’ll be looking to Jesus as Initiator, Judge, Prophet, Teacher, Healer, King and Messiah, and Lord.

This morning’s thrust is Initiator. Let me simply suggest that we think of Jesus as "The Farmer and the Dell."

A true story as recounted by Jay Hauser in the Reader’s Digest,

"I was traveling in rural Oklahoma when I ran out of gas. I went to a nearby farmhouse to call a service station, but the farmer insisted on taking me to town, bringing me back, and even staying with me until the car was running again. I offered him $100 but he shook his head. When I insisted, he replied, ‘Look, mister, I feel very good about helpin’ you. If I took your money, you’d buy that feelin’ back from me. And it’s not for sale!’"

The first point is – the Lord’s grace and goodness are not for sale – you can’t earn them or buy them – they are free! And second, the farmer is one who cares for and nurtures. The farmer in the dell – prepares the soil, plants the seed, tends and nurtures the field, and harvests the crop – all in the dell.

Now, in case some of you just took that nursery rhyme and song for granted – and don’t know what a dell is – it simply means a valley or ravine. Jesus – as the farmer in the dell – meets us in the valleys and ravines of our life – and plants and nurtures and helps bring us to the fulfillment of our growth.

By faith, as Christians we know that our growth is initiated by the spirit of Christ. Or another way of saying it is, by the same spirit that was at work in Christ – or what we might call, the Christ Spirit.

God’s growth activity was present in Jeremiah’s mind long ago – when he wrote in the passage Pat Larrabee read for us earlier,

"I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart."

In that time and place – Jeremiah knew of the harsh reality of exile – for that was Israel’s valley (if you will). Our valleys may not be physical displacement – as they were in Jeremiah’s time and as it is for many in our world today.

But our lows in life are no less real than finding ourselves and our spirits in a deep dark ravine. When I’m in a low place emotionally or spiritually – it’s usually hard to see much further than my own misery. It’s then that I need to be reminded of how when it rains – as Jesus said it does on the just and the unjust – the nutrients of the hills drain into the valleys making them a rich and fertile soil. You see, the valleys of our lives can be transformed into rich soil – such that hope and new life can grow out of the down times we experience.

One of my favorite movies from a number of years ago is “Oh God!” And as you’ll recall it starred George Burns as God and John Denver as Jerry – the contemporary counterpart to today’s farmer - a grocer. In one of the final scenes they are discussing the success of their mission to the world. Nobody seemed to listen to the message Jerry was told by God to deliver. Jerry thinks they failed. "We blew it!" he says. But God doesn’t see it that way. "Oh, I don’t think so," God says. "You never know; a seed here, a seed there, something will catch hold and grow."

"Listen," said Jesus, "a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundred fold." And he said, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"

"The Farmer in the Dell!"

Jesus was and is the seed planter par excellence!

It was Emerson who penned this one line,

"The name of Jesus is not so much written as ploughed into the history of the world!"

The farmer prepares the soil and sows the seed. The farmer nurtures the crop and then harvests – looking for the fruitfulness – and turning the crop to provide seeds and nurturance for the future.

It’s what our text from Deuteronomy lifted up as the offering of first fruits. Where there’s no farmer – there’s no farm – only weeds and lots of them. Where there’s no Jesus – there’s no Christian community to nurture and support growth.

Jesus comes into the dells, the valleys of our lives to plant seeds of hope, renewal, love, and faith – all to the end that we might join him in the mysterious and wondrous process of growth.

John Masefield, in the poem The Everlasting Mercy, tells of the conversation of Saul Kane, the coarsened, hardened man. With liberated soul Kane looked out across the field and saw a plowman at the task of God. Instantly he realized that Christ was plowing in his heart.

"Through rest-harrow and bitter roots, through all my bad life’s rotten fruit."

Then he sees the sea gulls soaring after the plowman, and in ecstasy he cries,

"O Christ who holds the open grave,
O Christ who drives the furrow straight,
O Christ, the plough, O Christ the laughter
Of holy white birds flying after."

"Who Is Jesus, Really?"

He is many, many things! But friends, I’m here to tell you that he’s "The Farmer in the Dell" of your life and my life! And I’m awful glad he is.

So, thanks be to God this day for the growth gift of: "The Farmer in the Dell!"

Amen!