Local Churches: Beautiful Gardens of God

“Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.”  Song of Songs 4:16

     It has been a long time since I have planted a vegetable garden.  As a matter of fact I have never planted a garden like my parents planted when I was a child.  They always planted a large garden with a variety of many vegetables from potatoes to tomatoes, from green beans to peas, from radishes to lettuce, and cabbage, carrots, corn, and turnips.

     Now we children did not much like the garden while it was growing because that meant the back-breaking work of weeding and hoeing.  We were not fortunate enough to own a tiller to work the soil; it had to be all done by hand.  I was the most crafty one to escape when it was time to tend to the work, but Mom and Dad always seem to be able to save the worst jobs to be done by me when I returned.

     The real joy of the garden came when it was time to be harvested.  The first meal from the garden each year was a stew pot full of 'hodge-podge'.  It is simply a mixture of fresh new vegetables, including new potatoes, cooked together, then simmered in a sauce of cream and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Umm! Umm! My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

     “Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.”  There is uniqueness about a garden which compares to the church, and the oneness in God’s perfect love.  The typical backyard vegetable garden usually contains a variety of different vegetables, but yet it is one garden.  Not many gardens in one, but a variety of vegetables in one garden.

     Wouldn’t you say that we, New Life Baptist Church (or any local church), are a unique garden of God?  We are an assortment of different plants growing in the same garden.  Individually, we are many; but collectively we are one.  We are different in so many different ways.  Not one of us is exactly the same.  We have different physical makeups, different personalities, different temperaments, and different gifts and talents.  All of these are to God's honor and glory in His beautiful garden.

      Some pertinent questions in Sunday's message are: do you think God feels very welcome in His garden at New Life Baptist?  Are we a garden full of beautiful plants producing all kinds of spiritual fruits and vegetables?  Are there weeds taking over and in full control?

You are invited to come to Sunday's service to hear the rest of this message about the beautiful garden of God, which receives perpetual care through His divine love.  You can also listen to the message through the church website, http://www.newlifebaptist.ca/

Blessings of the day upon you,

-Leo

"Lord, Teach Us to Pray" (Luke 11:1)

We (New Life Baptist Church) have been working through the travel narratives of Luke chapters 9-18 on Tuesday evenings.  Last night we studied and discussed Luke 11:1-4, commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer.  One of the disciples wanted Jesus to teach him how to pray like John the Baptist, and the way John taught his disciples to pray.  This implies that they thought there was something very special about the way John and his disciples prayed, and disciples of Jesus were looking for the secret.

What Jesus taught them was not a secret at all.  In essence He said that they should pray the very way they had been taught from a very young age.  He began with the familiar opening, the 'Qaddish', which is Jewish for "Let be sanctified; or holy".  This arises out of a warning from God in the Old Testament, 1 Kings 9:6-7:

"But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other God's and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land and will reject the Temple I have consecrated for My name."

Every Qaddish began in some form with "Lord, be sanctified."  So began Jesus' lesson on prayer:

"When you pray, say, 'Father, hallowed be your name.'"  (Luke 11:2)

The Qaddish is simply the way a normal prayer would begin for the Jew in Jesus day.  "Hallowed be your name" is synonymous with "Let your name be sanctified."  This should be the beginning of every prayer; to start with God.  We all should have a desire that His name be sanctified in our lives, in our homes, in our churches, and in our communities.

There are actually three petitions in the Qaddish that Jesus used in Luke 11:1-2. 1. The first petition is "Lord, let your name be hallowed (sanctified).  2. The second is "Your kingdom come."  3. And the third is found in Matthew's account (Matthew 6:9-13), "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  All three of these petitions were general to every Qaddish - the opening of every prayer.  What followed this particular Qaddish of Jesus, were examples of personal petitions, such as: 1. Our daily bread.  2. Forgive us our sins.  3. Lead us not into temptation.

"Our daily bread" is much different from our 21st century, North American mindset.  Within the context of Jesus' day it arises out of the necessities that one lacks.  This would have great meaning to the disciples.  They, like other common folk, lived more from day to day in terms of their daily needs.

The real clincher of the prayer comes in the next personal petition: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone who sins against us."  This went against the thinking of the average Palestinian Jew of Jesus day, because they lived by the principle, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."  But Jesus wanted them to live by a higher principle from God.  His point was: If they expected God to forgive them, then God expected them to forgive others as well.

And finally, "Lead us not into temptation."  This might be better understood to say: "Help us not to be overcome by temptation."  Trials through testing are ways to strengthen our faith.  How can we learn and grow if we are never tested?  God promises that we will never be tested beyond the measure of our breaking point.  He is our greatest cheerleader when we are tested, saying, "Come on! Hold fast!  I know you can do it!  You have my Holy Spirit inside of you to strengthen you!"

"When you pray, say:........"

Blessings,

-Leo