Loading...If you’ve been looking for the good news of great power may I recommend Harrods Creek park. It’s in the Hunter’s Crossing subdivision off of 42. Harrods Creek Park is a place I have found good news of great power. Not on the golf course, no. I found good news of power in the forest.
If you want to feel what it feels like to be Jeremiah’s tree planted by streams of water sending out its roots by the stream, visit Harrods Creek Park. It’s muddy and very slick and very likely you will slip and possibly fall; and some of you will want to have a towel in your car, if your car is like that.
But you will see trees growing by the water with leaves that do not wither — and today with all the flooding those trees are growing up from the water. In the winter you will see roots growing impossibly exposed. In the summer a full canopy of leaves holds you in close to the shaded trail. Like me, you might think, “What a beautiful place to be a tree.” I often stop to lean against a tree trunk and for pretense stretch my calves. What I am really doing when I touch that tree is take in the power that comes from that little patch of forest.
I think Hunter’s Creek is desirable real estate — not because of the homes themselves, attractive as they may be, but because of its trees and their proximity to the water. The forest is a healing place and I entrust myself to it every chance I can.
If you want to feel what it feels like to trust in God, look to the roots of the leadership of this congregation. I have also experienced great healing here at St James; specifically, I have witnessed how in the hands of this leadership power comes out for those who come in contact with St James.
You can see evidence all around. But this morning I want to particularly point out our vestry leadership and particularly those who attended the Diocesan Leadership Workshop in Bowling Green yesterday.
Leaders plant themselves by streams of living water. Yesterday we planted ourselves at Christ Church in Bowling Green to be rooted again in the mission of Jesus Christ as made known through the Episcopal Diocese. It was a long day and most of it featured administrative training — things like “do we have the correct amount and kind of insurance” — but I found it as refreshing as a glass of water.
Others who attended came from as far away as St John’s Murray. We hauled the burned out sanctuary candles and gave them to a woman from Grace Church, Hopkinsville for their GraceWorks Ministry. GraceWorks employs local people to melt down old candles and make new candles to sell along with other locally made gifts and products. Many sacrificed watching their favorite sports teams compete. All came together because we believe that working here for the good news of the gospel of God’s love is a beautiful place to work.
If you want to feel what it feels like to wield the good news in your own hands, read Luke’s gospel. I think the level place upon which Jesus preaches in the story Luke tells today in chapter 6 is desirable real estate. Not because that sermon is particularly good news for some: Woe is really the word for OW! or what would become Oy, and translated “ouch!”
The level place from Luke is desirable because of its proximity to people who had come to take the power Jesus gives. All in the crowd wanted to touch him for power came out from him and healed them. The healing power that comes out of Jesus on the level place is the exact power that comes out of our prayers today. It’s the same healing that comes from making contact with other faithful friends along the journey, whether it’s in Pewee Valley or Bowling Green or Hopkinsville or beyond — even as far away as Murray. To those who are healed comes the same message: Blessings and woes are seasonal for all humans.
The message of the sermon on the level place is a mysterious one. Wealth cannot protect from woes. Blessings emerge in the laughter from those who weep. These mysteries make me remember summers in the forest where the water in Harrods creek was so low you could see all the roots of the trees which today are ten feet under water.
The good news is that you are already here in the healing place, making contact with the same Lord who once stood on that level place. He stands here today wherever you let the power of your presence come out to a world so thirsty for blessing and so pained by Oy.
Together we weather the various seasons wherein there may be heat or testing like Jeremiah describes — even seasons which leave us feeling parched. Together we weather new seasons wherein we may even feel anxious because of drought and mysteriously delighted to find fruit even in the midst of drought just like Jeremiah describes. Whether you visit the forest. or stay on the level place — whether you weather flooding or drought — keep your ears pointed in the direction of the good news and your hands continually reaching out to touch and wield the power that comes from being in the place you are. Amen.
