Several years ago I came
across a news article underneath the headline, “African Violet Queen Dies at
Age 76.” Curious, I read on. What I discovered was not lament for a life
lost to this world, but an inspiring witness to a woman who meant a whole lot
to her church community. It was made
clear that her Christian witness very much lived on in every home she had
gifted with one of her meticulously cared for African Violets. I suspect she knew well that this common
purple indoor household plant has the rather apostolic sounding genus name of “Saintpaulia.”
How she came to be
associated with these potted natives of Tanzania and Kenya is a moving story of
God’s amazing, restorative grace. It
begins sadly, in her earlier years, when she had made several attempts to end
her life. But blessedly, through the
intervention of her niece, God then connected her to the care of a renowned psychotherapist.
Rather than the
conventional first appointment in an unfamiliar office, the psychotherapist had
decided to make a surprise visit to her home.
As soon as he was welcomed in, he asked for a tour. It was then, while standing in a sunroom,
that he noticed the row of pots containing the purple, pink, blue and white
petaled plant life. He inquired about
them and she replied by affirming that growing the African Violets was the one
thing she believed she had a positive touch for in life. As their conversation continued, he also
learned that her only occasional social connection with others was to a nearby
church. He quickly put two and two
together and offered her a prescription.
Not a hastily scribbled order for some anti-depressant, but a verbal
prescription in the form of these words –
“Madame, I want you to
send someone to the nursery to purchase may more pots and every strain of
African violets they carry.
Furthermore, whenever a child is born to a member of your congregation,
I want you to give a pot of African violets to the parents at the baptism. And whenever a wedding is celebrated, I want
you to give a pot of these flowers to the bride.”
She faithfully followed
his prescription. As a result, the life
of this woman was essentially repotted – all that was bound up within her was
given fresh air and more room, her faithful roots were given an opportunity to
grow and go deeper.
The psychotherapist, Milton H. Erikson, who is
most known for his work in medical hypnosis and family therapy, later remarked
that he never did come up with a clinical diagnosis for this woman. He simply never cared to. The evidence of her personal restoration was
quite enough.
The story of the African Violent Queen is an
Easter story. It' example of how God’s
restorative power is planted in an individual at birth, tended to and helped to
grow with the help of people who care, and then finally and fully celebrated in
a community of faith.
At heart, every one of
us is a restoration story. I’ve gladly given my personal witness to this
through my years here as your pastor.
I’ve shared how I’ve gone through difficult and desperate life
circumstances, starting back with my family roots that suffered the blight of
alcoholism. I’ve shared so I could then profess with great
joy the very many ways I believe I’ve been blessedly repotted! Restored!
Each time my God-created, Christ resurrected, Holy Spirit pruned roots have
been granted new room to grow, something blossoms -- not African violets, but
certainly songs, sermons, care and companioning.
We follow the One who
could not be constrained by the entombing sin of this world. God does personally restore us. What new blooms have there been in your
life?
God also restores communities
during dire times. We’ve witnessed
this happening through countless good words and deeds, on both small and grand
scales, following all sorts of world conflict and tragedy. As we remember such events, we people of
Easter faith should always seek to find and support the signs of God’s
restorative grace.
There are many wonderful
examples I could lift up from our life together here at FPC. But I’m intrigued to remember and share a
word about a time in history when this congregation really needed to be
repotted.
According to our church
history book, it happened in the middle of the 19th century. This was a span in our history when there
were official church investigations and even trials concerning certain
character offenses committed by church members.
Rev. William Otis Ruston, preaching some twenty-five years later,
declared that “the people’s attention was turned from the subject of their own
individual piety and they were sent up and down, hunting out all the evil the
neighborhood.” Instead of “being eager to advance the
kingdom of Christ,” Ruston further preached, “they became simply rooters in the
mire and dirt of scandal.” Can you
imagine having orthodox watchdogs arrive here in our community to observe your
behavior, and if deemed unfaithful, bring charges like heresy against you? This is not soil I’d want to anything to do
with!
And yet even within this
sad state of affairs, God was graciously working restorative measures, on a
beautiful repotting for FPC’s future. Evidence
of this is right before us today, for there were enough scandal-free church
members at that time to see to the construction of this sanctuary you are
seated in.
This morning’s full-on
flower metaphor is firmly rooted in the New Testament. So we say that the faithful folks who
literally built the new container for the Easter story that is this cherished sanctuary
did so inspired to plant like Paul and water like Apollos. They trusted God would do the growing, just
as God had done for the ancient sister church in Corinth. They rightly understood how all are God’s
servants and are called to work together.
They too saw the church as God’s field – not for battles, but for
beautiful restorations.
As we continue to
celebrate Easter, it’s so important and so inspiring hear and to share stories
of personal and communal restoration. Christ
is alive!
Can you think about
times when you’ve felt hopelessly bound up with no room to grow? When the constraining soil of sin left you
unable to see your place in the household of God and share what life-affirming
gifts you have? Can you recall times
when God’s love has sprouted in you and brought you back to life?
As a faithful people in
Christ, in what news ways is God calling us to help one another blossom and
grow so we can spread seeds of God’s restorative goodness in the lives of
others?
Regarding this last
question, we have a wonderful opportunity to help witness one another’s
life-affirming gifts this coming Friday evening. We’ll be able to discover what we have a
positive touch for in life. It’s our
first ever Hobby Night, meeting in the Community House from 5-7 p.m. This is going to be a great way to spend
time getting to know one another better across different generations. A hobby really isn’t just something else to
do – it’s something that we have an innate passion for and that is done to
relax and restore something within us.
And beautiful things can happen when we then share this with
others. I know, for example, how much
I really enjoy it when someone feels inspired by a digital photo I’ve taken and
gladly shared.
Trust in God’s leading. Trust in God’s planting. Trust in God’s watering. In God’s grace through Jesus Christ, we are
restored. We are tended to and helped
to grow with the help of people who care. We fully celebrate with and through and out
from our community of faith. What Good
News! Amen!
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