Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo + October 13, 2024
Rooted in Community Week 2 - Grounded in Faith, Growing in Purpose
For Week 2 of our Rooted in Community worship series and stewardship initiative, Pastor Hector invites us to reflect on the role of the trunk in the life of a tree—providing stability, strength, and the flow of life-giving nutrients. Similarly, our faith and trust in God are central to who we are as a community. The Spirit moves through us, nourishing both old and new members, bringing us together as conduits of God’s grace. We are called to be strong trunks, passing on this life-giving faith, ensuring that we all continue to grow and bear fruit for the sake of the world.
Sermon Transcript
From automatically generated captions, and lightly edited for readability by Chat GPT
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, Mother, and Creator, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our sibling, our Savior, our Lord, who is with us all today and always. And we said, "Amen, amen."
Well, yeah, uh, it is amazing to see how the Spirit works. This morning, I took a few minutes just to check what is going on with the churches, with our siblings in our companion synod in Russia, and I saw that the Archbishop of the two synods that I showed you that Sunday after I came from Serbia was preaching in Moscow. He had a wonderful message that I hope at some point you can watch because the sermons have translation. The whole service doesn’t have translation, but I also learned and noticed that their services are like two hours. So, I’m following their example—we’re just beginning today! No, no, obviously this has to do with the context; it has to do with culture. And I think that this is important for us to keep in mind.
As I have said before, we are like a forest. We are all connected, and yet we have our own identities, as Sue was talking about with our young worshippers—about trunks, about trees, about the different ways that God has given core beliefs and core identities to be what we are called to be. Whether we are in Russia or whether we are here, we may look different, we may sound different, but in the end, the core that unites us is the Spirit that gives us strength, life, and the call to be agents of transformation and change in the community.
I hope that you have had the opportunity, when you come into the building, to look to my left, when you come into the building, to your right—at that tree that is emerging from the ground. That is a representation of what we are trying to reflect on during these four weeks when we are talking about being rooted in community. What does it mean to be a congregation, to be an extension of God's compassion that is rooted in the community—not a congregation that exists for itself and in itself, but a congregation that is in this place as a manifestation of the power of the Spirit to gather people, to be that extension of God's compassion in the community, to transform and to be an agent of healing in the community, but at the same time, through our lives, to be transformed and to receive healing in our relationships with one another.
Think of the power of that image, or the image of the tree. You will see in the tree outside, and Vian is going to tell a little bit more about this, that there is a purpose to how it has been built. Pay attention that there are different parts. You can read the description there, but I invite you, after we hear the moment of generosity, to reflect on what this tree means and take time to think: What does this mean in my life as a disciple, as one of the trees in the orchard that God has planted in this place to bring fruit and to be rooted in this community?
You know that I like hiking, and one of the reasons I like hiking is because, for me, trees have always been a mystery, a fascination. You know that in my past life, I was in chemical engineering, and my specialty was paper manufacturing. And in order to make paper, I needed to learn about trees, so I have always been in contact with trees, and I have always admired the way these giants grow—these giants that we see, so quiet sometimes, so majestic. I love when we stand next to these big trees. I will show you in this first slide—just so you can see—that's Pastor Jay just standing next to a very tall tree. Just standing next to them is majestic. It’s humbling to see these humongous beings called trees in the forest. The other slide that you can see shows a fallen tree, and that reminds me that even fallen trees are still trees—they are organisms that give life to other organisms. It doesn’t matter; they always keep giving, right?
In thinking about these slides, I was reflecting on what Sue was sharing with us about trunks. Trunks provide the structural support, strength, and stability to trees. They act as the conduit to transport water and nutrients from the ground—we talked about roots last Sunday—to the top, to the branches, to the leaves. But also, the trunk brings the sugars that are created in the leaves with the sun, through photosynthesis, and brings them back as food to the tree so the tree can keep growing. So, there is a natural and fascinating process of nutrients and water going up in such a balance that gives life. It’s almost like that process we talk about constantly—of breathing in and breathing out—that movement that is necessary to bring life. Because when things get stalled, they spoil; things don’t live. But in trees, this constant up-and-down movement of water, food, and sugars gives life to the trees and provides strength for the trunk.
You know that a tree without a trunk is a dead tree—it’s a fallen tree. And roots without a trunk are just buried, barren matter. Roots and trunks need each other, just as, in our congregations and the church, we need every part of our spiritual and physical lives. We need one another to grow. We need one another to create the flow of blessings that God brings through each one of us. God calls us to be like trees. God calls us to be life-giving. God calls us to rely on the roots that have been given to us—this faith, this trust that has been given to us as a gift—so that we can grow strong, produce fruit, and bring transformation and healing to the community in which God has called us to grow.
Last week, Pastor Bev was talking about the orientation that is given to us through the Spirit, this orientation that helps us to remember that our roots are the foundation that gives sacred purpose to each one of us and the ability to see God-given dignity and worth in every creature, in all creation. Remember the story of St. Francis of Assisi and the connection that Pastor Bev helped us make with being part of this creation and the connection we have. It is only when we see the God-given dignity in the person next to us and in front of us that we are able to experience that life-giving, transforming healing in our hearts.
In the prophet Jeremiah, we read the words: "They are like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers." This image of trees is prominent in Scripture. Do you know how many references there are to trees, groves, or forests in the Bible? Just an idea.
That was very specific, but it’s close—about 300 references in Scripture to trees! This image is a powerful one in the books of Genesis, Psalms, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation. The image that the prophet Jeremiah brings in the passage we read today is connected with trust. If we read the passages before the verses we read today, you will see that the prophet Jeremiah is talking about those who trust in God and those who do not trust in God. The prophet says that the result of trusting in mortals is like being shrubs—teeny-tiny, weak trees in desert places, by themselves, without water, without hope, and always worrying. But if we trust in God, we are like trees replanted—an interesting translation, because some translations say "planted," but the original Hebrew word implies "replanted"—which connects us to the action of God taking us from the dryness of the wilderness, where our lives are sometimes in scarcity, where we think we don’t have enough hope or life, and replanting us, or transplanting us, into places where we can receive the life-giving nutrients of the Spirit so that we can grow strong and be a blessing for the community.
This, to me, is a powerful image that reminds us of our lives, reminds us who we are and whose we are in this community where God has called us to be the orchard of God's mercy and divine compassion. Trust has been passed on to us, like trunks. Parents and faith communities are the conduits for us to receive this faith, this trust, these stories that tell us what God has been doing from the very beginning, continues to do today, and will continue to do forever. That is the promise that God has given us—that even though sometimes we are like fallen trees, no matter what, God will still work in us and through us to bring life.
One experience that makes me think of how we as parents, or we as a community, continue to nurture one another as trunks—as the trees that bring nutrients up and down, always moving—is an experience I had when I was serving in one of the churches in Illinois. I have mentioned this to some of you in different settings here in the church, but I remember that there was a family. The woman was expecting their child. The woman came to church throughout her entire pregnancy. The boy—we later knew it was a boy—was named Jesus. When he was born, and I went to visit them, when I spoke, when the baby heard my voice, he recognized me. And I think that is an example that has helped me see the importance of us as individuals, as parents, and as communities of faith to pass on the faith to others.
We cannot think that there is no right time or the right place. We are called to produce and to be conduits of the faith from the very beginning of the lives of each one of us, or when we meet, or whenever we have an opportunity. The Spirit will work in ways that we may not understand but will help us to strengthen the core beliefs of who we are and whose we are, so that you and I continue to be a blessing. Those beliefs, that faith, that learning about trusting in God at all times, will determine and shape the ways that we are going to make our decisions.
Our trust and our faith in God, which is a gift—not something that you and I work hard for and achieve because we are champions of faith, but because it’s a gift that God has given us out of God’s mercy—will help us and lead us in making the decisions in our lives. As I have told you before, I believe that faith is not finances, faith is not politics, but faith has a deep impact on politics and the finances of our communities. When we look at the world through the eyes of trust and faith in God, we will be able to see the ways that God is calling us to be and to become in that community, for us to be fruitful trees that grow strong and share the gift that has been given to us.
Next week, we are going to talk about the branches, and we will continue expanding on this idea of what it means to be branching out from the trunk. The gospel calls us to see God's economy or God's household, in which, with the same balance that we see trees growing, food flows up and down through the trunks of the trees. In the same way, you and I can create sustenance in this community where God has called us to live, and in this community, we can see the harmony, the balance, and the wholeness. There is no despising or putting others down, or putting ourselves above others, not letting fear take over.
Jeremiah continues by saying that those trees by the river never worry, even through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf. They are serene and calm through the droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.
Trees are an image of our communities. The giftedness flows through us, even though external forces may prevent or delay that flow of nutrients. In the end, a tree never stops being a tree. Even a fallen tree, as we will see in the next slide, will never stop providing. This image makes me think, perhaps, of the life of our own congregation, where the new needs the old, and the old needs the new. It is only when we are able to see the giftedness that every generation of the congregation can bring that we will be able to be strong and to bring life.
It is only when we understand that we are going to complement each other, to strengthen one another, to encourage one another, and to grow together, that this congregation will be a witness of the life-giving compassion, mercy, and love of God. The nutrients that flow through us forge our spiritual response, leading us to make choices that may seem irrational, unacceptable, and inconceivable to those who do not trust in God. But for God, everything can be transformed into life.
A tree produces not because of compulsion or obligation, but because that is what a tree is created to be. The Spirit that has been given to us calls us today to open our hearts to the joy and pain that come with life, because we know that whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord. That blessing can be spread to the branches, which we’ll be talking about next Sunday.
With that, be on watch, because there is a second part to this message next Sunday. But for today, we thank God, and we thank God for all the blessings that we have received, and for the call that we have to be those people in this community.
Let me conclude with the words of the Gospel that say, "You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It is who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brings over into true words and deeds. Let the Spirit flow through us."
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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