God made man from the earth. Our very first father, Adam, was made from the clay, but he came alive when God breathed into Adam the breath of life. And not only was Adam made from the earth, he depended on the earth for his life. The food that he had to eat came from the trees that God had planted in the earth.

Even after Adam fell into sin and death, he still got food from the earth. Only, now it was tough work. Dirty. Sweaty. Before man sinned, it was easy. But after Adam turned away from God, the earth grew thorns that pricked man’s hands, making them bleed, and weeds that choked plants. So every little bit of food that came from the earth was cause for great rejoicing.

And even though the earth had thorns and weeds, men still knew that their food came from God, who made it grow. So the great festivals or holidays of God’s ancient people the Jews revolved around the food that was growing out of the earth. There was the festival of Firstfruits, when the grain first began to ripen. Then came Pentecost, when the grain was all gathered in. Finally came the Feast of Ingathering, which is the closest thing to our Thanksgiving festival. Great trumpets were blown at the temple, and people came with wine, and oil, and barley. There was music and dancing and lights; it was said that you didn’t know what joy was if you hadn’t seen this great festival.

The first Thanksgiving in America was also about food. William Bradford, the Governor of Massachusetts, gave this as the first reason for having a Thanksgiving holiday: “The great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams.” Then he said that people should go to church for three hours to give thanks!

I think it’s hard for us to relate to this. The story is so strange, it’s almost like a fairy tale. We don’t have harvests. We have Safeway. Or Giant. Or Shoppers. Or Whole Foods. Or Harris Teeter. What we don’t have is farms. We live in a great city, and very few people actually farm the earth today. We have giant machines that do the work, so fewer and fewer people are involved in farming, in growing things from the earth.

That’s why we are fortunate to have a garden club here at school, because it’s easy to think that our food comes from the store. It doesn’t. It comes from the ground. Even our meat – bacon and hamburger and chicken – depends on the ground, for the pigs and cows and chickens all depend on food from the ground, such as grass and corn, for their life.

Shortly before He was nailed to the cross, Jesus talked about a harvest festival, a great Thanksgiving festival that is coming in the future. Jesus compared His body to a seed. We put seeds into the ground, and they spring up out of the earth to be many times larger than the original seed, and it becomes tall and beautiful. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies,” Jesus said, “it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” You have to plant it in the ground, and then it will come up out of the ground as something new and beautiful. “That,” Jesus was saying, “is what’s going to happen to my body, and yours. I will die and be put into the ground, but I will come up out of the ground again, and be alive.”

So we read this Bible passage at a funeral, when a person dies, just before we put the body into the ground. Because we know that something better, greater is going to happen. There is a great day of Thanksgiving coming, when God will bring up out of the ground all the dead, and give to believers in Christ eternal life. And that day will be far better than just a day off of school or work. That Thanksgiving Day which is coming will be the beginning of the kingdom of God, and we will say on that day, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever!” +INJ+

I don’t use canned sermons or series gimmicks (but after reading this, maybe you’ll think I should!). This year, we’re reading through Romans 4-7 at Vespers during Lent. This week is chapter 5:

“Therefore,” begins tonight’s reading from Romans, ch. 5. That “therefore” means that St. Paul is going to build on what he said in ch. 4, which we heard last Wednesday. You will remember that there, Paul emphasized that God credited Abraham with righteousness, for Abraham believed, trusted, the promise that God made to him. The word for being counted righteous, or credited with righteousness, is justification. That’s where Paul starts tonight: “Therefore, having been justified by faith,” he says.

Tonight, he tells us what results from that justification, what happens to us because God counts us as righteous: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” Two things, then, result: Peace with God, and access. When man rebelled against God, he lost peace,  experiencing death and God’s wrath; in justification, peace with God once more is made. And when man sinned, he lost access to God; he was removed not just from Eden but from God’s presence. In justification, access is restored, the way is open.

That is a reality for us now, but we don’t enjoy the fulness of it yet. In this life, it is the will of God that we experience tribulations, so that we grow. For “tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.”

That hope is not in ourselves. During this season of Lent, we are reminded again that we have to look away from ourselves, outside of ourselves, and put all our hope in Christ. What is it that Jesus did for us? Paul puts the Gospel into four words: “Christ died for us.” So if someone asks you what Christians believe, that’s the four-word summary: “Christ died for us.” 

But notice who the “us” is – the ungodly! “Christ died for the ungodly … While we were still sinners”! That is astounding love. When someone offends us, we might forgive – but only after they’ve shown proper remorse. “I’ll be nice to you if you’ll be nice to me.” But the love of God is not demonstrated toward people who show sufficient repentance. The kindness of God is not shown to people who earn it. The grace of God does not come to people who try their best. That’s how we operate. We will do a great deal for our family and friends. We might show some kindness to a stranger. But to sacrifice everything for an enemy? Unthinkable! Yet God demonstrates His love for us in this, that Christ dies for His enemies.

So stop worrying about the economy, as though nothing is more important. Stop fearing, loving, and trusting in your health. Stop making a god out of what you can acquire, who you can be in a relationship with, what pleasure you can experience. For nothing surpasses this wonder, that we sinners have been reconciled to God. That’s passive; we didn’t do it, we receive it, as a free gift from God. And it’s past tense, done, already accomplished by Christ on His cross. That past action of God means our hope is in something future yet certain, that we shall be saved: “Having been reconciled [by Christ’s death], we shall be saved by His life.”

The main point, then, that Paul wants to make to us in this chapter is that Christ Jesus is the second Adam. The first Adam, the father of the human race, fell; and when he fell, we fell. In Adam, the whole human race sinned. In Adam, the whole human race died. That’s what our hymns tonight hammer home. We are born in Adam, and all who are in Adam die. But in the same way, all who are in Christ the second Adam, live.

So let that be your joy. Perhaps you’ve stumbled with your Lenten disciplines, and lost your self-control. Doubtless you’ve sinned this day, and failed your Lord. It may be you are struggling with an ongoing sin – anger, greed, lust, despair, apathy, or some other thing. Carry on with your struggle, and know that these tribulations are working in you perseverance, character, and hope. But go to sleep in good cheer tonight, and be filled with joy, because for you—an ungodly, impious, wretched sinner—Christ died. And there is no greater love than that. +INJ+