The scriptures for today are actually a sermon I preached last week. Maybe I’ll just use the same sermon, right? That’s what pastors usually do, right? They just regurgitate stuff but, I couldn’t do that to you all.

I did what I usually do and I woke up this morning and I said “God, what do you want to say to your people? What do these people need to hear from you on this day?” And, as I ask God to inspire me, “what are the words that your congregation needs you to hear?”

I kind of laugh because, the irony is that this scripture is on planting and seeds and I still know very little about planting and seeds.

I just kind of asked everybody, “how does stuff grow?” I asked a lot of questions about, you know, slugs, and “How do you fight slugs?” This is Lucy’s ongoing battle, but, we’ve got to the point where we realized that we were gonna be moving so we didn’t do any like upkeep on our gardening and you know what? Stuff grew.

We didn’t water, we didn’t plant, but stuff grew. Not anything good, obviously, but there’s so much stuff in there that we’re just like, well, it’s gonna be the next persons to deal with. Which can be another sermon, right? Like, if you don’t take care of your own garden, things are gonna grow. Most of the time, it’s things that you do not want. But something will grow.

Today we have these parable images.

We all know the parables, there are some more famous ones, like the prodigal son or the parable of the sower and the seeds, which is gonna be next week. I know that this summer, the theme is the environment. How do we relate as Christians? How is this important to us? Why should it be important to us? Why should we care? And does it even matter?

You can be like me and take an attitude that I’m not going to be around, so that’s going to be somebody else’s problem in a couple months when everything’s just exploding in the garden. But don’t tell Lucy, I do not care for gardening. When we moved in, Lucy had an interest in gardening, and we talked about it, and I said I’m not into it, and of course, we ended up gardening. We’ve had a garden, and it’s produced some pretty cool stuff, but not this year, thankfully.

I’m sure there’s the same people here today who are very passionate about the environment, and what happens to this world, and what’s going to continue to happen. I know there’s people like me that could care less about my garden and rather just have grass. It’s easier to care for. Mow it once every couple weeks. That’s who I want to talk to today.

There’s no reason to preach to the people who understand the environment and care about the environment and realize why it’s important. They’ve had the foresight. They understand why it’s important to act now.

Then on the other side, it’s people who could care less and expect this proverbial, someone, will take care of it. There is no someone. You are it. You have to do it.

That’s who I want to focus the reading on today. That’s who I think these parables are speaking to. I think, out of habit, I just assumed that this was one of those, let your faith be like a seed where you kind of just plant it and take care of it and somehow it grows. But the closer I read these parables, I realized that it’s not talking about our faith being like seeds.

I want to read these parables and these scriptures in a way that’s more inciting, especially to the people that are hands off environmentalists. What if these parables were about money? More specifically, your money. Like, I was able to reach over and grab your wallet and your bank account and talk about it. What if I could just pull up your statement and show everybody what you’ve been spending? Show everybody what you’ve been saving for? Show everybody your retirement funds? What if I could pull out your checkbook and read out your balance sheet? For everybody to hear. Alright, now it’s a little bit more serious.

Some people perked up. Oh, I don’t know about that. It makes me uncomfortable. But this is something that matters to you, right? Let’s reread the parables. With the thought that your bank account really does tell you what’s important in your life.

The paraphrase reading for today is, this community that gathers on Sunday morning, as if someone were to take their own money and invest it wisely. And after a long time, because that’s how safe investing works, and the money would have actually accrued a profitable interest, and no one knows how. Some of you actually do know how. The stock market works and interest works and for the rest of us it’s just magic. But the second reading would follow.

When you first start working in life, your bank account is terrible. After some time of savings, it starts to look strong, the stocks begin to grow, and with a retirement plan finally comes to bear fruit and returns with substance. That’s when it’s time to retire. And that’s when the Grim Reaper comes and gets you, right? And it’s all over. No, actually. No, no, no. That’s the time when you retire and you can enjoy the fruit of your labor. You can enjoy the investment that you’ve worked so hard for. With what can we compare the Kingdom of God?

No one here will disagree with my interpretation. Is it accurate? Is it theological? Who knows, but I know what I said is true. That’s how we all feel about money. That’s how we all view money, that we can’t just, you know, throw money around and live like it doesn’t matter. No one’s gonna pull me aside later and tell me, oh, that was bad theology or bad life advice. Because we believe in our finances, it adds up. We do numbers and things have to equal at the end and we believe in being responsible for our finances, Right?

This is where I get you to fall into my trap. It’s easy to focus on our future for our own comfort internally. But we also took the same attitude that we already have about our finances and looked outwardly.

You planting a tree today, you’ll never sit under the shade or enjoy its fruit. But who will? Who will enjoy this tree? Maybe you’re children, but most of them are kind of grown up. Maybe you’re like my parents, but the most important person in their life is their grandchildren and their children. That’s who’s going to be able to reap the reward from this tree. As the saying goes, the best tree is the one that was planted 50 years ago. Because it’s not just about trees.

There’s so many other things around the world that are causing way more damage than you, whether or not you plant one tree. I don’t see any of you jumping on your private jet and flying to Europe to get cheesecake from a specific hotel. That’s not who we are. So why should the environment matter? After all, you’re just one person. What does it matter? Why should the environment matter? Because this is what you’re leaving to your grandchildren.

I close with this. The mustard seed, I’ve been told it’s very small. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in my life, but that’s what the Bible says, so I guess it has to be true.

But, it grows into a large shrub. A shrub, not a tree. I mean, I’m imagining a shrub’s not that big, but I guess this grows into a large shrub. It doesn’t say that it covers the whole earth with its shade. It doesn’t even provide food for the entire world. It doesn’t fix all of humanity’s problem.

But it does give a place to rest, for some. It does alleviate the harshness of life, for a few. And in the grand scheme of life and eternity, your small and insignificant act today, it won’t do anything. Whether or not you recycle today, it doesn’t matter. Whether or not you are active in the way you look at the environment, it doesn’t matter. But there will be one individual that that will affect.

One individual that may be able to find shade under that tree and appreciate that. This enormous tree that you’ve invested in. You’ve changed their world. You’ve changed their eternity. You changed their family’s future. Being green isn’t about you today. It Isn’t about you being conscious of the environment today.

Being green is you thinking about eternity. This world in eternity and what that would look like.

Those who follow you can’t do anything for themselves until a later time. So it’s up to you to be responsible for them today. May it be so.

Sermon Given by Rev. Jonathan Paredes

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