CLERGY CORNER: From Small Beginnings

Posted on 24 July 2014 by LeslieM

My wife and I were thrilled this week to touch, feel and see one of life’s most exciting new possibilities. The occasion was to spend quality time with Lucy Anne, our first granddaughter.

Born the first day of July, Lucy Anne weighs all of 9 lbs. She is fragile and completely dependent on the loving care of those entrusted with her well-being. But Lucy’s delicate frame will strengthen and grow. Before we realize it, she will demonstrate signs of mobility. She will be turning over and sitting up. She will be crawling then walking. She will be running even before she is potty trained. I imagine her in pre-school tomorrow and driving a car next week, but, hopefully, not on I-95!

However quickly life passes, like cars in the far left lane of the interstate; however messed up the world appears to be, whenever God presents new life in the form of a newborn child, then we pray the sun keeps rising and setting perfectly. We have this hope because we desire yet another generation touch, feel and see the thrill of new possibilities too.

But how is it so engrained in our psyche that we look to the future with such optimism for a tiny infant so small and weak and vulnerable in a world so large and troubled?

Like deep roots of a tree tall and strong, the explanation is in our faith. Jesus speaks to his followers about this in a parable saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater

than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13)

You see, we all may have small beginnings, but we are children of a big promise.

Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “It is the Spirit that bears witness with our spirit that we are all children of God. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, then who is against us? For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8)

And so, my prayer is not only that the small will physically grow strong, but that we will all spiritually grow strong in our faith.

For, as we see a seed grow from small beginnings to become a tree strong and tall providing space for nesting and shade for resting, the roots of faith run deep to withstand the world’s testing. This is the ground of our confidence in Christ in whom we are heirs to a promise greater than the world. Through Christ our well-being is guaranteed.

Turns out we are not so fragile after all because nothing can separate us from the love of God in whose loving care we have been entrusted since before we were born….

Reverend Andrews is a minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach), located five blocks south of Hillsboro on A1A. This Sunday’s chapel worship is at 10 a.m. and the message is “From Small Beginnings.”

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