“We Grow Roots”

Ephesians 3:14-21

July 27, 2003

St. Paul United Methodist Church

Rev. John Fleming

I love telling the story of the preacher who was on his way home from a preaching engagement in another town. He was tired, worn out, and ready to be home. He was ready to sleep in his own bed and to see his three daughters. It was a Saturday evening and he still had Sunday’s sermon to write. He was hoping to do that on the flight home. He was sitting in the terminal, when a young woman with a microphone announced that it was time for people with tickets in the first fourteen rows to board the plane. So he picked up his laptop computer and his briefcase and he made his way through the gate and down the long tunnel to his plane. He found the fourteenth row, stored his briefcase in the bin just above that row, held on to his laptop computer for sermon writing purposes, and scooted into his seat on that row. His was the middle seat of the three, seat “E.” The preacher breathed a sigh of relief. You see, it looked like he was going to have all three of the seats to himself. He was excited about the possibility of stretching out and not having to be polite and chit-chat with someone that he probably would never see again. He looked up just in time to see her barreling down the aisle of the airplane. The preacher could tell that she was looking for her row and for her seat. She paused at the tenth row and then she started counting, “Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen… The preacher knew that any chance of stretching out and relaxing was about to sit down next to him. Yes, the fourteenth row was her row and the seat near the window was her seat. She started talking even before she arrived at their row. “They sure do put these seats close together, don’t they?” The preacher politely rose out of his seat, scooted to the aisle, and made way for his seatmate.

Now to appreciate this woman, you will need a description of her. I will draw it with words. She was no ordinary looking woman. She had basset hound cheeks. You know the kind that droop down below her jaw line. Her eye brows peaked above her nose and when she smiled (and the preacher could already tell that she loved to smile) you could see all fifteen of her teeth.

Just by looking at her, the preacher could not tell a lot, but he could surmise that she had never flown before. When she got settled in her seat, she confessed that she had never flown before and when she asked the preacher if he had, her eyes got as big as saucers when he told her how often he flew. She said, “Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhwweeeeeee. That must be fuuuuuuuuuuunnn! This woman, you see, could add syllables to any word. The preacher thought to himself, “This is great! I am tired and worn out. I have a sermon to write and sitting right beside me is Gomer Pyle’s mother!” This woman looked out the window beside her and said, “Oooooooooooooohhh. Would you look at the size of that plane over there?” When the preacher glanced over, she asked, “Do you reckon that our plane is that big?” When he answered, “Probably” she smiled. Then she began to tell a little bit of her story. She said, “I’m on my way to Dallas to see my boy. You ever been to Dallas? I hope that he is all right. He had the stomach flu last week. You ever had that? He’s got himself a new dog and I’m anxious to meet her.” Not only could this woman add syllables to any word, she also had the spiritual gift of answering her own questions. The preacher decided that she had learned to do that after being ignored a time or two.

Their trip to Dallas was about to begin. Two flight attendants made the announcement about how their seat belts fastened and how their seats could be used as flotation devices. When the plane began moving forward with great speed in anticipation of taking off, the woman suddenly got quiet. Real quiet. The preacher looked over to make sure that she was all right. Her eyes were as big as saucers and he listened as she let out a squeal that would call any pig home for dinner. “Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhwweeeeeee, those trees down there look like

peat moss!” When the flight attendants made their way around the cabin to take drink orders the preacher ordered a coke, by secretly wondered if he would need something a little stronger. The woman beside him, well she asked for the possibilities. When she made up her mind, she giggled and said, “It’s just so hard to choose.” When the drinks arrived, she said, “Now isn’t that a cute little bottle!” when she saw the glass bottle that her apple juice arrived in.

That is how it went all the way to Dallas. This woman did not miss a thing. She played with the light and the air above their seat. She called for the flight attendants three or four times and giggled when they showed up. She looked out the window and she was amazed at the magazines. It she wasn’t talking, she was “Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhwweeeeeeeing. When their plane went through a little turbulence, the preacher looked over at her to make sure that she was all right. By the look on her face, you would have thought that she was at a county fair riding a Ferris wheel. The preacher tells that they were half way home when he realized that all of the people on the plane, including himself, she was the only one enjoying the ride. There was a businessman in front of them who had been on the phone since they took off. There was a woman behind them who was ordering beers, two at a time. And the preacher, well, he had begun to work on his sermon. He was staring at a blank screen trying to write a message for stress filled people when the message was sitting next to him. He might have missed the message altogether if she had not turned to him near the end of the flight and said, “I might be out of place in telling you this, but you need to relax, boy. Put that machine up and enjoy the journey!” The preacher smiled politely and made a feeble excuse. When they landed, he watched as they came to the gate. She skipped her way to the baggage claim area. He looked at her and it was then and there that he decided to keep his eyes wide open. It does little good, he reasoned, to make the trip, but to miss the journey. I like telling that story because of it’s last line, though I suspect that I get a little joy out of describing and embellishing this sweet and thoughtful lady. Listen to the last line again, “It does little good to make the trip and miss the journey.”

One of the things that I love to say in sermons and when I talk to people about joining our church, is that we are all on a journey, in this life of ours, towards God. The trip begins early and extends until forever. Sometimes we are right there, on the road, close to God. Then there are those other times, those often times when it feels like we cannot even see the road ahead of us. I suspect that we have all felt that way at one time or another. For me, my journey began a little over thirty-five years ago I think that the apostle, Paul, was a good pastor. He wanted more than anything those that he pastored to understand how important it was that they have this journey with God. I believe that Paul got on his knees. I think that he desperately and with all of his emotions prayed for the people in Ephesus and Corinth and Colossae and for all of the other people in other towns that he pastored. Paul prayed that these people would come to know God and to be found in Him. He kneeled at his bed before he went to sleep and prayed for these people. For three chapters, Paul has anchored the Ephesians with theology. He is about to turn to them to say, “These are the things that you have to do!” But before he offers those words, Paul prays for them. He prays. He prays for them and asks three things.

You need to know that there are always words of preparation before you pray. Before you can get to the heart of the matter or to the meat of the issue, there are introductory words to our prayers. Usually the introduction to prayers go something like this, “Lord, it is John Fleming again. I am having a good night. I would like to lift up these things to you.” Paul comes to that prayer time and he says, “I get down on my knees. Everyone belongs to God’s family.” There is no English word that fits the word Paul has in mind here. Family here means an extended family. It means not only my wife and daughter, but my brothers and sisters, Susie’s brother, our nieces and nephews, and our parents. Family here means everyone in the family. Paul says that he wants everyone to be included, so that they can be found in Christ. Everyone is included, in whom every family in heaven and on earth takes it’s name. No matter what you have done or what you have become, everyone is included in this family that Paul has in mind.

I heard of a family who was vacationing near Greece. Their college aged son was not able to go on the trip. He was making up for the mistakes he made during the previous semester. He had tried his parents, pushed the limits. He received a postcard with these words on it, “Dear Son, we are now standing high on the cliff from which the ancient Spartan women once hurled their troublesome children to the rocks below. Wish you were here.” Paul would not send such a post card. He wants everyone to be included in the family.

Paul prays for three things. Sometimes I read the Bible, especially Paul’s letters, and after I have read it, I say, “Huh?” So I read it again and sometimes I still say, “Huh?” I found a translation this week that I think will help us. The first part of the prayer is translated this way, “I ask God to strengthen you by his Spirit - not a brute strength, but a glorious inner strength - that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.” You have known those people, have you not who have this kind of strength. I am amazed when I meet them and hear their story. Their’s is a powerful witness. They have been through something sometimes devastating and yet they are strong. I am amazed at the strength that they have inside their souls. Where did they get such a strength? How to you obtain it? We talked this morning in the Transitions Sunday School Class about the Goza family. Most of you know that the Gozas have just come home from a long hospital stay in Houston where their son, Ian, has been for treatment for Leukemia. Since November, the Goza have struggled with the disease and now that they are on the healing side of it, I have to wonder where they found the strength to go through that. Paul prays that everyone will have such a strength.

Which leads me to the second petition of his prayer. Paul prays that the Ephesians will be rooted and grounded in love. Roots are important, but you know that. Some of you know that before we moved to Little Rock in 1998, we lived near Camden. When we moved to Arkansas in 1994, we put all our money in Worthen Bank. Then Worthen changed to NationsBank and then to something else and with their last change, we decided that we would change banks. To be honest with you, our checkbook was in such disarray that starting over was the only hope we really had. Now don’t laugh at me. Some of you have been in similar situations. Susie left it up to me to choose our new bank. There were three other ones in town. We had church members working in at least two of them. I chose First Bank of South Arkansas because of one of their advertisements. I loved their catchy slogan. That is not a way to choose banks, but that is what I did. On a billboard near the bank, was a picture of a tree. You could see the tree’s root system and beside the tree were these words, “Other Banks Grow Branches. We Grow Roots.” Now I know it was their way of saying that they believed in the Camden community. They did not know. How could they know that some seven years later, I would use their slogan in a sermon. Our children were up here a few minutes ago singing the songs that they learned this week in Vacation Bible School. There are two things that we must give our children. These two things are the things that we must not fail to give them. The first is roots and the other is wings. I think that Paul would agree with that. We need roots so that when things happen, we will have the ability to endure.

Finally Paul says, “You will be able to take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its lengths! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives...” Do you know what that means? It means that you cannot exhaust the love of God. It means that you can go to the highest height and have the biggest celebration and there with you is the love of Christ. It means that you can go to the lowest depth and experience the worst day of your life, and the love of Christ is there. Then listen to the last line and Paul’s last piece of advice, “Live full lives...” Or, as the woman on the plane puts this, “You need to relax, boy. You need to enjoy the journey.” Let us pray.

(Special thanks to Max Lucado for the opening story in this sermon. I have adapted this story of his. I understand it to be a true story. Thanks also to Rev. Billy Strayhorn for the story about the college student who received the post card from his parents. Special thanks to the advertisers who came up with the idea for First Bank of South Arkansas. And thanks to those in my life who have given me both roots and wings. May God bless them).