As the new guy I was invited to deliver the message this morning.
I began with the Gospel of John.
The appointed Gospel for the Tuesday of Holy Week is John 12:20-36 (according to the Revised Common Lectionary).
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" 35Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.
I continued by reading a poem by Red Steagall, a cowboy poem and the voice of my childhood. I read the poem Born to This Land, a poem close to my heart and one that I can barely get through without choking up with tears.
It's a poem about roots and identity - the story of a family history and a legacy tied to land passed down from generation to generation. As the poet recounts, "five generations have called this ranch home, and I promise, it won't end with me..." This poem hits close to home because it could have been written about my family - German immigrants from the 1840s, farming the same land since the late 1870s. This poem is written in my bones.
Born to the Land
I've kicked up the hidden mesquite roots and rocks
From the place where I spread out my bed.
I'm layin' here under a sky full of stars
With my hands folded up 'neath my head.
Tonight there's a terrible pain in my heart
Like a knife, it cuts jagged and deep.
This evening the windmiller brought me the word
That my granddaddy died in his sleep.
I saddled my gray horse and rode to a hill
Where when I was a youngster of nine,
My granddaddy said to me, "Son this is ours,
All of it, yours, your daddy's and mine.
Son, my daddy settled here after the war
That new tank's where his house used to be.
He wanted to cowboy and live in the west
Came to Texas from east Tennessee.
The longhorns were wild as the deer in them breaks.
With a long rope he caught him a few.
With the money he made from trailin' em north,
Son, he proved up this homestead for you.
The railroad got closer, they built the first fence
Where the river runs through the east side.
When I was a button we built these corrals
Then that winter my granddaddy died.
My father took over and bought up more range
With good purebreds he improved our stock.
It seemed that the windmills grew out of the ground
Then the land got as hard as a rock.
Then during the dust bowl we barely hung on,
The north wind tried to blow us away.
It seemed that the Lord took a likin' to us
He kept turnin' up ways we could stay.
My daddy grew older and gave me more rein,
We'd paid for most all of the land.
By the time he went on I was running more cows
And your daddy was my right hand man."
His eyes got real cloudy, took off in a trot,
And I watched as he rode out of sight.
Tho I was a child, I knew I was special
And I'm feelin' that same way tonight
Not many years later my daddy was killed
On a ship in the South China Sea.
For twenty odd years now we've made this ranch work
Just two cowboys, my granddad and me.
And now that he's gone, things are certain to change
And I reckon that's how it should be.
But five generations have called this ranch home
And I promise it won't end with me.
'Cause I've got a little one home in a crib
When he's old enough he'll understand,
From the top of that hill I'll show him his ranch
Cause like me, he was Born To This Land.
In Christ we have a story with a similar trajectory. We who have been baptized into Christ have been born into God's kingdom. Christ, the self-proclaimed grain of wheat, was planted on our behalf, and he bore the fruit of new life for the world. When he was lifted up, all people were drawn to him. In that moment all people were born anew in Christ.
This is our story. For generation upon generation we have been telling this story of God's love poured out for the world. We are born into this story.
Holy Week provides time for reflection upon where we have come from as God's children and a chance to celebrate what God has done for us. It is also a chance to tell the story anew for those who have never heard.
Wherever you find yourself this week, I hope you take time to remember the story. Join Jesus at the table on Maundy Thursday. Sit at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. Ponder the mystery of the empty tomb at the Easter Vigil Saturday evening or early Sunday morning.
Share the story of God's love. Through Jesus, we are born into God's kingdom.
Peace,
Travis
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