Red or Green: Is It Just A Color War?
Pastor Mathew Magera – 9/27/15 – Sermon 120
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
You've probably read the
sermon title already. You're itching in your pews just waiting to hear what is
about to be said about one of the biggest rivalries in rural America. The two
colors that come together oh so nicely during the Christmas season just don’t
fit so well together when it comes to tractors. You've probably heard some of
these pokes and prods too. People say, if it's red, leave it in the shed. They
say collecting tractors is like eating watermelon, you keep the red and throw
away the green. They say red means stop, green means go. They say the redder
the better. And, what do you call something that's red and looks like a
tractor? A mistake. I'm sure you've heard them all. You could say the church,
and when I say church, I mean the church at large, is a big supporter of green
because more than half the year the color in churches is green. However, some
could also say the church is a big supporter of red because when it comes to
special occasions for the church, chances are the special color of those days
is red. And, let's face it, blue is only seen four times during the year so
it's not even close to competing.
But, is it really just a
color war out there? As we have looked outside to see the beautiful machines
that are sitting in the parking lot, I want us to think about what brought them
here. Was it pride? Maybe. Was it hope? Perhaps. Was it prayer? Also possible.
What brought these tractors here today? These tractors are here today because
someone spoke up and said we have a community of people around us that work
their exhaust pipes off year round and aside from speeding past the acres and
acres of their property we need to pray for them. These tractors are here
because farming makes our country great. The ability to plant, grow, harvest, raise
animals, and to display a work ethic that is disappearing from corporate
America, this is something we need to be in prayer for. We don't want to lose
our farms. We don't want farming families to feel like we have given up on them
for our top floor office building in some large city somewhere. We need to be
in prayer for our farmers, for their families and for their tractors.
Speaking of prayer, I want
us to think about that reading from James today. I know it's not printed for
you, but you can look it up if you want to. Did you notice that prayer is
mentioned 7 times in our reading this morning? No matter what color of tractor
is your preference, the work they are used for is heavily dependent on faith
and prayer. We have faith in the maintenance of these tractors so they may do
their jobs in and out of each season. We have faith in the weather that the
elements may not allow our tractors to succumb to wind, rain, snow, mud. We
have faith in those who operate these tractors that they may display great care
in their ability to maneuver them safely from place to place. We have faith
that our tractors will start when it is cold. We have faith our tractors will
not overheat when they get too hot. There is a lot riding on our tractors being
in top shape when it comes time for them to be used. If they aren't
operational, it could make a very big difference in how the entire farm
operation runs.
When many of the world's
uncertainties are thrown our way, the success our farms have each year remains
out of our control. We may work the fields, we may raise the animals, we may
maintain our equipment, but there is no telling what might happen as early as
tomorrow. How can our farmers live with such uncertainty? Perhaps years of
experience can help to predict the results of a given situation but even then
there are some experiences you know of that even with years of experience
nothing could have prepared you for something quite like this.
How can we live with such
uncertainty in our world? The faith of a farmer is something quite remarkable.
They will keep working until there is no work left to be done. They have a
confidence about them even in the stickiest of situations. They execute great
risk in their work. They risk their families, their future, their health and in
some cases their lives each and every day. The faith of a farmer is something
to be greatly admired. Still, even the most faithful of our farmers is not
perfect. They are human beings just like the rest of us. They have bad days.
They get angry. They get discouraged. They are even capable of making mistakes.
But they are still part of our community. They are still part of us. We are
still a part of them. They work hard not for themselves but for the up-keeping
of this world.
Yet, even when the most
faithful person is not perfect, God's faithfulness to us remains as perfect as
it was in the beginning. God proves to be the one who decides, the one who
acts, the one who encourages, and the one who oversees our farms. The one who
is perfect protects us who are not. The perfectly oiled Holy Trinity works
together even when our perfectly oiled tractors are not so perfect every once
in a while.
This blessing of our
tractors today is not just about the tractors themselves. It is about what they
represent. You can't go down a road, see a tractor and not think about our
farming system. You think about the corn fields they pass by. You think about
how they till, plant, harvest, mow. You think about the animals you see out in
the pasture. You think of the amount of man power it takes to care for that
expanse of land that seems to reach the horizon. When you see a tractor, it
makes you think of all of this. The blessing of these tractors today is about
the part of our world that we drive past while we are on our way to get
someplace else. Farms, for many of us, are just sights to see, or smell in some
cases, as we have our eyes fixed on a destination that is beyond them. Farms,
for many of us, cause frustration as we drive because while we may be going
along just fine on one road, it might suddenly end as it comes up to a piece of
property forcing you to find a way around. Farms, for many of us, cause us
delays when we get stuck behind that one tractor that takes up three quarters
of the roadway. It's time we stop passing by these places as something along
the way or as a hindrance to our lives, but to embrace them and pray for them.
We should be ever mindful of them because they are helping to keep our life
sustained by the work they do.
From our reading from James
today, "Is anyone among you in trouble?" Notice James says
"anyone". He doesn't specify or leave anyone out. Is anyone among you
in trouble? Is anyone happy? Is anyone among you sick? This is the whole
community we are talking about here, not just those who live between the sign
posts that say Trufant on them. So, is everything okay? Is something going
wrong? Let us pray for them. Let us pray over our farms and help and support
them. Any of us can do it. It doesn't need to be reserved for Sunday mornings
either. It says Elijah was a human being, even as we are. God is reminding us
that we don't need to be a certain type of person to pray, all of us can do it.
We don't need a theology degree or pastoral care training to pray for our
farmers. Just do it. "Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed
earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and
a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth
produced its crops." There is power in prayer and our prayers have that
power. That is why are gathering our tractors. We are doing it to honor the
true hard work that takes place beyond what we can see and to give thanks to
God for those who have the ability to do the work that some of us just can't
even comprehend.
Okay, this is all good and
fine. Pray for our tractors. Pray for our farmers. Pray for their families.
But, what happens when something still goes wrong? In our world, the inevitable
unpredictable roadblock always appears. Someone gets sick. The weather just
won't improve. The tractor just won't start. What then? Did our prayers fail?
Did God not hear us? Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to understand how
God answers prayer. We just don't. Sometimes we pray for one thing and we don't
get the answer we want. God give us a green tractor and it breaks down. God
gives us a red tractor and it breaks down. We are still living in a broken down
world. However, God still listens to our prayers. God still hears us when we
call out to him. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Even Jesus prayed
during bad times. When he was sure he was going to die on the cross he prayed
that God might not let it happen. He didn't want to endure that pain and
suffering so he actually asked God to take it away from him. But, most
importantly, at that point, Jesus prayed that God's will might be done. We
don't understand God's will, but we can trust it. When things don't go our way
in the fields, with our tractors whatever color they may be, we can easily be
discouraged. But, when we gather together in prayer, God hears us and God
answers us. It may not always be in the way we desire, but God answers us. God
is faithful to us. Even when we don't understand why things happen the way they
do. There is a great hymn that talks about God's faithfulness, in fact, in just
a moment, we're going to sing it. The second verse says "Summer and winter
and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above; Join
with all nature in manifold witness, to thy great faithfulness, mercy and
love." We can be confident in God's faithfulness to us. We can offer our
prayers to God during times of trouble, our praise in times of joy. We can ask
for healing in Jesus' name when someone is sick. And just like Elijah and many
others in the Bible who are just your average human beings, to us, we are
encouraged to pray and to know that God hears our prayers and will answer them
according to His will, a will that we cannot see from where we are right now
but will be slowly revealed to us until its ultimate completion.
So, as you can tell, there
is much more going on outside than a battle between red and green. It's not
just a color war. And if you are looking for me to declare my loyalty to a
certain color tractor, you're not going to get it. I grew up with a pastor
whose office at church bled green, yet between the two colors just as colors, I
like red better. For me, if they work, I'm happy for you. They are incredible
pieces of machinery that we can all say we are grateful to have taking on the
work that was all once done by hand. Joke all you want about one color over
another, regardless of what color your tractor is, it is a symbol. Regardless
of what color your tractor is, you have faith it will do its job. You have
faith in each piece you or someone else placed inside it. You have faith it
will be spared from the elements that might cause it harm. And for us that do
not have tractors, who drive around in our compact sedans, minivans, SUVs and
pick-up trucks, we are praying that God will keep our farmers safe. We are
praying that God will reveal to us His will. We are praying that God will give
us favorable weather, fruitful seeds, a bountiful harvest, a healthy farming
family, and a well working tractor. The power of prayer is amazing. Anyone can
do it. And as forgiven children of God saved by the death and resurrection of
Christ, God is able to hear our prayers and He wants us to bring our concerns
and our joys to him and our requests as well. Great is Thy Faithfulness. Just
don't expect God to turn your neighbor's tractor a different color, it may not
work that way. May God bless our farmers, their families, their hands, their
tractors, their fields, their animals, their land, and may God bless their
souls, lead them to the saving power of your love and keep them in the name of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to whom be the glory now and always. Amen.