Grow Deeply

In the heart of southern Africa is a large desert that encompasses 350,000 square miles. It is called the Kalahari Desert and it traverses Botswana and several other countries in the southern half of the African Continent.

While the Kalahari desert is not the most arid of places on earth, as it does record enough rainfall to support desert life, it is none the less a desert. And deserts are hot, dry, and generally hostile places for most life — particularly plant life — to thrive.

However, within the Kalahari desert resides a very special tree called the Shepherds Tree. Here’s a photo of it (shepherd’s tree photo).

As you can see, there’s not a whole lot of green in the picture. Its pretty bare out there. So what then is it that allows this particular tree to thrive in such an unappealing growing environment? Well, it’s because it has learned a very important piece of information about the source of its life. It knows that it has got to find water, and it knows where to get it.

As we continue our journey though the Gospel of Luke this Summer we have come to some very important teachings of Jesus. Today we are in our 3rd week of a series called “Rooted” where we are exploring our Wesleyan Theological heritage and what it looks like for us to live out our faith as United Methodist Christians.

Today’s topic isn’t really unique to us as Methodists, but it is certainly something that we used to own the market on. It’s the value of growing deeply.

What this means is that we aren’t satisfied with simply being “Christian” in name. We aren’t interested in just saying a prayer that says “I accept Jesus as my savior” and then going on to continue to live as though following Jesus has no consequence on our lives. We are interested in growing deeply in and investing in our own spiritual development. And we do this because it’s not easy to thrive in this world if we are simply baby Christians for our entire lives.

It is deep growth that allows us to fall further in love with God and further in love with God’s people. It’s what allows us to be active in what God is doing in the world, rather than sleeping through it, unaware and unconcerned about the plan and purpose that God created us for.

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells this story to illustrate the posture that we are called to take on as we live the life of disciples of Jesus:

Luke 12:35–48 NRSV

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

Now, let’s not hung up on all the slave and beating language — what Jesus means is servants or employees. And, well there’s nothing to soften the language of beating. Apparently before there was an HR department this was how being employed went. So, you can just thank the world we live in.

So if Jesus is the master and we are the servants or employees, what Jesus is getting at in his story is that those who have declared their allegiance to Jesus would do well to be ready at all times to serve Jesus and be ready at all times for the return of Jesus.

Now what this doesn’t mean is that you need to doomsday prep and build a bunker. I’m like 100% sure that when Jesus returns you won’t want to live in a bunker. The world is going to be so so good, like beyond our wildest dreams. Much more enjoyable to live in than a bunker filled with canned goods.

Rather what this means is that while we live out our lives here, we are to be continually growing and living out our faith in a way that keeps our focus on Jesus rather than all of the other distractions and desires that we face on a daily, hourly, moment to moment basis.

See Jesus ends his teaching by saying that much is required and demanded from those who have been given much. So this means that if we are here, if we are following Jesus, if we are people who have said “Jesus is Lord of this world and Jesus is Lord of my life” then we have been given so so much. We have been granted the greatest gift — the gift of eternal life — and what is expected of us upon reception of that gift is a life of faith that is lived out through a dedication to growing more deeply and becoming more like Jesus.

In 1729 in Oxford, England a young man named Charles and three of his friends started meeting in the spare time between their academic studies in order to attend to the study of faith. They were coined “The Holy Club” and soon, when Charles’ older brother John Wesley joined the club, they were known for their devotion to spiritual practices which included:

translating New Testament Greek

visiting the sick and imprisoned

devoting themselves to prayer

faithful attendance in worship

being diligent in attending small groups

serving others

giving financially

inviting others to participate in this way of living

They met daily from 6-9pm to attend to these practices, and they were so rigid and methodical in their adherence to this way of life that they were given a derogatory name: The Methodists.

These Methodists were not the only group of Christians who were devoting themselves to spiritual practices and spiritual growth. Many before them and many of their contemporaries had formed similar societies devoted to such ways of living. However, what made John, Charles, and their friends unique was the way that their motive for this way of life and growth was centered on loving God and loving people more.

While others may have been focused on looking pious or heaven forbid — earning salvation — the Methodists were focused on fulfilling this call of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:14–19 NRSV

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Being rooted and grounded in love, for the purpose of being filled with all the fullness of God is the reason that we, as Methodists today, dedicate ourselves to grow deeply in our faith.

Being rooted and grounded in love is how we thrive in a world that can seem as hostile to life as a desert. And we thrive because we have learned that the source of life is the deep and abiding love of a God who sees us, hears us, and has a purpose for us in the midst of the mess of our lives and our world.

The shepherds tree has learned to thrive in the desert by doing one thing incredibly well. It knows that its source of life is the water that enables it to complete all of the respiratory and photosynthesis processes needed to survive in the world. It has learned to grow deeply. Literally. (show root photo) The shepherd’s tree has the deepest recorded root system in the world— a stunning 230 feet. It was accidentally discovered by people digging native wells.

This depth, which is 10 times the height of the tree above ground is what gives the tree its ability to continue to thrive, even when rain is sparse.

We also thrive in the midst of the deserts of our lives when we have learned to and committed ourselves to growing deep deep roots in our faith. And here’s the good news about this: Sometimes growing deeply is hard, and sometimes growing deeply seems like it’s not doing us any good.

John, after spending many years in the Holy Club of those early Methodists had a crisis of faith. In the belly of a ship on the way to America, he faced a crisis of faith. The ship weathered a storm so fierce that it seemed they would soon perish. John was terrified for his life and afraid of what might still await him on the other side of death. He learned that his faith might not be as solid as he had hoped. It might not be as well rooted as he believed.

And in the midst of this crisis he noticed the calm and peace of some Moravian Christians on the boat. And he felt convicted that perhaps he needed to grow more.

Upon returning to England John met a man named Peter Boehler. Wesley would later say that meeting Boehler would be “a day much to be remembered,” because meeting him would change Wesley’s life. Boehler was a German bishop in the Moravian church, of the same Moravians who impressed Wesley with their faithful calm amid that storm.

Wesley confessed to Peter Boehler how much he was struggling with his faith and his doubts. He was set to preach the next day and told Boehler that he was “clearly convinced of unbelief,” and was tempted to not preach tomorrow. He wondered in his journal how he could “preach to others when he had not faith himself?” He asked Boehler whether he should not preach, and Boehler said he should.

Wesley asked him, “But what can I preach?” Boehler replied, “Preach faith till you have it, and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”

To put it in lay person’s terms, practice the faith until you have it. Then because you have it, you will practice faith.

If you are in a place in your life where you feel like your faith is weak, or you are unsteadied by doubts or disbelief, then practice the faith until your faith is strong. And then then you can practice the faith because your faith is strong.

I don’t know that a shepherds tree ever wonders why it’s growing roots when they aren’t hitting water yet, but I do know that it just keeps growing them.

For us, growing deeply is a lot about just showing up for our spiritual life. It’s not about knowing why or how things draw us deeper into the fullness of God’s love. It’s not about figuring out the minimum amount required of us. It’s not a science experiment of finding the right combination or an economic system. It’s a life long journey that is rooted in one simple but ever important reality:

Outward and visible practices are only effective if they transform your inward self.

We are on this journey of growth for the purpose of transformation. This is the point of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. He came to transform lives and to transform the world. And he has called us to continue that work. So stay attentive. Attend to the spiritual practices that will help you to grow deeply.

This week simply pick one thing you aren’t doing that you are going to do more of.

Prayer, reading scripture, attending a small group, serving, giving of yourself.

Devote yourself to that practice this week, and see how it helps you cut through the distractions of the desert. See how you grow deeper and closer to the deep and abiding living water of God’s love that is waiting for you. See how it transforms you.