Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Okay, I’ve heard this question now three times during the past two weeks: “Why do you have a lawn at your cabin? Vacation or weekend homes are supposed to be free of that stuff.”

I have to admit that my cabin is a lot of work. A lot more than I ever expected. This time of year I have to be there at least once a week. Preferably I like to go up on Friday night and back down on Sunday morning. However, the past two weekends I have had other commitments on the weekends and I have had to just go up there on Monday. I have watering to do. I have a lawn to cut. I have other gardening chores that need to be done regularly this time of year.

“Why?”

I admit that I could have a yard of dirt and rocks and cedar chips like the majority of my neighbors. Instead I do have a substantial lawn, which is very unusual for the Lake Arrowhead area. Not only do I have a sodded lawn, but I actually water it and I also fertilize it so that it is country club green. I have 12 rose bushes and a number of other plants that need regular attention.

“Why?”

It’s because, if you haven’t yet learned about me, I enjoy outdoor work, which to me can very often be a very mindless activity. After dealing with people and their problems day after day for a week at a time, there is nothing better or more enjoyable for me than to push a lawnmower or a wheelbarrow for an entire day, both of which are exactly what I did all day yesterday. In the course of all that work is exactly when I had this thought: the attention and concern that I show to my lawn and yard at my cabin must be exactly the same as – or at least very similar to – God’s attention and concern to and for this world, to and for you and me.

Imagine for a second if this world were perfect. Imagine if this world were uncorrupted just as it was when God created it and declared it all “very good” [Genesis 1:31]. If that were the case, what would God do with all His time? If God didn’t have to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week solving all the problems we get ourselves into, what would He do with all His time? If God didn’t have to be available 24/7 to hear all our prayers and all our complaints, what would He do with all His time?

But, of course, we know all of that not to be the case. This world is far from perfect. This world is far from uncorrupted. God does every day solve the messes we get ourselves into. And God is always available to hear our prayers – and our complaints.

That was the whole point God made through Moses to the Children of Israel. Listen again to these words God commanded Moses to speak to the Israelites: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” [Exodus 19:4].

God didn’t have to do any of that. He could have left the Children of Israel languishing under the heavy burden of slavery in Egypt. He didn’t have to effect the ten plagues upon Egypt. He didn’t have to guide them through the desert for 40 years. He didn’t have to provide them leaders like Moses and Aaron, Miriam and Joshua. He didn’t have to give them a set of rules to follow in life. He didn’t have to carry them on eagles’ wings, ultimately leading them into their “Promised Land.” God didn’t have to do any of that – and yet He did. Why?

That question is truly as unanswerable as is the question why I have a lawn and garden at my cabin. While we may not be answer “WHY” God did any of that stuff, we can be sure He did it. We know all that because it’s recorded for us in the Bible, His true, living and active Word, His account of His interaction with human beings, His account of His interaction with you and with me.

Listen also to this great news: “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” [Romans 5:6]. Why? You’ve got me there! Why care about an imperfect world? Why care about a corrupt world? Why care about people who intentionally get themselves into one mess after another? Why care about people who are constantly bringing to you their cares, concerns and complaints, people who are not the joy you thought they would be?

Why? Because God is our Father and we are His children, His prized possessions, the crown of His entire creation. As imperfect, corrupt, messy and complaining as we are, as much work as we are, God loves us. He can’t stand the weeds of sin, death and Satan to invade our lives. Instead, He went to great lengths and to great cost to show His love to us in Jesus Christ, Who indeed invaded our very existence to suffer, die and rise again for us – for you and for me.

On this Fathers’ Day, as our thoughts go back to the many “WHYs” we each asked our earthly father, let us today change our words to God. Instead of asking Him “WHY?,” let us each today say “THANK YOU” to our Heavenly Father for going to such great extreme lengths to show His love for us and to maintain a personal relationship with us. Let us each today say “THANK YOU” to our Heavenly Father for the multiple ways that He continues to carry us on eagles’ wings and bring us to Himself.

Today is Sunday. For me, that means five short days until I will again load my lawnmower into a car and haul it up the mountain to care for my lawn. But God is already at work in each of the lawns that we call our lives, tending them as only He can, tending them as only He knows why.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena