Series Title:
Gardening in the Desert
Anchor Image:
Gardening in the Desert (get some videos at the Desert botanical Gardens?)
Threads: Isaiah
58:11
GOD will always guide
you,
giving relief in a sun-scorched land,
and
giving strength to your bones.
You
will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Each week we will
explore
1. the concepts as applied to the physical world
2. the concepts as applied to my personal
spiritual struggles
3. the concepts as applied to how we are called
into the wider world (justice and compassion)
Week 4 – August 26
Frame: Harvest
Deuteronomy 24:17-22
You shall not deprive a resident alien or an
orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. Remember
that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there;
therefore I command you to do this.
When you reap your harvest in your field and
forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left
for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless
you in all your undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what
is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.
When you gather the grapes of
your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the
orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt;
therefore I am commanding you to do this.
My
favorite table grace, I am told, comes from Argentina. In its original Spanish
it goes: “Bendice Senor nuestro pan y de pan a los que tienen hambre y hambre
de justicia a los que tienen pan
Bendice Senor nuestro pan.” In English it says: “God
bless to us this bread. Give bread to all those who are hungry, and hunger for
justice to those who are fed. God bless to us this bread.” I like this prayer
(which also has a musical setting)because it captures the biblical connection
between our food and the hunger of the poor. There is a direct link between
food and justice. Food is not given to us to sate our own desires. Our food is
in effect everybody’s food. Anyone’s hunger is an indictment of our
selfishness.
This
is seen in the instructions given in Deuteronomy (as well as Leviticus) that
fields are not to be harvested completely. In fact much of any harvest is
already spoken for. Of course there was the temple tithe, ten per cent right
off the top- the first fruits. But beyond that this instruction is given to
leave intact the edges of the field, to leave in place any forgotten sheaves,
and to allow grapes to remain on the vine. In each case, these are for “the
alien, the widow and the orphan.” In Leviticus it says more directly that these
are for the poor. It was Israel’s social safety net, their social security. And
moreover, these instructions are not given in the spirit of what our culture
derisively calls charity. These acts of compassion are directly indicative of
the character of the people of Israel. Israel is not ultimately concerned with
the bottom line (i.e. making every available dollar from the fields of crops).
It is more important that there be food available to the unprotected poor and
even non-citizen aliens because “you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” This is
the essence of the Christian idea that we are “in the world but not of the
world.” In some sense, we are still strangers in a strange land. Remembering
that, we hold compassion for other sojourners as a core value.
And
so as we come to the culmination of our series on Gardening in the Desert, we
arrive at harvest time. But that arrival beckons us to recall that this harvest
is not just for us. My peace gardener friend says that gardening is an act of hospitality
because it provides food for whatever strangers may darken our door. We are ready
for unexpected visitors. Spiritually speaking, when our lives bear fruit it
provides a harvest for something beyond just our own benefit. God blesses us so
that we might also be a blessing to others. Just as our physical garden may
bring bounty enough to feed the poor, so our spiritual gardens may produce that
harvest of grace, love, or justice that those around us are hungry for.
In
that spirit of sharing our bounty, maybe this Sunday should in some way be a “spiritual
farmers’ market.” It may be empowering to name what grows in our gardens, what
we have been given and what we are willing to share. How are our spiritual
gardens empowering us to do the acts of extravagant hospitality?
I
offer the table grace as a framework for Sunday’s Studio: 1. blessing, 2.
hunger for food, 3. hunger for justice, 4. blessing. It is a cyclical movement.
We give thanks for what our gardens grow. That gratitude can feed the hungry.
That awareness opens our hearts to the needs of others. Which brings us back to
gratitude. In the framework of
Deuteronomy: we give thanks for the harvest, leave the edges of the field for
the poor, working for the day when all are fed equally, which will be a day of
great thanksgiving indeed!
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