FROM
DISCARDS TO BOUQUETS
2
CORINTHIANS 5.17
DECEMBER
9, 2007
WESLEY
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Douglas
Norris
2
Corinthians 5.17, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new
creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become
new!” The Manteca church, where I was pastor for seven years, has
a rose garden. Not only do roses line the sidewalk from the street
to the front door of the sanctuary, but there is also a rose garden
along the side of the education building. For some time the rose
garden did not do well. The blossoms were small. Some of the roses
did not bud. Some of the buds did not blossom. Rosarians tell us
that one of the mysteries in raising roses is the riddle of why some
buds never get beyond the budding stage. A promising bud appears on
the stem but never opens. One of the mysteries of human life is why
some lives never unfold beyond the budding stage.
The
roses did not do well in the Manteca garden as long as they were
tended haphazardly by the custodian or whoever happened by. Then the
retired pastor who was part of our congregation volunteered to be the
rose gardener. At least three times a week, Frank came and tenderly
cared for the roses. He watered them, fertilized them, sprayed them
for aphids, and pruned them. I don't know if he talked to them, but
you could tell that he loved them. Then the rose garden came to
life. Suddenly we had gorgeous, large rose blossoms of red, pink,
white and all shades in between. When a baby was born, a rose from
the church garden was placed on the altar for the Sunday service and
given to the new baby and family.
It
takes a gardener who commits his/her energy, devotion, knowledge and
time to get beautiful roses. How fortunate we are to have a gardener
named Jesus who takes a barren life, prepares the soil, creates a
peaceful place, nurtures, prunes, waters, loves us. Then the grace
of God grows that blissful flower. “If anyone is in Christ, there
is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything
has become new!”
In
Manteca the annual Garden Club Flower Show was held in the church's
Fellowship Hall. One year while I was there, someone went through
the waste baskets, gathered up discarded flowers from the individual
exhibits, arranged them in a bouquet and won FIRST PLACE! “The
last shall be first.” From discards to bouquets. Jesus gathers up
the leftovers, the discards, and makes beautiful bouquets. God can
take people who feel barren, who feel like misfits, unnoticed by
others, people with low self-images—low self esteem, and make
prize-winning bouquets.
Sparky
was a loser. School was all but impossible for him. He failed every
subject in the 8th grade. Every subject! He flunked
physics in high school. In fact, he distinguished himself as the
worst physics student in the school's history. He also flunked
Latin, algebra, and English. He didn't do much better in sports.
Although he managed to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost
the only important match of the year. Then there was a consolation
match, and Sparky lost that also. Throughout his youth, Sparky was
awkward socially. He was not disliked by his classmates; he was just
not noticed. He was astonished if a classmate ever said “hello.”
In high school Sparky did not date. He was too afraid of being
turned down.
Sparky's
one talent was art. Of course, no one else appreciated his work. In
his senior year, he submitted some cartoons to the editors of his
class yearbook. His cartoons were rejected. But, Sparky persevered
and decided to be a professional artist. He even wrote a letter to
Walt Disney Studios. They sent him an application. Sparky spent a
great deal of time preparing cartoons to send to Disney. He mailed
his drawings and waited, and waited. One day the reply came—he did
not get the job.
Do
you know what Sparky the loser did? He wrote his autobiography in
cartoons. He described his childhood self—the little boy loser,
the underachiever—in a cartoon character the whole world now knows.
For the boy who failed the entire 8th grade, the young
artist whose work was rejected not only by Walt Disney Studios but by
his own high school year book, was Charles Schulz creator of
“Peanuts”, and the unforgettable character, Charlie Brown.
His
hometown, St. Paul, Minnesota, has erected statues of the comic strip
characters throughout the downtown area. His adopted home, Santa
Rosa, CA, where he and his children lived, has also immortalized
their town hero with statues and a museum in his honor.
Charles
Schulz had a deep faith in God, for his comic strip preaches the
gospel of Jesus Christ: how God makes winners out of losers, how God
grows roses in barren lives, how God creates prize-winning bouquets
out of discards.
“In
Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see,
everything has become new!” Will you ask Jesus, will you let Jesus
take your life and make a beautiful bouquet?
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