I received an advertisement the other day “How to plant a Church.” They had four easy steps one could take in order to start up a Church. I was glad to throw that right into the circular file. Happily we don’t have to plant a church. All we need do is prune, fertilize, water, nourish the one we have. We have received a healthy Church, planted by others, and our role is to help the gift we have received to continue to thrive. But if we have learned anything from Renew My Church, the one thing we cannot do is take the Church for granted. A Church is not a mountain, majestic, imposing, eternal. A Church is a living thing, something planted, which needs care and tending if it is to survive. What exactly does that look like, the ongoing care of a Church? Today St. James remembers, celebrates, rejoices in the African-American heritage which is part of our story. Looking at that story we can see that St. James has been and continues to be a good tree which bears good fruit. Looking at some of those fruits produced in the past provides us some guidance on how to continue to produce good fruit in the future. I’m sure that St. Edna could do a similar exercise. Since we are celebrating the ancestors who’ve come this far by faith I looked up (on the internet so it must be true) what are the most popular fruits in Africa to illustrate our story.
Bananas are, of course, popular in African. Have you ever watched Tarzan? The primary fruit that created St. James was a focus on God. That might seem obvious – isn’t that why Churches exist? To focus on God? But if you think about it when we focus on God we are not focusing on ourselves, our prosperity, making ourselves feel good. In fact, putting our attention on God can frequently make us uncomfortable. Seeking God means encountering the one who sends rain on the good and the bad alike, the sun to shine on the worthy and the unworthy. God can be found in all things so we bring joys and sorrows, health and sickness, life and death into our prayer and worship. Having God at the center of our lives means we live in awe at the glory which is all around us.
A fruit unique to African is monkey bread. The Baobab tree soaks up gallons of water in the rainy season to create its fruit which nourishes many creatures in the dry season. A fruit related to our focus on God is coming to the understanding that we are the children of God. We don’t have to do anything to become a child of God since it is something God has already loved us into becoming. The ancestors lived as children of God despite the trials and tribulations which made up their daily grind. In fact, one of the glories of being a child of God is that you can turn hurt into healing. Since God has made us and God doesn’t make junk we can transform the slings and arrows into moments of grace. As the song goes, “we’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in his holy word, he’s never failed us yet.” Being a child of God means we lean upon those everlasting arms.
Mango is a fruit that originated in India but is now common in Africa. A major fruit of St. James is hospitality. This goes back to the days when the neighborhood changed during the Great Migration. St. James which had been bursting at the seams with European immigrants in its early days shrank to a shadow of itself until the parish decided to get over what was and to embrace what is. Once they decide that all are welcome in this place the parish was reborn. This central part of our identity is not simply being sociable and welcoming. No, practicing hospitality is the concrete expression of recognizing that everyone, in all of our glorious diversity, is a child of God. We welcome the rich fabric of humanity because we see in everyone the very face of Christ.
Jackfruit is not well known in the United States but is a staple in Africa. It can stand for the fruit of community. The hospitality that we offer is not a one time thing but the inauguration into a new way of being. There is an African proverb: I am because we are and we are because I am. Instead of the individualistic mindset so common in the United States where it’s every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost, in community we discover how much we need each other. This experience of meeting people where they are and inviting them to give their gift to the whole changes us. As a human being, all that we are —our humanity, our personhood—is fostered in relation to other people. That is, of course, not limited to those inside these four walls. All the people in our neighborhood and beyond have a claim on us and we on them. Social justice, racial equity, food insecurity are all woven into the fabric of our life as a community together. It makes us a village.
Finally, dates are a Middle Eastern fruit that now is enjoyed throughout the world. Let’s say this fruit stands for the willingness to change. To grow is to change. To grow perfect is to change much. We do not know what the future holds in store but we can see looking at our story that change is a constant. We must approach the future with open hands and hearts. Every tree is known by its own fruit, Jesus said. Our history has produced a tasty fruit salad from the many contributions of those ancestors on whose shoulders we stand. The challenge for us is to build on what has already begun and make our contribution to this glorious heritage.
