When you hear the words “Moon and Stars,” you probably think about the night sky, or astronomy, or space exploration.

What you probably don’t ponder is watermelons.

But maybe you should. “Moon and Stars” was the name of a particularly valuable variety of watermelon. An odd and beautiful melon, it had yellow specks called stars and larger spots called moons. At one point, this “Moon and Stars” variety was feared to be lost forever, but then a group of people called “seed savers” pinned down a man who was still growing it. Because of the seeds obtained from him, the melon has been brought back to the point that it's now a commercial success. (Mary Beth Breckenridge, "Heirloom crops, flowers are often timeless treasures," The Charlotte Observer, October 18, 2001)

The return of “Moon and Stars” was a major melon moment -- especially to gardeners who are part of the world of seed savers and heirloom seeds. An heirloom seed is a type of seed that has been passed down through a number of generations, usually transmitted by seed savers who want to keep a distinctive variety alive.

Heirloom seeds are planted by people who want to enjoy fruits and vegetables that are “a taste of the past.” These seed savers know that many varieties of crops have been lost in recent years because fewer and fewer people save seed from year to year. Such gardeners believe that their heirlooms have better taste and tenderness than modern varieties, and they can also help protect crops from pest problems and disease.

These heirloom seeds are valuable, and seed savers passionately pursue them. You can’t find them in most seed catalogs, but instead you have to acquire them from other collectors. Typical seed-searches will include a Wisconsin woman looking for a “white pole bean” that had once been handed down in her family for 87 years. Or an Oregon resident wanting a “bird egg bean” dating back to at least 1918. Or a Missouri man offering to share seed from the “blue banana squash.” (Barbara McMahon, "American Style: The Kind You Don't Find in the Catalog," The Associated Press, October 4, 1979)

Does this sound odd? Well, maybe it is. But then again, it could be that the blue banana squash has taste and tenderness to die for.

As Christians, we’re not necessarily interested in major melon moments, but we do have a passion for cultivating righteous men and women. Psalm 1 says that “They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper” (Psalm 1:3). Our job, as a community of faith, is to be seed savers for these righteous trees.

The question is: How do we preserve this particular “heirloom seed”? If we’re going to become serious seed savers, we need to find ways to pass on the seeds that can grow into trees with “a taste of the past,” superior tenderness, and spiritual disease resistance. The challenge for us in the church today is to preserve these seeds and pass them on.

One crucial quality of this particular seed variety is a reverence for the Word of God. Righteous people delight “in the law of the Lord,” says Psalm 1, “and on his law they meditate day and night” (v. 2). The Word of God is nothing less than the stream of spiritual water that nourishes us and keeps us healthy, day by day. This means that Scripture study has to be an ongoing activity for the Christian community, study that involves a passionate and persistent investigation of what God is saying to us today through the ancient words of the Bible. Scripture certainly contains age-old wisdom and gives us “a taste of the past,” but it is never old-fashioned. God uses traditional words to give us inspiration and guidance for the facing of some very contemporary concerns.

Take the issue of purity. Purity has been a concern of God’s people since the earliest of times, and it is still a concern today. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, purity codes excluded foreigners and eunuchs from full participation in the faith community, but over the course of history this understanding of religious purity changed. By the time of Isaiah, both foreigners and eunuchs were included in the community because they honored God – purity had evolved to the point at which God’s house could be, as we say in our Sanctuary right here, “a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7). Then, in the New Testament, foreigners and eunuchs were fully welcomed -- welcomed through their faith in Jesus Christ.

But this leaves a question for us today. Who is being excluded now on the grounds of concerns about purity? Who is being shut out? Is it young people with tattoos and piercings? Immigrants with AIDS? Lesbian couples with young children?

Who is being excluded from this house of prayer for all peoples?

Susan Andrews, the moderator of our denomination and one of our upcoming 50th anniversary preachers at FPC, has an answer that can help us. "I believe that our purity battles today [do not] adequately reflect the unfolding notion of purity in scripture," she says. Over the course of the Bible, a purity of law turns into a purity of love, seen so clearly in the gracious and hospitable ministry of Jesus Christ. The challenge for us is certainly to preserve a “taste of the past” through Scripture study, but also to do the hard work of listening to what God is truly saying to us through these ancient words. Getting hung up on the purity of law does not help us to practice the purity of love … the kind so clearly recommended by Jesus Christ.

Purity of love. That’s the seed I want to see us planting here at FPC.

This brings us to superior tenderness, which is another characteristic of a Christian heirloom seed. Righteous people do not become hardened and insensitive by following the advice of the wicked, or taking the path that sinners tread, or sitting in the seat of scoffers (v. 1). Instead, they remain tender and compassionate and loving by walking the path of Jesus, the one who continually preached good news to the poor, blessed the children, healed the sick, ate with outcasts, forgave sinners, and called all people to repent and believe the gospel. Righteous people retain their superior tenderness by practicing these Christian virtues, by trying again and again to walk in the way of Christ.

Oddly enough, a long and challenging walk with Jesus makes you tender … not tough.

Not that we should be surprised by such a rigorous training technique – it’s been around for thousands of years. Since the time of Christ, it’s been known that if we want to be disciples, we have to be disciplined – the two go hand in hand. If we want to be tender and compassionate and loving, then we’re going to have to develop these qualities through day-to-day practice, repetition, and hard work, always making a disciplined effort to take a long walk with our Lord Jesus.

Of course, this type of training doesn’t simply benefit us. It also does an excellent job of communicating values to the next generation. Young people are always looking for role models, and they will naturally imitate adults who show admirable patterns of behavior. Whether we demonstrate faithfulness in marriage, an appreciation for education, a commitment to generous giving, or a pattern of compassion towards our neighbors, children will watch us and imitate us and receive the characteristics of whatever seed we transfer to them.

Heirloom seeds are not meant to be hoarded, you see. They’re designed to be shared and multiplied and passed through the generations.

Finally, the seed we save and share should have spiritual disease resistance. This comes mainly from passionate spirituality and vibrant community life, in a church where people focus on Christ, enjoy hospitality and laughter, and experience loving relationships. In most congregations, this is going to happen best through healthy small groups -- gatherings in which people can be honest with each other, provide support for each other, and share each other’s burdens and joys. When people concentrate on Christ and community, there is almost no limit to their potential for growth and fruitfulness.

Psalm 1 says that the righteous “are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper” (v. 3).

What a vision of vitality. Congregations marked by passionate spirituality, loving relationships, inspiring worship, exciting mission opportunities, and strong small groups can produce these trees – trees that yield good fruit, preserve their leaves, and continue to grow and prosper. These are the trees that are healthy enough to resist disease and decay, and to attract a new generation to the message of Jesus. These are the trees that spread their branches wide to save and include, not to punish and exclude. These are the trees that provide nesting places for the Kirn babies baptized today, and for the new members uniting with our congregation.

The seeds for these trees are worth saving, and sharing with others. They’ll make this church a healthy and fruitful place, not only today, but for generations to come. Amen.

 

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