God is a Farmer and Jesus is a Carpenter
Granddaddy was both. The depth of influence that our ancestors make upon us is still transforming our world. Granddaddy’s family had influences that made him an advocate for peace and built respect in his relationships with those of other ethnicities. I watched my grandfather in his relationships with our neighbors and saw the friendships they shared. He built a home for the African American woman who took care of me as a child. “Uncle Robert” was an African American man who would bring us barbecue to eat whenever he cooked a pig. We shared in the processing of our hogs that were killed in the winter. We shared the abundance of our gardens with one another. We were a community together.
With all of the connections in life and the relationships we shared, it was interesting that we did not attend each other’s churches on Sunday morning. Some would count it up as a cultural thing. Others would say that it has always been that way. Maybe it had more to do with our religious culture of gathering where we built comfortable places that we all could be. Our comfortable places of gathering failed to hold us accountable in the difficult places of our lives where sin had sway. Our comfortable places ensured that we remain unchallenged in the ways that were not friendly and welcoming at all. The comfort that we strived to maintain only demanded no more than a prophetic voice speaking to draw us back to our Creator who placed us in the garden.
The Garden is a prophetic existence. It is a place where all we need is provided. It is a place where we can walk in the presence of God because all injustice and sin have been removed from us. It is the WORD, God, manifest in Christ Jesus that is eternal. It is that place of holiness (Whole Ness) where we are one with our God. The God of creation spoke a word and created. It is a WORD spoken by a prophet named Martin Luther King, Jr. that calls us again to live in the Garden. This WORD reminds us of who we are in all our diversity that we are each a reflection of our Creator. God is still providing a garden in which we can live.
Jesus Christ is the Carpenter that is constructing our hearts into lives that reside in the Garden. Granddaddy built more than houses. His life impacted my life in a way that he built my house. My life was framed by the words he spoke in and over my life. His life still lives large in me as an attribute that reflected for me the Savior Jesus Christ that he knew. I still draw from the strength I found in my grandfather as he lived out his life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. When I return to my home and visit with those neighbors who are African American, they don’t know me as Gil. They always will say, “you are Roger’s grandson” to which I beam at the remembrance of my Granddaddy.
Who is speaking or has spoken into your life? Who are you speaking to and providing an example of Christ’s love for our day? Martin Luther King, Jr did not speak so that you did not need to speak. Dr. King spoke in solidarity with Christ who speaks over all our lives. Both of these have spoken so that we will speak and walk with our creator in the Garden, inviting others to join us in this walk. My God is a Farmer and Jesus his son is a carpenter. My Granddaddy was both and so am I, how about you?
Winning them to Jesus,
Gil
If you would like to view past editions of A Moment with Gil, follow this link: https://beacondistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/