Moving to a new place can be stressful.  I don’t have to tell
many of you this as you may just have experienced that in the last few weeks.  It was August 5^th, 2004 when the call came. “Kip,” the caller said, “This is Don Waddleton. I’d like for you to consider going to College Station and serving as the pastor of A&M United Methodist Church.”

I was in the car with my family, on vacation in the Hill Country, when I got that call. I had twenty minutes to talk with them and with God about the move. I felt as strongly as I’ve ever felt that this was God’s timing and I said, “Yes.” Of course, our world and our vacation were shaken up considerably.

Tammy prayed a little prayer, “God, I need some comfort.”  As I mentioned, moving to a new place can be stressful. She picked up a Bible belonging to the owner of the Hill Country house and opened it randomly to page 553, the 116^th Psalm. She read, “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.”

Then she looked across the page to page 552, which had a devotional inset .  This is what she read in “The New Student Bible” the night of that call, “ In Dallas, Texas, on January 22, 1922, Texas A&M fought it out in the first bowl game ever played in the southwest.”

The story, of course, is one familiar to most of you—Aggie running backs injured right and left. By half time only one reserve remained. Coach Dana Bible remembered hearing a student tell him, “I’ll be in the stands if you need me.”
       Coach Bible sent for E. King Gill, who suited up for the second half. The devotional insert was entitled, “The Twelfth Man”

Tammy closed the Bible and said, “Wow!”  Of course, we still had to move – to a new place, where we knew nothing of Aggieland. 

Eventually I learned the words to, “Texas, our Texas” and how to say, “Hullabaloo, Caneck, Caneck!”  I discovered that a two-percenter is someone who leaves before the game is over and that if you leave before the band presentation at half-time you are a reprobate (I have never done anything that bad).  In the last five years I have come to realize that while “some may boast of prowess bold of the school they think so grand, that there’s a spirit can ne’er be told – it’s the spirit of Aggieland.”  Now I understand that not everyone here is an Aggie.  I went to Southern Bible College whose student body numbered less than half of the nationally famous Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band.  However, this is a series of sermons entitled, “Fish Food for Everyone,” developed in honor of the 8,500 brand new Aggies.  Therefore, if you want to stand and join me in the proper posture for the final part of the poem written by Marvin Mimms in 1925, while he was a student here, please feel free:

A-G-G-I-E
Texas! Texas! A-M-C
Gig ‘em! Aggies! 1-2-3!
Farmers fight! Farmers fight!
Fight! Fight!
Farmers, farmers, fight!

A! Whoop!

For those of us that are not Aggies, let me explain why this yell is used in a sermon – it is because this cry for farmers to fight was given long before 1925 or even 1876.  It goes all the way back to the Bible.  With that chorus still ringing in your ears, listen to what Paul wrote to the Galatians.  It is found in Galatians 6:1-10.  Hear now the Word of the Lord:

¹My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. ⁴All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. ⁵For all must carry their own loads. ⁶Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. ⁷Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. ⁸If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

This is the word of God for the people of God.  In this passage Paul outlined the ground rules for a caring community of faith.  We are such a community: Aggies, Longhorns, Spartans, Buckeyes, and even Southern Bible College Lions. Farmers, fight; farmers, fight; fight, fight, farmers, farmers, fight.
 

Farmers, Fight for Accountability.

The first thing that Paul emphasized, as he moved toward closure to his letter to his friends in southern Turkey, was that they were to look out for each other.  If someone had been overcome by the impulse to do wrong, the upper classmen of the faith were to restore them with a spirit of gentleness.  They were to restore others (the Greek verb is used elsewhere as “mending nets”) carefully so that they would not fall prey to the same temptation.  You see this all the time when people confront violent regimes.  So often those who were severely oppressed, become the most ruthless oppressors.  There is a mutual accountability encouraged in the community of faith. 

I was surprised to walk by the Memorial Student Center last week and see the work that has already begun.  I noticed that they even had to fence in the lawn at the construction site.  I understand the need for this action, but I missed seeing the lawn that I have never witnessed anyone cutting across.  I have heard that if someone did take a misstep there was a quick response from any Aggie that might be around.  Anyone walking close to the MSC was going to be held accountable.

What if the church was as diligent in our care for the moral integrity of each other?  We are supposed to be.  We are to mend others gently and to bear each other’s burdens.  These burdens are those experiences in life that threaten to crush the afflicted.  I often see this when others are being crushed under the weight of grief.  I have this image of those suffering from the burden of grief as individuals being suspended over an abyss that threatens to swallow them up.  I envision friends and their faith community as persons holding the net that prevents the victims of grief from falling.  They hold them up through prayers, acts of kindness, caring conversations, and supportive visits.  This is the encouragement given to the community of faith – to be accountable to and for one another.  Farmers, fight; farmers, fight; fight, fight, farmers, farmers, fight.
 

Farmers, Fight for Responsibility.

Paul mentioned that not only should members of the community of faith be accountable for others, but we are to also be responsible as individuals.  Arrogance has no place in the community of faith.  It is easy for people who have privileges of position, possessions, and power and to look down on others.  Paul compared this to someone being so clever in trickery that they fool only themselves.  They think they are something, but they are really nothing.  Then Paul encouraged the Galatians to stop comparing themselves to someone else.  It is easy to elevate oneself by putting someone else down, but that is not responsible behavior in the community of faith.  Instead, we are to compare ourselves to our call, not someone else’s.  The Apostle wrote something sort of confusing in verse 5 when he told his readers, “all must carry their own loads.”  This he wrote only three verses after telling them to bear each other’s burdens.  The difference is in the noun.  “Burdens” in verse two is a crushing weight that one cannot endure all alone, while “load” in verse 5 is more like a backpack strapped to the individual for which each person is responsible.

One of the first things I learned here is that Aggies don’t lie, cheat, or steal.  Unfortunately, I have heard some students modifying that motto by adding, “Aggies don’t lie, cheat, or steal.  They elaborate, collaborate, and borrow.”  Those who uphold the integrity of the institution across the street do not accept this amendment.  Neither does the community of faith on this side of the street.  As Christians we are called to represent Christ in this world.  This calls for responsible living.  Next month we will be emphasizing every member in ministry and it is my dream that every member of this church declare at least two ministries: one outside of the church and one inside the church.  The staff of this church cannot and must not do the ministry of this church.  That limits what this church can do.  However, if every member of this church did one ministry that benefitted people outside of this church and one ministry that benefitted people inside this church, this would be an amazing church.  “All must carry their own loads.”  Farmers, fight; farmers, fight; fight, fight, farmers, farmers, fight.
 

Farmers, Fight for the Harvest.

After defending the role of full-time ministry, Paul moved into the metaphor of farming – sowing and reaping.  He began this section with a curious phrase, “God is not mocked.”  The phrase literally reads, “You cannot turn your nose up at God” or, “You cannot outwit God.”  Of course, that makes complete sense, but who among us has not at least considered the possibility?  “I know I should do that, but I think I’ll do this.”  Paul wrote, “If you sow to the flesh, you will reap stuff that doesn’t last, but if you sow to the Spirit, the harvest is eternal life.” Paul always refers to the harvest, consistent with the rest of the scripture, as an eschatological concept.  Allow me to unpack this word that we throw around every now and then.  Eschatology means the things that await us in the world beyond this life – it is the kingdom of God completely realized.  However, just like the picture on a pack of seeds influences the farmer, so this picture of God’s kingdom influences us.  Curtis Vaughan wrote of this eternal life that is promised, “This is life of a new and different quality; full and rich, life spiritual, God-like; begun here and perfected hereafter.”  The seed has already been planted.  The harvest is already anticipated.  Eternal life does not start after death, it begins when we believe.  So Paul encouraged those living that life to not grow weary.  I like how Ronald Fung, a professor at the Chinese Graduate School of Theology translated this phrase, “If we do not give up.”  He wrote, “If we do not become loose as a bow in an unstrung state.”

Wednesday was my mom’s 80^th birthday.  One of my brothers decided to surprise her with a birthday party and invited me to attend.  So I flew up on Tuesday afternoon and flew back on Thursday – a whirlwind trip in which I saw my dad in Findlay, Ohio, and my mom in Wolcottville, Indiana.  I also saw lots of corn, beans, peaches, apples, and berries in between.  I remembered the stories of Johnny Appleseed who travelled through that part of the country with a vision of a harvest that would take place far beyond his life.  The principle of sowing and reaping was being displayed everywhere we drove.  Of course, I was reminded of kairos too.  The time, kairos, God’s providential appointments, are here now.  I will not always be able to visit my mom.  She is not that old, but if I have the opportunity to celebrate her birthday with my siblings, I felt an urgency to do that.

The same thing is so true of our opportunities.  We will not have the opportunities next week that present themselves to us this week.  Fight for the harvest by sowing whenever you have the opportunity.  Paul wrote, “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” Notice that this is not a cry to only care for each other – we are to care for all, but especially for those who are family.  Moving can be stressful, but with the right community, the timing can be perfect.  Paul began this passage with the word that means “brothers and sisters” and ended it with a reference to the family of faith.  Now I’ve only been here five years, but I think that is the Aggie spirit.  Isn’t it reasonable that this family of faith would even excel beyond that kind of good will to all and allegiance to one another? Farmers, fight; farmers, fight; fight, fight, farmers, farmers, fight. Fight for accountability and responsibility as we seek a great harvest.  We have the opportunity now to provide persons with a community for a new place.  After all, moving to a new place can be stressful.  Amen.