A Home in Your Heart – Br. James Koester

Br. James Koester

Preached at Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin, Boston

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 17:22-31; John 14:15-21

Over the last several weeks I have been busy in the greenhouse and the kitchen garden. I have begun to create a food forest by planting some fruit trees. Last week another Brother and I set up two bee hives. I have all kinds of things starting in the greenhouse. As I dig, and plant, and watch, a long-ago memory comes to mind as I remember that as a five-year-old, I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. As I stand surveying the garden a deep sense of satisfaction comes over me as the dreams of that five-year-old unfold all over again.

And I am also aware of something else. I am aware of the presence and mystery of God. What I am doing as I dig and plant may not be prayer in the technical sense, but it is prayerful, and I am aware of the presence and mystery of God.

One of the great wonders for me is not who God is, but how God is known. And God is known, at least to me, not just in moments of rapturous prayer, but in the ordinary moments of life and death, even, in moments of digging and planting. Those moment in the garden may not be prayer in the technical sense, but they are prayerful, and it is in those moments of digging and planting that I know myself to be searching, even groping for God. Sometimes it is in those ordinary moments of life, as I dig and plant, that I even find God.[1]

One of the great privileges of my life is not so much standing at the altar presiding at the Eucharist, or even administering Holy Communion. One of the great privileges of my life is sitting where I do here in this church, and watch people receive the Sacrament. I try not to stare, but sometimes I can’t help it. Over the years I have seen thousands of people receive Holy Communion, and it never ceases to move me, as I see you stretch forward to receive the Bread of Life and grasp the Cup of Salvation. Watching as people receive the Sacrament may not be prayer in the technical sense, but it is prayerful, and I am aware of the presence of God. In those moments of watching, I know myself to be searching, even groping for God. Sometimes it is in those ordinary moments of life, as I sit and watch, that I even find God.

I have come to know that God has made a home in my heart when I dig, and plant, and watch. I have come to know that God has made a home in my heart when I simply gaze, and come to see the promise of Jesus fulfilled, that those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them. I have come to know that God has made a home in my heart when I dig, and plant, and gaze, and discover that in these ordinary moments of life, God is reveled to me.

And that leads me to wonder, when did you come to know that God has made a home in your heart?

The journey of discovery that I have been on for the last number of years, all began, or began again, with a conversation over supper one evening with my friend Annie. Annie was a beekeeper and almost the first thing she ever said to me was, James you HAVE to keep bees. I did not know it then, but I do now, that in that moment God was again preparing to make a home in my heart. It is when I am in the garden digging and planting, or sitting here gazing as you receive Holy Communion that I know God is being revealed to me, and it all began, or began again, when I started to pay attention to the bees.

You can’t be a beekeeper, certainly not one who isn’t stung, unless you learn to pay attention. You can’t see God, as God is revealed to you, unless you pay attention. The garden and the bees have taught me, and taught me again and again, to pay attention. When I pay attention, I may not be praying in the technical sense, but it is prayerful. When I pay attention, I discover God once again making a home in my heart, as the Divine One is revealed to me.

God is revealed, and makes a home in our hearts, in as many different ways. For me, God makes a home in my heart through gardens and bees, hands and faces. I come to know God as I pay attention, and when I do, amazing things happen. Simply paying attention may not be prayer in the technical sense, but it can be prayerful.

God makes a home in our hearts in as many different ways as there are people. For me, God makes a home in my heart through digging and planting, friends and bees, and a word of truth spoken and received. How does God make a home in your heart?

One of the wonders for me is not so much who God is, but how God is known. Over the years I have come to know God through a variety of people, and in a number of situations. Each time I have found God making a home in my heart I have found my heart enlarged or broken, broken open, or broken apart. And each time that has happened I have come to know something new or even something old, about God and myself.

So, what about you? How has God made a home in your heart? How has God enlarged or broken, broken open or broken apart your heart? How has God shown you something new or even something old about God or yourself?

Right now, God is making a home in my heart though digging and planting, bees and faces. But what about you? What about you? How is God making a home in your heart?

In today’s gospel, Jesus reminds us that “those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (John 14:2). Paying attention when I am digging and planting, tending my bees, and gazing at faces during Holy Communion may not be prayer in the technical sense, but it is prayerful. When I pay attention, I discover God is once again being revealed to me in the person of Jesus, and a home for God is made once more in my heart.

[1] See Acts 17:27.