Roots Before Fruit

Planting a garden is no small task.

Finding the right location. Planning the beds. Preparing the ground. Planting the seeds. Weeding as they grow. Fertilizing. Pruning. Watering. Weeding again. Harvesting. Preserving. Storing food and seeds for the next season.

During World War II there were victory gardens. Today we have permaculture and self-sufficiency in our social media feeds every day. But the reality is the same.

It’s a lot of work, and it’s not meant for individuals to do alone.

It’s not just throwing seeds in the dirt.

A lot of voices online will tell you all you need is space and a dream and it will all work out. Just believe hard enough and it will happen. That sounds a little like when Jesus says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed… you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.” (Matthew 17:20)

I believe that verse. But believing that doesn’t mean we don’t pick up a shovel. Faith does not replace work. It directs it. God does not usually move the mountain while we sit and watch. He moves it as we begin digging in obedience. He prepares a way if it is His will. But we still have to show up.

That’s what happened the first year of our community garden. God prepared a way for this community garden to be successful the same way he prepared the way for the early followers of Jesus.

Much like the early church in Acts, people moved toward a common goal. Not a political goal or a personal platform. A Kingdom goal. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And that didn’t look mystical.

It looked like donated tools, plants being carried in the back of trucks, equipment being shared, and people offering their skills, their time, their knowledge of soil and irrigation and compost. It looked like action.

The book of Acts tells us that the believers spent time together and had a common purpose. No one claimed their possessions as their own. They gave to anyone who had need.

Acts also tells us:

“The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

People were drawn in not because the early church had power, or because they controlled the culture, or because they won arguments, but because they lived differently.

In a world shaped by empire, they practiced generosity. In a world shaped by status, they practiced humility. In a world shaped by fear, they practiced trust. They were not trying to overthrow Rome or seize control of the system around them. They were forming a community shaped by the Spirit and focused on the common good.

We live in a world that feels just as loud and divided. People give themselves to politics, to money, to influence, to whatever promises stability. We argue about leaders and systems and who is right. It is easy to believe that whoever controls the most power controls the future.

But the early church chose something quieter and far more lasting. They shared what they had. They opened their hands. They trusted that obedience mattered more than dominance.

Last year, something like that happened here.

Some gardeners came from Mt. Washington United Methodist Church. Some were from other churches and other denominations. Some are still figuring out what they believe about God. Some may not claim belief at all. And yet they worked side by side. No one asked for political alignment. No one required full agreement on everything. People simply showed up and offered what they had.

Not everyone contributed in the same way. Not everyone moves at the same pace. In the same way not every plant produces at the same time or grows at the same rate. There were areas of the garden last year that did not produce much. That does not mean those spaces are finished. It may simply mean roots were establishing. It may mean the soil needed another season. It may mean something different will thrive there this year.

Plants do a lot of work underground before you ever see fruit. Energy goes into roots before it goes into berries. Strength is built before abundance shows up. The absence of fruit in one season does not mean the absence of growth.

Walk through any garden and you will see it. Some plants move quickly. Lettuce and radishes seem ready almost before you expect them. Others take patience. Asparagus can take a few years before it really produces. Not everything grows at the same speed, and that is not a flaw. It is design.

If everything matured at once, the harvest would overwhelm you. If everything struggled at once, nothing would sustain you. Diversity is not accidental in a garden. It is what keeps it alive.

Diversity is not weakness. It is health.

The early church did not grow because everyone looked the same or moved at the same speed. It grew because people offered what they had and trusted that God would weave it together over time.

We should not expect uniform growth. We should expect faithful growth.

Some of what was planted last year may bear more fruit this year. Some gifts that were quiet may become visible. Some who stood back may step forward. Some who carried weight early may find rest while others rise.

That is not instability. That is life.

The garden will continue to grow. Not all at once. Not in identical ways. But steadily, if we tend it and allow God to do what He always does beneath the surface.