1 Corinthians 3:5-11 Pentecost 7
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace-Tucson, AZ
July 12, 2026
Godly Gardeners and God-Given Growth Having been here in Arizona for a very long time now, when I go back to the Midwest, I’m fascinated by things growing SO fast where there is no caliche and the ground is black, and easy to shovel, and rich with nutrients. I guess I kind of forget how much farmland there is back there and how many people have backyard gardens and flowerbeds. Gardens get planted and go berserk in just weeks. And soon enough as those few summer months progress, there are abundant fruits and vegetables! People work hard to make that happen. I don’t know much about farming, really, but I know that farmers are hard workers. And I know it takes effort to get the home garden soil prepped and plant the seeds and water regularly and pull the weeds out. The woman who has planted the seeds and done all the right things and the farmer who has put in all that work getting things into the ground don’t actually make the plants grow, do they? No, it’s all the science-y things that go on under the soil and inside the plant. That’s what makes it grow. Well, that’s not really the whole picture, is it? Who created the way things grow? He’s the One behind the science of it all! It’s God who makes the things grow, right? The green-thumbed gardener who takes home the praise and the prize for the most beautiful flowers or greatest vegetables might take all the credit, but the truth is, none of that grows if God doesn’t make it happen. Things are very much the same when it comes to the garden of God’s Church. The Apostle Paul uses the picture of planting and watering and working and growing to help us understand our role as Godly Gardeners and remind us that God Gives the Growth in his Church. Godly Gardeners Since I don’t know if there are raging debates over who the greatest farmer of all time is, let’s try this: who is the G.O.A.T.—the Greatest of all time? • • • • •
Michael Jordan or LeBron James? It’s World Cup time, so is it Messi, Ronaldo, Pele, or Diego Maradona? Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart? Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods? What about Kassulke or Koehler?
Ok, one of those sounds even more ridiculous than the Jordan/LeBron debate, doesn’t it?! (because that’s obviously Jordan). The church in the city of Corinth had this pastor popularity thing going on where some said “I belong to Paul,” others, “I belong to Apollos,” and others, “I belong to Cephas [Peter] (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).” It had started to sound like sports or music fans arguing over who is the greatest. The church had become divided as people followed their favorite pastors.