Recently I attended a special service at a local church. The congregation placed a time capsule in the ground near the corner of the their church property one hundred years after they were founded. Over 60 individual family packets plus items representing the church as a whole were included. The date the capsule is to be opened is January, 2112.
A proverb of our day is recorded this way, "Every seed sown is a prayer of faith for tomorrow." In my own remarks on that day, I noted that as one who was raised on a farm and was now standing among farmers, no one ever planted seed and expected to gather the harvest in one day. Time had to pass and work had to be done to insure there was a chance for reaping a mature crop.
Along with all that work there was also a measure of hope that things would go well with the elements that were out of the farmer's hands, primarily the weather. He could prepare the soil, plant the seeds at the proper time, plow out the weeds, and make sure the harvesters were ready when the time came. Yet the growth itself was out of his hands as surely was the weather.
So it was for the faith of this congregation as they lowered that time capsule into the ground. They performed this symbolic act in faith that a congregation would gather one day a hundred years in the future and raise that box in the midst of a worship celebration. That future congregation would celebrate 200 years of faithful work in the name of the Lord. Part of their celebration would be to give thanks for the people who served the Lord in faithfulness a hundred years earlier and made their own present a possibility.
For that generation to be there to open the capsule, however, like the farmer planting the seed, work must be done between now and the time of the harvest. The current generation must be faithful in its spiritual growth and ministries. It must be faithful to teach its children and the generation that follows the proper path in following their Savior. This generation must teach by word and example. This generation must teach the next generation to do the same.
The work of farming does not stop because the seed is in the ground. The hoe and the plow must be put to use. The crop must be protected from straying animals. Pests and weeds must be controlled. The workers must be ready when the time comes to bring in the harvest.
So it is with each one of our congregations. We must create healthy and fertile climates in our spiritual families that will nurture the seeds we plant. We must know what seed we are planting and then be diligent to plant when the time is right. We must recognize what is not of the spirit of Christ and eliminate it from the family of God. At the same time we must recognize that we cannot reach sinners if we send them all away. As Jesus noted, you must be careful how you pull up the weeds lest you destroy the grain (Matthew 13:24-30).
We must teach our people to bring in the harvest, to be prepared to share the gospel and lead someone to the Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace. We must teach them to have compassionate hearts, sensitive souls, and minds that are submitted to the Holy Spirit. We must teach them to teach those who will follow after them so those will teach others in generations yet to come.
How sad it would be that the time capsule so carefully covered by faithful hands should one day be uncovered by a bulldozer clearing ground for a new building unrelated to a worshiping congregation because that church no longer existed. How sad it would be if one generation chose not to do the work of cultivation and so the crop died in the field bearing no fruit. How sad that the fruit of a congregation's faith disappeared leaving nothing but a note in a history book.
It doesn't have to be that way. The harvest could be thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold. It takes work, it takes commitment, and it takes faithfulness. We are all leaving a time capsule in the lives we touch. Who will find them, and when opened will they be more than an odd curiosity?
