Tree of Life
Revelation 22:1-5
Stewardship Sunday, November 8, 2009
Today is the 3rd week of our annual Stewardship Campaign. This week we have to make some hard decisions as next Sunday, Nov. 15 before our Thanksgiving Meal we will all present our pledges of what we will give the church in 2010. So lets not beat around the bush…this is a sermon about giving. You know it and I know it. The reality is that financially we are struggling, according to last month’s board report we are over $16,000 in the hole for our operating budget. And so the stewardship committee has done good work, hard work to reduce our budget 2% for the next year, and all the while they are still honoring the people and the ministries that support the church and they are bravely stepping out to do new things, to take risks and to trust in where the Spirit is leading us.
In the past few weeks we have heard the details of our budget which demonstrated the transparency of the stewardship committee – in that they want everyone to know the reality of our financial situation – the celebrations and the struggles…and while a budget is news…even a budget with all plus signs and no negatives is not the good news we come here to receive. We are here because of the good news of Jesus Christ, and so today I want you to think about this church and the good news of Jesus – what it has meant to you in the past, what it means to you today, what you hope for in the future – but also I want you to think beyond yourself, beyond this building, beyond this community…and hear what the good news of stewardship is for all people and how we are called to give, how we are called to participate, to contribute, to share.
Our scripture for our stewardship campaign has not been, lets say, traditional. The stewardship committee did not choose a safe scripture from the Old Testament about tithing the appropriate 10% of your income, nor did they select texts on storing your treasures in heaven and not on earth, or the most popular response of Jesus: give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s – considering of course that all that we have is from God.
No our stewardship committee…the rebels that they are who often hold their meetings at Dairy Queen chose a scripture from Revelation. Sometimes when we hear about the book of Revelation we think of plagues and devastation, of weeping and gnashing of teeth, of judgment and rapture…now while that might be motivational for some folks, the stewardship committee does not think these are the end times, not at all. I don’t even think they thought of that as they chose this scripture because we are not a people of fear – we are a people of hope…a people of resurrection and that is truly what Revelation is about. That through struggle and pain, unpaid bills, anxiety, loss, and doubt… God is making all things new…
God is making all things new right now, not later, not once we get things straightened out, but now, right now, God is making all things new.
This is what we hear in our text and this is what we experience in our world. All around us there is pain and struggle, even our weather – while it has been beautiful the last few days – teaches of resurrection. We do not fear leaves falling, flowers dying because we trust that in the cold of winter…God is making all things new. And so a scripture from Revelation – the end – the story of the end, the end of our Bible is actually a beginning – as it is a picture of resurrection, an illustration of hope, a portrait of peace. John, the author of Revelation is retelling of his vision and that vision is of a world where God reigns, where there is no death or darkness, no poverty or oppression, no economic crisis, and no debates over healthcare. I want to say it is a world of joy and peace and love…but that is wrong it is not a world—it is our world that is full joy, life, peace, love, hope. The distinction is important because these things already exist, joy, life, peace, love, hope. We have experienced all of them and so this vision in Revelation is not totally abstract or unimaginable, it is the best of ourselves, the best of our world in full embrace of God…and while we are not there yet we stand in the liminal place of “already and not yet.” Already God is making all things new, already there is joy and love that is stronger than hate or fear or despair, already God is with us – but not yet do we all acknowledge God’s light, not yet have we ended poverty, not yet do we live in peace with all people, not yet do we see each person as a child of God…Already and not yet…
With this already/not yet mindset let us read our scripture again…
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever.
But let us look at the second verse a little closer:
On either side of the river is the tree of life* with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
There is much in this one line for us to explore. First of all the tree…when we often think of the tree of life we see one tree, the tree of life, but we read in this text that the tree of life is on either side of the river which tells me it is not only one tree…just like the largest gatherings of trees out here in Eastern Colorado are all lining the river, so too it seems the trees of life stand on the edge of this beautiful river. The trees stand together, they are different but connected, by the water source, by roots and by their very nature.
For the last few weeks you have seen this image – this tree of life – our tree of life. As we, First Christian Church, stand on the edge of the river we are one of many trees, standing tall…and the leaves of the tree (as the text tells us) are for the healing of the nations.
Our leaves look a bit different than those on the trees outside. These leaves are our hands – big hands and small hands – serve as the leaves…that when placed on the tree of life are for the healing of the nations.
I thought this was an odd illustration to be found in Revelation because while some leaves do have healing properties, this is not always true. Leaves are something we most often take for granted. Sure we have noticed them lately as we rake them into large piles and they continue to blow around our yards…but I went exploring into what this verse could mean and how it could impact us today. Last week we learned the science of clouds, this week it is leaves.
Here is a picture of the work of leaves:
*It’s in the leaves that photosynthesis takes place. Photosynthesis is the process by which the tree is able to use light (“photo”) energy to make (“synthesis”) food for the tree in the form of carbohydrates. The leaves work as little factories that separate oxygen and carbon from the sun, water and the air in order to give the tree what it needs to grow. What surprised me the most as I had my science lesson this week was in the way we look at the relationship between leaves and trees. I had always thought that beautiful trees grow leaves, but in fact the leaves are so important that they grow the tree. The leaves create food for the tree and store up enough food to last through winter to allow the tree to live, grow, thrive…
Already – not yet
So now let us look again at our image…and hear our scripture…the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Putting this in context…in this last verse of our Bible, as John is painting the picture of how the world should be, how the world will be when God is at the center…and we see that the power to move into the not yet…already exists…in our hands.
Our hands are for the healing of the nations!
In this perfect picture of our world each one of us has a responsibility to care and to share and to heal and to love and to share: To use our hands not only for our own care and well-being, not only for our own family, for our own church, for our own community, our own country…but for the healing of all the nations. Now when we hear something like that, something big and beautiful and yet abstract we say…I can’t, I don’t have the time, I don’t have enough money, I don’t have the energy. And that is right. No one of us has the time or the money or the energy or the drive to heal the nations, to feed the hungry, to run this church – and we are not asked too…it is not for the one tree…but for the leaves working together each one to grow the tree to heal the world.
Think about this if 100 of us would increase our giving of just $24 a week for the rest of this year, for the next 7 weeks we could make up for the $16,000 deficit.
When we take seriously the work of each leaf to grow the tree anything is possible!
And I’m not just talking about money. Stewardship is about working carefully, intentionally and generously with all that God has given us…time, talents, passion, and energy…we must be good stewards of it all. A church with all the money in the world but no one to sing, no one to learn or lead or pray or play is like a tree with no branches or leaves with no tree…it just doesn’t work.
*On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
We have talked about the tree and the leaves but let us pause in the middle…and think about the fruit. The tree of life produces twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month…is this one of those “not yet” things? I am not so sure. The tree of life meets our needs as our needs exist – it sounds to me a lot like manna. Remember with me the story of the Exodus as Moses and the Israelites fled Egypt and entered into the wilderness. They had no food and were very afraid, but God gave them manna, bread from heaven but it came with specific instructions…we read in Exodus 16:
This is what the Lord has commanded: “Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.” ’ The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.
What is amazing about the manna that is echoed in today’s scripture from Revelation is that God gives us what we need for today. Just as there was enough manna for everyone to have their share, the tree of life grows 12 kinds of fruit, one for every month, so it is sustained, there is always enough and a promise of—as we say each week in our prayer, “daily bread.”
Now let us hold this verse together as one…the tree of life – our church
The leaves – our hands – for the healing of the nations
And twelve kinds of fruit producing for each month
Take a moment to look at your hands. What have they done in this world, who have they touched, how have they worked, what strength do you have in your hands…how has the work of your hands grown your children or the grown a garden or a tree or the church…how have your hands healed a child or healed a nation…?
Reflect on the already…what have your hands done already in service to God in this world…how have you fed the tree of life?
And now again looking at your hands…imagine the not yet…what is there still for your hands to do, for God has work for all of our hands: Fruit for us to produce each month. As long as we live we are called to create and synthesize just like the leaves of a tree. Our hands are gifts from God so that we may bring gifts to God…by reaching out, write notes, play the piano, dial the telephone, hold another hand in prayer, cook and bake, rake leaves, turn the pages of your Bible, offer communion to others, feed the hungry and write your checks each week and your commitment for 2010 – all the work of our hands bring healing to the nations and grow the tree of life. We have done so much together…but there is so much more to do Amen.
-Rev. Selena A. Wright
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