Grace, mercy and
peace be unto you from God who is Creator, Christ and Comforter. Amen
The fourth week of our very quick run through of
Revelation! Isn’t it awesome to be at
the end! Next week? We get to look at Genesis and John so New
Beginnings prevail for these next two weeks!
The last two chapters of
Revelation are something else to read!
It’s so full of imagery that poets and artists have tried for these last
2,000 years to formulate for us to see.
But, how do you describe, how do you paint, how do you draw the
indescribable?
A new city coming down – so
heaven is on a new earth? Or is this
vision something that comes through a whole new existence…perhaps in another
dimension? Can this bring us hope, as
close as we have come these past few weeks with destroying this planet – 29
fires burning in our state alone that aren’t controlled, and threats of nuclear
war coming from North Korea and our President, as well as floods in our country
and all of the chemicals and other nasty things polluting the Gulf waters with
Tropical Storm Irma brewing…. and devastating floods in Bangladesh, Nepal, and
other places around the world?
I don’t know the answers to
those questions.
Here is what I do know. The Book of Revelation was written
specifically to seven churches in what we know as Asia Minor – Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each church was faced with challenges and
this book, written in a genre called “Apocalyptic” was supposed to bring them
encouragement and hope as they faced their specific challenges. John shares this vision he had as he was led
by his Spirit Guide and this whole book swings us from events on earth to
events in heaven, circling around and around until at last, it’s all over. There is peace. God reigns with the Lamb who was Slain (i.e.
Jesus) sitting at God’s right hand.
And in the middle of it all
is a tree. A tree with 12 kinds of fruit
and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
A tree? Where else in the Bible do we find a
tree? Two other places come to mind for
me.
Genesis – in the garden of
Eden there are two trees that are forbidden to eat their fruit. Both are beautiful. Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil – because the serpent enticed them to do so –
and they became fully aware of their separation from God and from each other. Their intimate relationship to God was
broken, and God took them from the beautiful garden because once they ate, they
knew they could not stop! They were
clothed by God and sent out so that they would not eat of the other tree – the
tree of life – could this be the same tree of Revelation? Eventually their relationship to God was
restored, but not without pain and sacrifice.
The Gospels – in Gethsemane
there is a tree, but three trees.
They’re not beautiful, and yet
one of them is. Jesus, God’s only son
hangs there, and dies there…and the world has not been the same since. People who follow Jesus’ teachings know of
his love for each and every one of us – intimate as that is. We remember that tree here with a larger than
life cross that hangs over our altar. It
reminds us of the pain and sacrifice that this tree held, and it was visible
for every human being alive in that time to see.
Revelation – this future
tree that will heal the nations using its leaves. This tree that will produce a different fruit
each month for the nations to eat. There
will be no more pain and sacrifice – and no more dark terrors of the
night. All nations will gather there and
be in God’s presence, in the presence of Jesus who will be our light forever
and ever.
And, we live between the
trees – we are the created and fully formed human beings of Genesis. We are the saved and redeemed human beings of
the Gospels. And it’s between these two
trees that we live and move and have our being until that day when Jesus comes
back and we get to see that final, beautiful tree of John’s vision.
So what do we do in the
meantime? I think our tasks are pretty
clear. We invite people to become part
of our community where we have found hope, and love, and meaning, and purpose. We encourage our neighbors and friends with
words, and works that let them know we are indeed Christians – the real kind of
Christians – that welcome ALL of God’s people – no exceptions, no
exclusions.
We work together to bring
about God’s vision of peace as best we can.
This is why we work at Christian Outreach in Action (COA), and at
Habitat for Humanity, and for New Life Beginnings, and all of the other
organizations we support. This is why
you have the Lutheran Disaster Response insert in your bulletin today. Because we are called by the Gospel Jesus
preached to be in action for the lost, the least, the last and the little of
our planet.
We can look at the tree that
hangs in our sanctuary and find hope and healing – even when life is scary and
uncertain.
And…even when life is good…we
can look at the cross and remember that our many blessings, our talents and
abilities come directly from God’s hand to us… through us…for the sake of the
world and those we love.
This Labor Day Weekend, it
is my prayer that you think about the significance of this holiday in your own
lives, and that you look around you and think about someone you know who is
working hard and finds life has no real meaning.
Pray about how you can
introduce them to Jesus, the carpenter, who showed us how to be fully human,
and bore our pain and suffering, so we don’t have to do it alone. God ALWAYS gives us more than we can bear –
because we aren’t supposed to bear it alone – we are created by God to be in
community and to be supported by God whose love knows no bounds.
Between the trees – that’s
you and me – may we find comfort and hope and peace and God’s amazing grace
there.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
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