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| "tree of life 11" by melanie cook, on Flickr |
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
And in the spirit [one of the angels] carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
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 forever and ever.
John 14:23-29
Jesus answered [Judas (not Iscariot),] “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”
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Hanging over my desk in my office is a big tapestry of the tree of life. Against a black background the tree is embroidered in vivid colors. It’s branches twist and turn, filled with green leaves and flowers of all colors. Nestled in its branches are peacocks, monkeys, feathered birds of all shapes and colors. Elephants stand beneath the tree and leopards crouch. Beneath the land is a picture of the sea, with orange fish and yellow starfish and rocks and seaweed and hermit crabs.
The image of the tree of life is one that shows up in a wide variety of religions and cultures. For all of them, the image of the tree of life symbolizes eternity, perfection, the world at an ideal state; the tree of life is something that connects us to our origins, our future, and to the whole creation.
For Christianity, the vision of the tree of life that we get in Revelation is a parallel vision of the tree of the knowledge and good and evil in the garden of Eden. The Biblical narrative begins with creation and ends with new creation. It begins in a holy garden and ends with a holy city. Our human story begins with the tree that symbolizes our fall, and ends with a tree of life that symbolizes our redemption.
We are living between these two trees, in world that is a mixed-up jumble of brokenness and salvation. Christ has been raised and we have been promised resurrection, but we are still waiting for the salvation of all things. Theologians call this waiting space the “already but not yet.” Because despite Christ’s resurrection, there is still war in Syria and there are still refugees seeking a home. There are still hailstorms and floods in Texas. Climate change still looms. Discrimination and violence still prevail.We are still waiting. We are living in the already but not yet.
In the midst of our waiting, Jesus gives us two things two sustain us. He gives us his peace and he gives us his Spirit.
The peace that he promises us is not like peace that the world gives. It does not depend upon armed peacekeeping forces or treaties or economic sanctions; it is not fragile. HIs peace is eternal, as sure and flowing as the river of life.
Jesus also gives us his Spirit. Last week, we talked about the Spirit as the presence of God that always goes ahead of us, drawing us outside of ourselves to see God at work in the world. Today, we speak of this same Spirit as the one who accompanies us through all this troubled life, who gives us the assurance of God’s comfort, who gives us the strength to trust God’s promise of a new heaven and a new earth. A new holy city with its gates flung wide open. The light of Christ illuminating it all. Everything restored. A river of life. A tree of life. A world at peace.
And even though we aren’t at the point of fulfillment yet, the Spirit daily sustains us with glimpses of the tree of life blooming in our midst.
Yesterday morning, I sat and ate egg bake and muffins with more than fifty saints who volunteer regularly at the food pantry. I learned that through their commitment and effort, the food pantry housed in this very building kept 19,857 mouths fed in 2015.
Last week, I sat in a room of eager plotters and planners to put together a bare-bones plan to offer a summer feeding program for hungry students in Decorah, something that will serve kids who rely on free and receded lunch during the schoolyear, and for any hungry kids who need some nutrition in their hungry bellies while school is out of session.
The leaves of the tree are for the feeding of the nations.
How many of you stopped in your tracks when you entered the sanctuary this morning to see nearly every pew covered in quilts? I think that this must be a record year for our do day ladies! By their hands, we have all of these gorgeous, warm quilts. By your small donations, we have the means to ship these quilts across the globe. By the good work of Lutheran World Relief, this quilts will make it into the hands of brothers and sisters all across the world who lack basic needs and who, by the warmth of these quilts, will know the warmth of the Spirit.
The leaves of the tree are for the warming of the nations.
Last night, students, staff, and community members gathered up at Luther College to hold a rally against sexual assault, the last in a series of events commemorating April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Last week, Decorah Congregational UCC held a “breaking the silence” worship service and workshop to give voice to what is often the silent suffering of sexual abuse and assault survivors.
Two weeks ago, we hosted a workshop in conjunction with our synod about stopping human trafficking. All of these and similar events are not just about bringing awareness, but also about showing that people of faith stand in solidarity with victims, that the church should be a safe space for survivors, that by coming together as a community, we can offer healing and hope.
The leaves of the tree are for the courage of the nations.
Friday, the Olympic Torch was brought to Geneva, Switzerland, to the United Nations headquarters, where it stood as a poignant symbol of unity among nations and peoples. The UN Secretary General not only lauded the Olympic Games as a symbol of shared and peaceable humanity, but also lauded the International Olympic Committee for the formation of a Refugee Olympic Team for this year’s Olympic Games, for those athletes who have been forced to flee their homes and their homelands. This team stands as a sign of international solidarity and hope for all refugees.
The leaves of the tree are for the peace of the nations.
Last night we baptized baby Ethan, in the presence of his parents, sponsors, family, and church family. Together, we renounced sin and death and affirmed the powerful faith in which we baptize, the faith in a God who brings life out death, who brings order out of the swirling waters of chaos, who brings peace out of the tremors of the earth. Baptism proves to us that God has the power to do the unlikely and the impossible, that forgiveness and grace are offered to us like low-hanging fruit from a heavy-laden tree, that we are blessed and loved and are nothing other than children of God. Baptism is our sign that God has flung the gates to the city wide open, and offered us water from the very river of life, water that blesses, water that cleanses, water that quenches thirst, water that refreshes, water that makes us whole.
The leaves of the tree are for the refreshing of the nations. The leaves of the tree are for the forgiving of the nations. The leaves of the tree are for the loving of the nations. The leaves of the tree are for the blessing of the nations.
The tree of life that stands in the middle of our vision of new heavens and new earth is no ordinary tree. It’s not just a glimmering apple tree or a giant majestic redwood. It doesn’t just have stunning pink flowers or shining birch bark covering its trunk. Because when all of those other trees of nature pass away, the tree of life will still stand. Because this tree of life is the flowering tree of the cross, by which all death was put to death and all life was made new life.
And, friends, the gates to this tree are left hanging wide open. We don’t have to jump the fence to get to the tree of life. We don’t have to dig a tunnel. We don’t have to smuggle ourselves across the border. This tree stands for all, reaches out its branches in welcome. This open gate is not peace as the world gives. Nobody is checking IDs at the door. Nobody is running your license plates. Nobody is sending you through full-body scanners. Nobody is profiling you.
Because in the new heaven and the new earth, it is not just creation that is restored. We, too, are made new. All of the worst of us is left behind. Our mistakes, our shame, our self-loathing, our addictions, our illnesses, our dirty laundry, our worries, our imperfections, our insecurities, our demons, our broken hearts, our sins, our losses, our despair, our baggage - ALL OF IT - is left behind. Nothing accursed will be found inside the city, because in God’s kingdom, you are made whole. Everything else fades away. Death and crying and morning will be no more.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus says. “Neither let them be afraid.”
We do not have to be afraid, my brothers and sisters. For the roots of the tree of life have already been planted, buried in the ground when Christ was buried in the tomb. And the leaves of this tree are for the feeding and the warming and the courage and the peace and the loving and the refreshing and the forgiving and the loving and the blessing and the healing of all nations and all people and all creation.
And when this whole earth has been put to rest, and God’s new earth bursts onto the scene, we will gather, ourselves new creations, around this fully grown, fully eternal tree of life. And we will need no light or lamp or sun, for Christ will be our all.
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