St. David’s Episcopal Church - Elkhart, Indiana
Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
One of my favorite places in the world is Mommaw’s farm. It’s where I will be on Thursday for Thanksgiving. It is where I spent most of my childhood, running through the field, picking Sweet Anne’s Lace or wild carrots, playing on the playground, planting beans and potatoes with my Grandfather, and fishing in the pond. It’s a beautiful place, with an old, old farmhouse built about 1911. We know this because when the refurbished the kitchen they found a piece of wood in the window on which someone had written, “Woodrow Wilson elected on this day.”
Down at the pond is my favorite place, my special place. My place to get away. My place of rest and relaxation. It’s where my Grandfather taught me to fish and where the old smokehouse now stands that we used to play in and around. And around this pond, there are three types of trees that are very special to me. There were the evergreen trees along the dam bank, then a row of locust trees, then a small orchard of four or five apple trees.
You see, we got those evergreen trees because every year for Earth Day, the decades of grandkids and great-grandkids would grow a sapling in school and we all planted them down at the farm. They aren’t all there anymore. A few of them were taken out by storms, a few taken out by my cousin, mowing. And I think one of them might have been taken out by me when I drove the tractor into the pond. They weren’t very strong. They were important to us but they were weak trees, saplings easily broken by wind and lawnmowers.
Then there were those locusts trees. You know what a locust tree is right? They grow real tall, are kind of wild with really hard wood and they are usually covered in thorns and thickets. They are awful! Finally, last year a storm took out the last one and my father took such glee in cutting it up for firewood. They were finally down. They are a hard wood, a painful wood. But they are strong and tall.
Then there were those apple trees. They aren’t there anymore either. But they were throughout my entire childhood. Apple trees don’t get very big but they are good and strong. They are good for climbing. And they hang low so that it’s easy to pick their fruits. Good sweet fruit to turn into pies or jams or just eat raw on your way back to the house before the fish is cooked. They are strong and reachable and fruitful and are a blessing to everyone who comes into contact with them.
All throughout the great story of our faith, there are also three trees.
There’s the first tree in the Garden in Eden. It wasn’t very strong. It looked good, full and green. But easily broken by temptation. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit that they were forbidden. The Fall of Man. The curse of God upon the ground. The expulsion from Paradise. It’s like those evergreens, easily taken out by somebody not watching, not being careful.
Then there’s the second tree in our story. It was strong, tall, capable of holding a man. But it was a hard wood, full of pain, covered in thorns. A cross at a place called The Skull. Our second tree. Like most trees at this time of year that turns crimson and release their leaves. That tree too turned crimson. Not with the leaves of a season past, but with the leaves of the blood of our Lord, crucified for us. A blood poured out for us. He took on the pain of that hard wood and thorny cross.
As we will learn in the book of Revelation there is another tree, a Tree of Life. It is fed by the Waters of Life that flow from the throne of God. This is a look back at Paradise - a look back at Eden - a look back at Creation - a time before the Fall. Its leaves are used for the healing of the nations. Its glory is the Reign of Christ, the overcoming of death, the overpowering of that hard thorny wood. It bears twelve fruits for the feeding of all the world - of all of creation. It hangs low so that it may be a blessing.
This morning you see another tree before you. It is our Tree of Gratitude, our leaves of thanksgiving. This tree is like that last one. It reminds us of hardships. With each leaf, you filled out you could think of both the good and the bad, the pain that comes with life. But as those leaves hang there they show our gratitude. It is in our gratitude and in our thankfulness that we have our blessings. Our gratitude can be taken down and given to others through good works - the fruits of our labor - the fruits of our joy - the fruits of the Spirit. In our gratitude is the healing of the nations. How does your life with your neighbor change when you enter the world with a spirit of abundance and thanks rather than a spirit of scarcity and fear and pain?
Three trees. One easily broken, one held tall, and one that gives. All of them are fed by the same seed. In our reading from Jeremiah this morning there is a prophecy, a promise of the Messiah. A promise of a King who will reign forever. “THE DAYS ARE SURELY COMING SAYS THE LORD WHEN I WILL RASE UP FOR DAVID A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH.” (Jer 23:5)
Jesus doesn’t come in looking like a King. Jesus doesn’t come into the world like a great monarch. He is born in a crowded town, laid in a manger because there is no other room. He lives his life in the backwater of the country, wandering the wilderness. But doing good works. Proclaiming the message of God, the Good News. Bringing the Kingdom of God into this world - a restoration of creation. And then he is raised up on a cross, a tree watered with his blood - a throne to bring God down to earth. One that had to be fulfilled through pain and suffering.
But then we have this final tree. This tree is fed from the living waters like baptism - a conquering of chaos to feed this final tree, flowing from the throne of God where now sits this servant king - this Jesus of Nazareth raised up by God for us. Who showed us a life of service and gratitude. There is an old Advent carol entitled “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree”. This king is not hard. This king does not stand tall. But this King - this tree lowers himself, lowers his branches to feed us from himself. Let me say that again. This king does not stand hard and tall above us, beating us back with thorn and briar. This King bends low so we can reach and feeds us from himself. How glorious is that? That is our victory. That is our return to paradise promised to the thief on the cross. Jesus says, come, taste, see. Eat of the fruit of these branches. Eat of my body, it is given for you. That’s the ultimate good news of this story. That is the overarching theme. Today we have those trees in mind.
So what kind of tree are you when you go out into the world? Are you the small evergreen - the sapling on the ridge. Easily take out by wind or somebody coming in and plowing through. Are you like that locust? Are you tall and strong? But do you gain that strength by pushing others away, by hurting others with your thorns? Or do you follow the example of Christ? Are you an apple tree? Do you bend low in humility? Do you give the blessings you have for others? Do you feed the world? Do you heal the nations? If you are a CHRISTIAN, I hope so. You know that word Christian was developed by Romans and Greeks who didn’t like us. It was a derogatory term. It means “little Christ” “the little anointed one” “the little Christian.” But that’s what we are called to be, little Christ’s to the world. Trees with low hanging branches, bearing much fruit. Feeding and healing the world. That is how the Kingdom of God breaks through. That is how the reign of Christ is seen. In us! In what we do! In the fruits that we bear! So what type do you grow?
