Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser
Trees Planted by Water
2/17/2019 Epiphany 6C Luke 6:17-26, Jeremiah 17:5-10
I remember my first time traveling
out to the Presbyterian conference center, Ghost Ranch, north of Santa Fe, New
Mexico. (Its called Ghost Ranch because that’s what it was called before it was
donated to the church, not because of the Holy Ghost.) God painted the countryside there with a
totally different color palette from our east coast - browns, yellows, soft
reds and sandy shades; and the green things are few and far between, little
green dots on the large expanse of brownish hills. It could be another planet.
Sometimes I did see larger green things, trees, although not as tall as here in
the east. And they seemed to be in wavy
lines, not like a forest. I realized
they were following the river - the taller green things could only grow by a
water source. It was real obvious where
the water was out there.
That’s the picture that comes to me
when we read in Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 about the trees planted by streams of
water, whose roots can go down to find water, and whose leaves can therefore
withstand heat and droughts. Those who
trust God, and who live according to what God tells us is good - these
scriptures say that we are like those trees who can stand fast and grow tall.
Our roots go down into the Spirit, and draw wetness and true life from it. The
Spirit is the underground river, or the deep well, where life can be found even
in dry seasons. We talk about the water
table, how the rains this year have replenished it - perhaps we can think of
God’s Spirit as an everlasting water table that never runs dry.
The opposite, those who scoff at
Godly things and depend on their own resources and power, are then compared to
the tumbling tumbleweeds, those sagebrush plants that spring up and die, break
off from inadequate roots, and get blown all over until they fall apart. Back in my elementary days, when my family
did the big camping trip cross-country, Daddy stopped the car and grabbed one
of the tumbleweeds in the desert, thinking we’d take it home to look at as he
played his recording of the song about Tumbling Tumbleweeds. But of course it
was dry and fragile, and everytime we unloaded the station wagon to camp, more
pieces of it broke off, until by the time we got home it was just a few larger
sticks. That’s a pretty clear picture,
too. A tall green tree versus a breakable tumbleweed. Its a pretty stark contrast, drawn in clear
lines. Trust God? Blessed. Don’t trust
God? Cursed.
Luke’s version of the Beatitudes
kinda does that, too - Blessings to these here, Woes to them there. They fall into parallels:
Blessed are the poor, for theirs is
the kindom of heaven
Woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Woe
to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Blessed are you
who weep now, for you will laugh
Woe to you who are laughing now, for
you will mourn and weep.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when
they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of
Man...that’s what they did to the prophets.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for
that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
These are strange things to say about
Christ-followers. I mean, who doesn’t
want to have money, be full, laugh and be well thought of? Jesus says WOE to those of us who have those
things! Why, we think its a good person
who works hard for money and stability, who can put food on the table, who are
secure enough not to know want, and who are looked up to in the community. That’s pretty much a definition of having
‘made it.’ Why would Jesus say WOE to
those who have this status?
And why in the world would Jesus say that the
poor, the hungry, the weeping and the folks reviled because of his name, are
the blessed?
Friends, the gospel of Jesus is actually heard
more as good news by folks who are not the successes of the world. Its because
those of us who are born on third base, think its we ourselves that have hit
the triple - we think we got here by our own efforts, our own industry, our own
good plans and our own smart decisions.
We don’t realize, in the way that others do, that we are all dependent
on God, and that all we are comes from the Spirit. Its because Jesus sees all people as worthy,
even the ones we disregard - maybe even especially the ones we
disregard. Jesus proclaimed that the
order that the world has established is NOT God’s realm, and, as Mary
proclaimed at her pregnancy, the rich are set away empty. Jesus’ gospel is bad news to those of us who
seemingly have it made. Those who aren’t
making it in the world hear that they will be lifted up and comforted. Those of us who have made it in the world
economy are hearing that we aren’t any more special than anyone else in God’s
realm. Its harder for a rich person to
get into the kindom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle. Hmmm - its even hard for me to
put my embroidery thread through the eye of a needle without a magnifying glass
these days.
Our Scriptures today are some of those who
separate the sheep from the goats in a black and white way - maybe exaggerated
for emphasis, or to catch our attention and bring us back to the spiritual
reality that God loves us all, no exceptions.
My worth to God is the same as the worth of the poorest kid in the
projects. My life and salvation is as important to God as the life and
salvation of any of those refugee families trying to make a way here from South
America, or anybody else that makes us uncomfortable. I am not a more deserving person than anyone
else. We can see in our border conflict going on right now that its easier for
people from a starving and torn country to look for hope here than it is for
those of here to want to share it.
Classic illustration of what Jesus is saying. Yes, we want to take care of our own family-
but Jesus says they are all our own family.
We are all God’s own.
Its more difficult for those of us who live in
comfort because we think we earned it, and to deserve to keep what we have
safe. Its difficult for us to hear
because refugees will change the balance that has served us well; because
perhaps we will have to learn to live with less, so that they can merely
subsist. Its the grown-up version of being the one asked to share, and
resenting it.
I’m certainly not in the 1% of the wealthy and
powerful in our country’ I’m not even near the top of the 99%. HOWEVER, in the
eyes of the global population, we here in the USA have a pretty good thing
going. No wonder other people want to come here! But just because we can look and see folks
above us on the income scale, doesn’t let us off the hook. Most of us were brought up in good families;
maybe the first ones starting the farms were poor, but this generation is doing
okay. We had schools to go to, and
colleges, and jobs, and land. Our
grocery stores are full of about anything we could want, and usually in several
varieties. We have healthcare available
in our towns, and bigger hospital centers in a decent driving distance.
And we are just as much in need of Jesus’
forgiveness as anyone else; we are just as deserving or undeserving as anyone
else. And our salvation hangs on the
work of Jesus just like anyone else’s.
Our congregation here depends on the Holy Spirit just like every other
congregation, whether its outside, under trees, in a home, in a storefront, in
a new building or in an older one like ours.
That we have a great history, and endowments, and educated people makes
not one bit of difference to our dependence on the Spirit for life and
ministry.
I struggle to trust this is true, because the
world has dangled its definition of success and goodness in front of me all my
life, as it has each of us. Even in the
ranks of ministers, there is envy and jealousy and competition for the large
congregations and the better pay. Even
clergy think of success in our profession as measured by how many new people
you can add, how big your budget is and how many new programs you can
start. I struggle with that myself, even
knowing the Scripture as I do. I can preach it, but the internal struggle is
real, too. Lord I believe; help my
unbelief. I like to win contests; I’d
like my sermons to go viral and have people flock to hear me, like the story
Barbara Brown Taylor tells of her first church outside Atlanta. But the reality
of it is that it has nothing to do with my worth and the love God has for me -
my faithfulness, my generosity, my compassion, my trust in God - this is a success in the spiritual
life. Back in Virginia, folks were
excited that one of congregations in a growing area called a clergywoman whose
last church grew by 300% in her tenure.
They offered her a great salary to be sure she chose them, hoping it was
she who made the difference they longed for, for themselves. Instead, soon after she arrived, the church
was the victim of arson, and had to go through the great test of grief and
rebuilding, a totally different scenario from what they anticipated. Her ministry was to a totally different
situation; andyet the roots that go down to the living water was bringing life
in both settings.. I can feel envy rise
up - why not me? Why are they so golden?
Did I do something wrong? Why
hasn’t God rewarded me like that? That
is just wrong thinking.
I’ve had a very different life as a pastor
than I anticipated. I admit that I had
my eyes on larger congregations and more salary, like my peers. And sometimes I feel jealous that many of
those that went to seminary with me (and got worse grades) will have better retirement incomes than I
will. Once again, I’m comparing outer success with God’s favor, which is just
plain wrong. What matters, friends, in
our own lives and in our church’s life, is that our roots go down to that
Living water of the Spirit, who gives life and abundance in our souls.
As we think about our church here, God
challenges us to let go of those outer success measures - and look to our
spiritual connections with God’s Spirit.
Are we more like the green trees in our relationship to God, or more
like the tumbleweed? How can we be MORE like the green trees with roots deep
into the water? How can we move from
identifying with those to whom Jesus says WOE, to identifying with those whom
Jesus calls blessed?
I am interested in hearing how our week of
praying for our congregation went, and what was stirred up in us. I want to take some time to hear, if there
are some who’d like to share. How
difficult was it to remember to do it daily?
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