Sermon:
Revelation 22:1-5 April 19, 2020 Earth Day
The Earth
Breathed
People have
said this is the most beautiful spring they have ever experienced. I hear them
tell me about the flowers, the buds, the colors, the enormous blooms, the
extended period of flowering. They speak about how glorious the neighborhoods
look in the light and the glow of spring. They tell me about all these things discovered just outside their doorstep.
And I have to
wonder if we are noticing because our lives are not focused elsewhere. If we
were running through the regular schedule of our day, would we have noticed the
nest right outside our door? Would we have taken a neighborhood walk after
working a twelve hour shift? Would we have sat in the yard staring through the
trees into the sky if we had been at school or at work?
Would we have considered
looking out the window beyond the walls of our space at all? Perhaps, the
knowledge of confinement, the shelter in place causes us to need a purpose
beyond ourselves, beyond our walls.
For some of us,
these may be the hardest times of our lives. Stuck in an endless ‘groundhog
day’ movie with Bill Murray. Wondering when will this ever end?!
All we want to
do is get back to a normal we are familiar with. It might not have been the
best way of living but it certainly was what we knew and how to plan our lives.
The words
written in the final chapter of the book of Revelation speak of a new heaven
and a new earth. It talks about what life will be like in the age of the coming
of Christ. It talks about how nothing will be the same. And yet, everything
will be wonderful. These are words of hope we hear at funerals that seek to
give us peace for our loved ones and for ourselves.
I believe these
are words of hope for any age. These are words of hope for the church. There
will be rivers of life and a tree of life full of fruit producing more than
anyone would ever need. And this tree would be the power to heal and unite all
the nations together.
Isn’t that our
dream?
That all
nations can come together, be at peace and provide for all humanity in a way
that gives dignity to all. Here in this last chapter of the Revelation there is
no church building. There is no Temple. There is no cathedral. Just as
we are today operating without church buildings. We are the church beyond the
walls now. In Revelation there is worship before God in the city, in the
street, in the middle of the day with no more night because the Lord is their light.
This is such a
powerful an image for us for the end of time and for this very
time we are in now. There we read and can acknowledge that the earth
breathes.
The earth and all of creation are made whole.
God’s focus is
not just on people and their egotistical personalities, but on the whole earth!
For some crazy reason we Christians think salvation is only about people. We
think God is going to restore the earth just for people. We think God is going
to make rivers flow, and grass green, and abundance exist just for people.
But, listen
carefully about how God loves the whole of creation. All creation rises and
praises God. The whales, the birds, the creatures of the deep all rise up to
praise God. And then there are the animals of the forest, the fox, the deer,
the eagle all lift us up to bring us to our place before God in our times of
trouble.
Those who hunt
and fish for pleasure know the rules for preservation.
You understand and adore
the earth and respect the gift of food from the earth.
Those who make their
living with the sea and soil know how to work to protect land and sea for
future generations.
When our lives
become entwined in the work of the earth it moves us deeply with it. When we
are with the earth it causes us great pause. Allowing our hands
to dig deep into the dirt, to stir it, to run it through our fingers, somehow,
let’s us let go of so many worries. We rest with the dirt as it breathes.
This
is the fiftieth anniversary of the celebration of Earth Day. The actual date is
April 22nd each year. This year many are taking the time to plant.
There are more flower gardens than ever before and vegetable gardens are
popping up at many households.
We have the
opportunity to consider this pandemic, this shelter in place, this confinement,
this stay at home, this lock down-whatever name we have given this time of
covid19 disruption to our globe-we have the opportunity to call it the
‘great pause’, ‘the day earth breathed’.
In this time we
are learning the beautiful and painful truths of how we live.
We are learning
about the beauty and the ugly of our relationships.
We are learning about joy
and the deep sadness of our life’s work and dreams.
We are learning about
triumph and tragedy.
We are discovering how lift up and tear down,
how to love
and hate.
How to encourage and blame.
We want to take away how horribly
uncomfortable it feels where we are right now and so many will do anything,
spend anything, believe anything to make that happen.
In this moment
of ‘great pause’ let us consider the power of God at work
within us all to reveal what new thing he is doing to emerge from
this time.
There have been
many times in human history when there was a need for a great pause. And in
that time what emerged was a discovery of a few things first and foremost.
1.
We care about each other.
2. Physical contact is a crucial human need.
3. Our
connections are our lifeline for survival.
As ministers
across this community we are able to feel connected to each other through a
joint message shared on the radio. We listen to each other’s worship services
are fed by one another. We can go to more church in one day sitting on our back
porch enjoying nature than we ever have before. We can talk to family and friends
through so many more apps and visual experiences. We have been more creative
about how we connect because we realize how important it is.
And SO, what I
love most about this end of time revelation is that nothing will be the
same and somehow that gives us a hopeful promise.
How about
we look at this time we are in where nothing is the same as a hopeful promise. Jesus loves us, loves creation, and
somehow we will all get through this together with an outcome of joy.
So, on this
earth day,
let’s
examine our great pause as we allow the earth to breathe.
Let’s
examine what’s working for us in this time.
Let’s pay
attention to the good.
Pay
attention to the good.
Where are
there moments of happy?
What moments
are you able to be proud of?
What
activities are giving you purpose?
We have the
opportunity as followers of Jesus to make this time in our lives more than a ‘stop
gap’ measure, more than a ‘hold your breath til its over’ moment.
Let us trust
God to be doing a ‘new thing’ within us all.
As the church
we will emerge stronger and with our eyes opened. We will know our neighbors
more than we knew them before.
We will work together now and realize our faith
in Christ is what builds us rather than divides us.
Step
outside.
Dig in the
dirt.
Witness the
time it takes for the flowers to grow.
Take a deep
breath.
Know that
the day is coming when earth and heaven will be one.
The day is
here with Christ Jesus and earth and heaven ARE one.
Trust this
truth.
Amen.
Resources:
NIB Revelation; Revelation by Brian Blount
