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“For the Healing of the Nations”
Revelation 22:1-8
A sermon preached by the Rev. Douglas M.
Donley
First Congregational Church
I just returned from my annual jaunt
to the summer conference of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. I look forward to these every year because
they are ways to connect and reconnect with Baptist of all stripes who are
committed to peace and justice. I have
gone to 17 of the last 20 of these conferences.
More often than not, Kim and the girls have been with me. We share our stories, we have workshops, we get caught up on the latest gossip in our lives. We see our children grow up and we see the
children who have been there year after year mature and come into their
own. We remember faces and stories of
those who have departed. We study the
Bible, we dance, we sing, we have us a week of peace and justice revival. And as luck would have it, I almost always
choose as my sermon title on my first Sunday back the same title of the
conference. I go for material. I ain’t as dumb as I appear.
Last week, one of the main speakers
was Marcus Borg, writer of many books including, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. He told us again what most of us already
know, that the Bible is passionate about justice and critical about
empire. He challenged us to read the
scriptures and study them. He called the
Bible a sustained protest against the domination system.
He also told us that war is always wrong and always unchristian.
This was a bit more difficult for even the most
staunch of us peaceniks to swallow.
But then he reminded us how the early Christians, like the early
Baptists and Congregationalists refused conscription to the army because Jesus
commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. He then told us that when Christianity and
empire became enmeshed in the fourth century, that
1.
It had
to be in self-defense (you can’t start it).
2.
It needs
to be a last resort (only after diplomacy has been exhausted).
3.
And it
needs to have noncombatant immunity (Civilians must be spared).
He concluded his remarks be reminding us that to follow Jesus means
standing against powers and principalities.
We were off to a great week.
We heard from Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of young Rachel who was killed by an
Israeli bulldozer as she peacefully stood in the way of a Palestinian home to
be demolished. I sat next to parents who
wept with the Corries and then confessed that they
were secretly glad their own teenager offspring were not in the room, for they
feared that they might be inspired to be the next Rachel Corrie. It ain’t easy when the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, laced with peace and justice as it is, smacks you out of your
complacency.
On
Thursday night, there were 40 young people who stood in front of us saying that
each of them had made their own statement that they would not fight in a war
because of their conscience and their faith in Jesus the peacemaker. These suburban youth from Nasvhille
Tennessee, these small town youth from Granville Ohio, these hardened African
American youth from Oakland California stood as individuals and collectively in
their own form of an altar call and said that they would not use violence in
anything they did at home, abroad or in their lives. It was a triumphant moment. But it was augmented when a dozen conscientious
objectors from
“There is a river that runs through
the middle of the City. In it is the
water of life, bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the
lamb. On either side of the river is the
tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the
healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2)
That’s the vision of God as imagined and recorded by the author of
Revelation. It says that at the end of
all hell breaking loose on earth, there will be a new heaven and a new earth
where the people and God are united and there is no more warfare or blood or
tears or terror anymore. This is the
vision that we need to keep in front of us.
And it is existing and exhilarating when we
catch glimpses of it. We capture it like
a ripe fruit on a tree. It makes us
glad. It reminds us of the vision of
peace and the commandment that we love one another even when we are oh so
unlovable.
Oh, it takes a lot of work for such a healing to happen in our world.
There is personal healing and that can be physical, spiritual, mental, metaphysical. There
are all sorts of things that are out of balance in our lives that need
healing. There are barriers that we need
to cross. There is forgiveness that we
need to make. There is confession and
repentance and righteous indignation that either blinds us or sets us
free. This is needed for the healing of
the nations.
Then there is community healing.
Think about what happens when a crime happens in a community. It saps the whole community. When there is a betrayal of trust. This saps the community. When there is yet another senseless
killing. Surely we need to address this
if we are to be about the healing of the nations.
Then there are things that happen in our state and in our nation. There is the killing in Red Wing. There is the continued mistrust of the Muslim
Community. There is the continued scapegoating of the poor and the outcast and the less
well-connected. There are jobs that have
been outsourced. There is a strike or
two looming. Surely these need to be addressed
for the healing of the nations.
Then if we dare to look on the international scene, we see wars as far
as the eyes can see and solutions that seem few and far between. We see corporations holding more power than
nation states. We see treaties for arms
control or global warming or clean water ignored by superpowers. We see nuclear proliferation and we are
scared. And our fear makes us act
rashly, hastily and wastefully. We see
little desire to feed the world’s starving people. If we approached hunger with as much
fortitude as we fight our wars or support our corporations, what a different
world we would see. Surely we need to
address all of this for the healing of the nations.
And yet, in the midst of all of this gloom and doom, there is a too-often
over-looked tree in the midst of this global city. The Bible calls it the tree of life. Its 12 kinds of fruit are for the healing of
the nations. This is the tree of life
and it’s for eating once again.
Sisters and brothers we can eat again from this tree. For we know the difference between good and
evil. I challenge you today to see if
you can make a list of 12 things that are fruits of life and hope in this
world. The Bible says that there are 12
fruits one for each month that are for the healing of the nations. Can you think of 12 things? I think that us good
peacemakers and justice seekers are real good at telling folk what’s wrong with
the world. But we are hard pressed to
find the things that are right.
My late-summer challenge is for you to find 12 fruits that will bring
healing to the nations.
Here’s a list to start out with:
1.
40
people in
2.
Brother
Don Samuels who makes his faithful vigils in the North End of Minneapolis each
time there is a shooting. He does this
to grieve and to mourn but to also witness to another vision as he fosters
dialogue and hope through the creative tension in the community.
3.
The Goodsoil movement in the ELCA who were dealt a defeat this
past week as they advocated for the rights of GLBT people in the church. I also include here the good Open and
Affirming movements
amongst Congregationalists and Disciples of Christ, the Welcoming
and Affirming movement amongst American Baptists, the Reconciling movement
among the United Methodists and a whole host of others who have stood up in our
churches and said that the church of Jesus Christ is for all people and that
God makes no distinctions.
4.
The
parents who raise their children well and teach them the ways of peace. Knowing that the best teachers and the
closest thing to God a young person knows is the one that takes care of them
the most.
5.
The
person who holds a person close when they have lost a job or are facing surgery
or have been through a loss. Often the
person doesn’t have a whole lot of wisdom to convey, but simply a quiet
reassuring presence that they are not alone.
6.
Activists
who take to the streets here and abroad, whether or not they have the right of
free speech. They do it because they
might be the only voice of God anyone hears.
7.
Kim and
I helped lead the children’s program at Peace Camp. Kim had the children make little hands that
were pasted on a map of the world about what they could do to heal the
nations. Some of the things they came up
with were “saying I’m sorry”, “Recycling”, “Don’t say or do mean things.” Can you imagine if we adults followed this
advice?
8.
I think
of Cindy Sheehan in
9.
I think
of the people who protest outside of the School of the
10.
I think
about the people who give of themselves in quiet ways and those who give in
not-so-quiet ways.
11.
I think
of the resettlement of refugees that our church has participated in
recently. But our church is dwarfed in
comparison to the chose to 600 Burmese refugees that have come through First
Baptist Church of St. Paul in recent years
12.
I think
of the work both of our congregations do on behalf of the homeless families
through Families Moving Forward. We
offer respite, safety, shelter, food, fun and a visible sign of God’s gracious
welcome each time we open our doors and give of ourselves. In return, we always receive something,
too. It’s the face of Jesus, the
homeless shunned person looking for a place to lay their heads.
The Bible assures us that “There is
a river that runs through the middle of the City. In it is the water of life, bright as crystal
flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb.
On either side of the river is the tree of life with its 12 kinds of
fruit, producing its fruit each month.
And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
(Revelation 22:1-2)
May we remember this. May we lift up and celebrate the fruits of
their labors. May their labor rub off on
us and cause within and between us the seeds of healing that we and our world
so desperately need. Fruit is aptly named,
for within the fruit is the seed. And
this seed sown in another truly does hold the possibility of the healing of the
nations.