March 20, 2024
Rev. Mary Erickson
Hope Lutheran Church
Revelation 22:1-5
The Tree of Life
Good evening, friendly humans. It’s a delight to be here with you this evening. You may not know who I am because we don’t grow here. By here, I don’t mean Wisconsin; I mean on earth! I come from heaven. Allow me to introduce myself to you: I am the Tree of Life, as mentioned in the book of Revelation.
When I arrived here this evening, you pastor jokingly told me that I won the prize for traveling the greatest distance to come here!
Some of you may be tree experts and you can identify any species of tree you encounter. But even if you don’t know every tree by name, all of you know something about the trees in your region. For instance, if you suddenly saw a banana tree growing along Starr Avenue, you’d all take note of that!
So, yes, I’ve seen you checking me out. And please don’t feel embarrassed. After all, you’ve never seen a tree like me before! But I’ve come here today as an ambassador of the life to come. I want to tell you about the realm where I live, and where, someday, you will live as well.
First, I have to back up a bit. In your account of Adam and Eve, they live in a place called the Garden of Eden. There were many trees growing in that garden, but two trees in particular are noted. One is the Tree of Knowledge. This is the tree God told Adam and Eve that they shouldn’t eat from, but they did, nevertheless.
The second tree mentioned was the Tree of Life. God moved Adam and Eve out of the garden to protect them from eating from it. The WORST thing after being poisoned by that other tree would then be having to live forever in that awful state of sin! So God moved them out of the garden so that they could die. Yes, death was a blessing! It was the only way out of their cursed state!
And next I want to move to the death of your savior, Jesus. On occasion, your Bible refers to his cross as a tree. When Jesus was hung on that cross, that “tree,” he was cursed. But he turned that curse of death into a blessing for life. Jesus transformed the cursed tree into a blessing tree. What began as death ended in life.
Jesus transformed a tree intended for death into one of life.
Your book of Revelation was written by Brother John. He was given a vision of heaven. He revealed what he saw: “And there I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” He saw a vision of what is awaiting you. You dwell in the realm of the first creation, the one poisoned by sin.
But John was given a vision of the NEW creation. Just as Jesus transformed the cross from blessing into curse, that same transformational life force awaits you. Through your own death, you will be transformed into the life to come. Jesus’ resurrection from the grave was the first witness for you.
So, back to John’s vision of heaven. He described the wonderful, sweet, fresh River of Life that runs clean through heaven. Just wait til you see it! Its spring flows from God’s throne. Now, along the banks of that river, that’s where you’ll find me and all my fellow trees of life. We grow up and down the banks of that river.
I may be quite the exotic tree among you here this evening, but believe me, in heaven we are quite abundant! We’re everywhere! We grow up and down both sides of the river.
There are some pertinent characteristics to us that I’d like to point out. First of all, as I mentioned, we trees grow along that river of life. We’re nourished by it. And that’s why we’re able to pass along that life force within ourselves. The source of heavenly life – the force of life that transforms death into life, old creation into new creation – all of that flows from God’s throne into that river. I’ve come here today to tell you that that life force awaits you and will transform you, too!
Our second characteristic is our abundant fruit. There is no season where we don’t produce fruits. I believe your guest speaker last week was Fig Tree. Fig Tree told you that she is able to produce two crops in a year. Well, we Trees of Life have12 crops, one crop every month. This is what happens when you feed on the waters of life!
Friendly humans, there is no want in heaven. There is only abundance. Now, I know that sometimes you feel dried up and barren. Sometimes you’re completely tapped out. And when that happens, the Spirit’s fruits in you are sparse and small. But hold onto the thought that in God’s new creation, when you’re finally rid of this world’s poison, you will produce spiritual fruits in abundance, too. And in this realm, dear humans, stay tapped into the Holy Spirit’s life force. It will nourish you.
The third characteristic John notes about us is our leaves. When Willow Tree was your guest presenter, they told you about the healing properties of their bark. Yes, you have several trees among you that have healing properties: Cherry, Eucalyptus, Spruce, to name a few.
You can imagine, because we grow along the River of Life, that every bit of our being is imbued with healing properties! As John noted, our leaves are for the healing of the nations.
I know you suffer greatly from strife among nations. Several wars are going on right this very moment, terrible, bloody outbreaks. Sometimes they seem like there’s no end in sight. And even within nations, there is strife there, too. I understand that your country suffered from a horrible Civil War. And I hear that there’s no lack of division among you even now.
Dear humans, I want you to know that in the life to come, there is no war or suffering or bloodshed. There is no discord, for all strife has been healed by Christ’s victory on the cross. In heaven, all things radiate that peace, and that’s why our leaves are filled with healing. Think on this promise: all former conflicts will be healed. And the resentments you harbor and can’t let go of, they’ll all be healed in the life to come.
Well, I’ve enjoyed this opportunity to fellowship with you. I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about the heavenly realm. Your future home is a beautiful place! And I look forward to the day when you will join me there. I invite you to enjoy the restful shade while you eat from my abundant fruit. Until then, may the God of all life be with you and give you peace.
