Rev. Mary Shipley, February 11, 2007

Roots and Fruits

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Come, Lord Jesus, shine your light into our lives, that we might follow you each day of our lives. Amen.

I would like each of you to think back over the years and ponder the great advancements that have taken place during your lifetime. Look around; we have people worshipping with us that were born in the beginning of the 1900's. Imagine the changes that their eyes have witnessed. Right now, my daughters, Eleanor and Heather, enjoy watching one of the favorite shows from my childhood, "Little House on the Prairie." As I watched part of an episode with them this week, I marveled at how our world has changed since that time period. If we were to list the changes starting with the earliest, what would they be? I imagine that we would list things like electric lights, radio, automobiles, medical advancements, television, computers, airplanes and space travel just to name a few.

As we look back into the past, we can see just how far we have come from the days of horses and buggies to the present where we are sending robots to the surface of the planets. Indeed, we are an intelligent people capable of many great accomplishments. Someone once said that humans could do anything they set their minds to and for the most part this is true.

It was no different in Jeremiah's day or Moses' day or from any day since the beginning of time. Humans have always seemed to forget where their abilities came from. Instead of thanking and trusting in God for everything we have, we become self-centered and give all the credit to ourselves. Our trust and confidence becomes misplaced and our sinful nature takes pride in our meager abilities. Well, Jeremiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, records for us a section of Scripture that can help us return to reality. He forces us to ask the question, where is your trust and confidence placed, in the flesh which brings death, or in the Lord, which brings you life?

If we read earlier chapters from the book of Jeremiah, we discover his calling and how he was to pronounce God's judgment on the Southern Kingdom of Judah for their sins of idolatry. In our text for this morning Jeremiah points out to us that the beginning of this sin is found where Jesus said all sins begin; sin begins in the heart. The people of Israel had turned their hearts away from the Lord and when that happens nothing good will come from it. Jeremiah writes, "This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17:5)

In the Old Testament passage this morning the prophet Jeremiah uses two contrasting images that speak to our imagination and our understanding. One of those he calls a shrub in the desert. He says people who trust only in human resources (often trusting only in themselves) have by definition turned their hearts from God. They are like a shrub in the desert. They are vulnerable to the changes in weather. They don't have strong root systems. They cannot endure long seasons of hot weather.

Jeremiah says that is one way of life. A tree planted by a stream represents the other way of life. That is a person who trusts not only in the human community, but also in God. Those persons can go through all kinds of seasons. Those persons can endure all kinds of experiences in life because their roots go deep, and they are nurtured by the presence of God.

Jeremiah offers us this contrast. He says it is a choice we have. We can be a shrub in the desert, not very well rooted at all, or we can be well rooted, well nourished, like a beautiful tree rooted in God. The choice is ours. If we only have the human community as the resource for our lives, then according to Jeremiah what happens by definition is that we have turned our back upon God, we have turned our heart away from God. When we do that, we are nothing at all.

Dante, in the Divine Comedy, uses a shrub in hell to symbolize all of those who have willfully turned away from God. Dante draws his image from this source in Jeremiah.

Later in Jeremiah, God says, "I will put my law within them. I will write it upon their hearts."

It's a marvelous contrast of images, isn't it? A shrub in the desert, or a well watered, beautiful tree. What a marvelous image it is of what life can be if we make the choice to be planted by a stream. Look at the divine internationality in that phrase. It's not that a seed happens to fall by a stream, but that the seed is planted there. God puts us there. God puts us in life so that we can draw upon God and receive from God.

The word in Hebrew that is used is also translated as 'transplanted' and implies choice. In life we all find ourselves as the dried up shrub in the desert at some point. But we also have the choice to recognize our shallow roots and make a change, sometimes literally in location, and plant our roots deep near a stream for nutrition - spiritual nutrition. Just because we find ourselves far from connection with God does not mean we have to remain there our whole life. In fact, God does not want that for us at all. God draws us near and wants to be part of our lives in deep and meaningful ways. In a couple of weeks we enter into a church season that is especially designed to help us examine our Christian walk. Maybe, this year during Lent you are being called to worship regularly, pray more, participate in a study, maybe this is your time to move from the desert and seek a stream to plant your roots deeply next to.

Imagine your roots deeply planted, imagine trusting in God, imagine the beautiful fruit that can come from your life.

Flannery O'Connor wrote a piece called, A Good Man is Hard to Find. In that piece there is a character named Misfit. Misfit is asked why he doesn't pray. He says, "I don't want no hep. I'm getting along just fine on my own." But the closing line of the story says, "It is no pleasure in life to live alone." If we chose to live only dependent on our own resources, then we have cut ourselves from the supply of God's grace. We need to allow ourselves to be planted in a place where we can sink our roots deeply, and where in that subterranean flow God is always present and always nurturing us.

Jesus used that image when he talked with the Samaritan woman by the well. He spoke about living water, bubbling up, gushing up to eternal life. He was talking about water deep within the earth, which is always there, always ready to feed. He said the Spirit of God is like that for each of us.

Jeremiah makes another rather harsh point in this passage. He says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?" This is a particularly interesting topic to bring up just days before Valentine's Day, when hearts rule. It is at this time of year that we focus on feelings. We follow our hearts. I don't think this is limited to Valentine's Day or the idea of romantic love, however. As a matter of fact, in our world today religious faith is often equated with feelings. Many churches focus on feelings, and even describe spiritual experiences in terms of emotions. A particularly moving service is said to have been powerful and Spirit-led because the music brought tears to the eyes of the worshippers. Happiness, or an unnatural sense of joy, must be the product of some spiritual encounter. After all, Jesus is all about love, and love is all about the heart, so the heart must rule our spiritual life, right?

Jesus invites our trust too. Our Savior tells us, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me" (John 14:1). One of the most important words for the Christian is "trust." The Christian that places trust in God above all things will be like a tree planted by a stream. In times of drought, the tree's roots will drink in the life giving water. Its leaves will always be green and it will bear fruit. The same is true for us. A Christian whose roots are firmly planted in the word of God will remain faithful and trust in the Lord. Our strength will come from the well of living water that Jesus gives us to drink. This is why Bible study and church attendance is so vital to the spiritual life of God's people. It is the water we need for our thirsty souls. It is this trust that will give us strength to weather the most difficult times of our lives.

Jeremiah found such strength flowing from the word of God. Where we have God's printed word, Jeremiah's faith was nourished and sustained by God's spoken word. This enabled him to stand up against the fiercest opposition and to be fully confident that God would provide him with all he needed. Jeremiah put his trust and confidence in the Lord.

We want to place our trust and confidence in the Lord in the toughest of times.

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a couple was invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. Betsy, the wife, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and these people owned cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Betsy was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Betsy knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely. As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Betsy and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Betsy wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She causally mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? "Look at it." He said. "Read what it says" She read the words "United States of America." "No, not that; read further." "One cent?" "No, keep reading." "In God we trust?" "Yes!" "And?" "And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust God? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in God. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

As God's people, may we place our ultimate trust in the LORD and act on that trust. Not is the money that holds the words "in God we trust," In so doing we shall be like the healthy tree feeding on Christ, the Water of Life, through his Word and Sacraments-which shall keep us healthy and help us to produce fruit in abundance to share with a world hungering and thirsting for food and drink that lasts forever. For we are a blessed people and our blessings shall only grow the more abundant and richer -when we lovingly share them with others. Amen.