Partaking of the Tree of Life - Sermon from Revelation 21-22

Revelation 21:10, 22-27; 22:1-5

In the past two weeks, I presided at two funerals.  These events remind us that life is often brief and fragile. But, as Christians, we live in the hope of the resurrection. We may not know what life looks like on the other side of the grave, but we all have an idea of what it might look like. The question of life after death and the future of humanity fit into a theological category called “eschatology.” 

The Book of Revelation is one of the most important contributors to this category. Preachers don’t often turn to it because there are a lot of rather strange and obscure elements in this book, but it also has some beautiful statements that give us hope for life in this world and beyond. 

The words we’ve heard this morning from the closing chapters of Revelation describe an idyllic future that might seem too good to be true. Nevertheless, John of Patmos wants us to know that when all is said and done, God will invite us to partake of the life-giving fruit of the Tree of Life. That world seems far away, and there are too many important matters needing our attention right now, so why should we focus on a future that seems too good to be true?

A friend and I wrote a book to help folks sort out how Christians of all kinds think about the future. We titled it Second Thoughts About the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope. This morning I want to focus on the last two words in the subtitle because Ron and I wrote the book hoping to help our Christian siblings face the future with a sense of hope and not fear. Our reading from Revelation this morning invites us to imagine what it would be like to drink from the River of Life and eat the fruit of the Tree of Life.

The reading begins in verse 10 of Revelation 21. An angel has taken John in the Spirit to a high mountain so he could watch the New Jerusalem descend to earth from heaven. It’s a glorious vision but what does it mean for us, today?

If we check out the news, it often seems as if evil is destined to win. War in Ukraine, inflation, mass shootings, political polarization: they can keep us up at night. John isn’t naive. He understands that evil is rampant in the world but he believes that in the end, evil, which he describes as darkness, will be overcome by the light of God. The message of our reading today is that the darkness of night has been eliminated in the New Jerusalem. That’s because God is the light that illuminates the city, eliminating the need for the sun and moon and any other form of light. That’s important because in the ancient world, bad things tended to happen in the darkness of night. Because the light of God’s glory shines into the city, the city is so safe that it doesn’t need walls or gates. These are things no major city in the ancient world lacked. In that era, when night fell the gates were closed to protect the people living in the city. As you can see, the people who live in the New Jerusalem, the City of God, have no reason to fear. That’s because “the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” 

The first word we hear in this reading is that God provides the light that illuminates the city, so there’s no reason to fear the darkness. That’s good news for people ancient and modern who live in fear of evil. But this isn’t the end of the story. 

As we move into the city, the angel shows us a river. It’s the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb. This river is crystal clear. To get a sense of what John sees, I invite you to imagine the most beautiful, cleanest, and clearest river you’ve ever encountered. The river of life is exponentially more beautiful than anything we can imagine. 

As we view this beautiful river winding through the city of God, with its healing waters beckoning, we catch sight of a tree straddling the river. We learn that this is the same Tree of Life we encounter in the second creation story in Genesis. In the Genesis story, God plants a garden full of trees that will sustain God’s people. There are two special trees. God tells the people to stay away from one of the trees, while they can eat from the fruit of the one called the Tree of Life.  

As you may remember, the fruit of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge was too enticing to be resisted. So, God decided to send humanity into exile to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever. 

According to the biblical story that’s how things began, but now we’ve come to the end of the story. Once again we encounter the Tree of Life, but this time we’ve been invited to eat of its fruit so that we might experience everlasting life.

Not only will the fruit from this Tree sustain life, but its leaves have healing properties. These leaves bring healing to the nations by providing a salve that heals the wounds brought on by human strife. 

Now the nations that experience healing spoken of here aren’t just political entities. The  Greek word translated as “nation” is ta ethne. It’s the Greek word that gives us the word ethnic. This word describes every group, tribe, and race that inhabits this world of ours. The good news is that everyone is invited to experience healing as they gather in the city of God, drink the waters of the River of Life, eat the fruit produced by the Tree of Life, and make use of the healing properties of the leaves of the Tree of Life. 

As Paul writes in Galatians, in Christ “there is now neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free” (Gal. 3:28). We might not lose our physical and cultural distinctions in Christ, but these no longer serve as barriers to our relationships with one another for we will be one in Christ. 

The vision John lays out may seem like an impossible possibility. Our world has never known a moment when peace reigns supreme. The end of the  “Cold War” in the 1990s was supposed to produce “peace dividends.” Unfortunately, that peace didn’t last long. Such utopian dreams never seem to come to fruition. Nevertheless, John offers us a vision of the Realm of God, where darkness is eliminated and the leaves and fruit of the Tree of Life bring healing to our lives. That means we get to live together eternally in a world marked by God’s perfect peace.

It’s a beautiful picture, but it still seems both unrealistic and remote when we look around at our world. Instead of peace, we see violence, anger, and increasing polarization. In this world of ours instead of peace, we experience fear.  

While fear seems to dominate our world, I believe that John’s vision offers us a word of hope, and not just in a future world where God’s reign is fully visible. Yes, we live in a world where evil still exists. We live in a world where sin continues to be present. But the prophet Ezekiel offers a similar vision to John’s. In his vision, a river flows from God’s Temple. Along the banks of this river, we see trees. When the waters of this river reach the sea, the stagnant water of that sea becomes fresh. The leaves of these trees, like the leaves of the Tree of Life, provide healing (Ezek. 47:1-12). 

As I ponder these words about the healing properties of the River of Life and the Tree of Life, I believe that we have access to the River and to the Tree now, and not just in the future. Darkness may still exist in our world, but we can begin to make use of the healing properties of the leaves of the Tree of Life by serving as agents of reconciliation in a hurting and fragmented world. As we consider this word of hope, we can commit ourselves to working together to overcome the divisions that exist within our cities, neighborhoods, states, and nation. If God is the light of the world, we can bring that light into those places where darkness creates fear.

Theologian Bruce Epperly captures quite well the sense of hope I believe is present in this word from Revelation. He writes:

The reading from Revelation portrays a vision of the future, the world as it could be in the interdependence of divine call and human response. John of Patmos’ mystical vision describes a realm fully open to God’s presence. The world the author experiences is bathed in light, where justice reigns and tears are no more. God’s temple is everywhere, and God’s light touches everyone. Such a world does not yet exist, but it remains a horizon of possibility, judging every human political achievement. The spiritual and moral arcs of history place our nation and economy under divine judgment: the moral and spiritual arc of history may be slow, and our actions can accelerate or impede its progress. Often, we are tempted to give up hope, but the horizon of hope leads us onward.   [Living a Holy Adventure]

We may feel overwhelmed by what we read and hear and see in the news, but I believe John not only offers us a word of hope, but he also invites us to embody this hope by serving as agents of healing and reconciliation. I believe God wants to use us to pour out the living water into the world so that the dry lands might once again bear fruit. As the living waters take hold in our lives, we are freed to speak and live God’s healing presence in a broken and hurting world.  

To view the video of the service and sermon, click here: 

Preached by:

Dr. Robert D. Cornwall

Pulpit Supply

First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)

Warren, Michigan

July 23, 2023