LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE WATERS - The images of the shrub in
the desert and the tree transplanted to a well-watered site are richly open to
proclamation. They vividly illustrate the point that is being made and draw the hearer
toward making a decision. One image repels, and the other attracts. The simile of the tree
planted beside water has such appeal that if we can convey that trust in the Lord has
those kinds of effects and benefits-durability, the ability to stand against the pressures
of life and the changes of the seasons of life, freshness and productivity, and the loss
of incapacitating anxiety-people will hear it and respond . . . All of this water imagery
is a way of saying, "The Lord is like that." [1]
FLANNERY O’CONNOR - In her story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a
character called Misfit, asked why he doesn’t pray replies: "I don’t want
no hep’, I’m doing all right by myself." That scene fits the first section
of Jeremiah’s cry-"those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their
hearts away from the Lord." But at the end of O’Connor’s story, her Misfit
says, "No real pleasure in life." Perhaps another way of saying that when we
turn our hearts from the Lord and from our community of faith we eventually discover that
life is "like a stunted desert shrub, joyless, hopeless, and barren."
How do Christians "turn their
hearts away from the Lord?"
- begrudged service?
- going through the motions?
- I don’t need the Church - I can worship here by myself
- Christian cynicism that sneers at those working hard in the church?
- more concern for the performance of worship than the experience?
- willingness to serve if properly acknowledged?
- "I quit!"
- a shift from serving Christ to serving the institution?
Any stories/personal examples of how you or someone became a salty flat or stunted
desert shrub?
You might offer an image-laden homily
for this Sunday by showing some breath-taking images of foliage and fauna from some of the
wonderful materials produced by the Sierra Club or other nature-loving groups. (I, for
instance, sat entranced yesterday as I leaved through a beautiful book of nature produced
by Robert Schuller’s organization. The images were absolutely inspiring!) The best
approach would be through the technology of PowerPoint, but even a few pics that
you’ve enlarged down at Kinko’s would be effective.
Show the pictures and describe the images to the listeners. For additional effect, you
could include the sounds of water bubbling in a stream.
Shift to the passage and suggest how trust in the Lord creates those kinds of effects
and benefits-durability, stability, depth, a non-anxious presence, etc.
