A Tree of Hope!
As a nation, and especially as a town, we need a massive injection of Hope just now.
Six months into the covid19 pandemic, and five months since lockdown, we are tired, bored, frustrated, depressed and more. Many are grieving. Talk of a second wave, local interventions and mini-lockdowns, and sudden impositions of quarantine seem to dominate the short and medium term horizon. The economic and social consequences of lockdown are becoming real, and as a town we are having to plan for severe cuts in services. The death of George Floyd in the USA and reminder of ongoing injustices have heightened the concern at the particular impact of the virus on Black, Asian and Minority people; this has challenged us and been met by angry reactions. This past two weeks the future of our young people has seemed grim as exam grades have been determined, often unjustly, without exams. Our own government has often appeared to have failed us, and beyond our shores many of us are further depressed as we look at the US elections. Life has seldom seemed so grim.
As Christians we celebrate the Hope we have in Jesus Christ. That hope extends beyond our own personal relationship with God and salvation to looking forward to a better future, a renewed creation. Jesus speaks of this as The Kingdom of God, and described it as a place where justice, peace, joy, freedom and wholeness are promised, and where mourning and tears are wiped away.
The good news is that this is not just “pie in the sky.” We can experience some of that better future now. We pray as Jesus taught us for that Kingdom to come in some measure on earth as it will be fully found in the heavenly kingdom. It’s now but not fully now. We stand among the pain, suffering and loss of our world, and we reach out in hope for that better world to come among us and change circumstances and lives in our community, town, nation and world. And as citizens of that Kingdom of God we are called to extend its hope to those around us.
That hope us beautifully portrayed In the final chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22 where we are shown a picture of that new heaven and earth. It paints a picture of a river flowing from the throne of God our into the city. Beside the river grows the Tree of Life. We are told the leaves of that tree are for the healing of the nations.
Since late last year we have been pondering that picture, praying that a river of life would flow our from us as a church to bring life, hope and healing in our town. We did not know then of the direct and indirect impact a virus would have on our Luton community’s and our nation. Yet looking at things now, never has the promise of that Tree of Life been more needed.
So we are have chosen a tree in St Marys Churchyard and opposite the Mall to be our own Tree of Hope. We want it to be a symbol of Hope to Luton.. We are inviting members of our own church community at St Marys, our sisters and brothers from churches across our town, and all Lutonians, whatever their creed or colour, to bring their hopes and dreams, their sorrows and pain to the tree. Tags and ribbons of many colours on the tree will signify the heart cry of us all. We will extend the presence of the tree into the virtual world of social media.
We are using the language of hopes and dreams, sadness and pain, for it is the language of all. As Christians we learn to bring our sadness and pain to God, to lament in our broken world. We learn to bring our hopes and dreams in prayer. However we want the Tree to be available to all in our town. We will over the coming weeks seek to bring the heart cry of Luton people to God in prayer on their behalf.
We launch our Tree of Hope in a short event this afternoon. The Tree will be available for all to access for the next two weeks, maybe more. At times there will be members of St Marys available by the tree, and on occasions (to be advertised) the church will be open for private reflection and prayer. On a number of occasions there will be short services online broadcast from beside the tree.
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