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“Water of Blessing”
"The exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world"
Ezekiel 47:1-12
Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. 3Going on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. 4Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. 5Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. 6He said to me, “Mortal, have you seen this?” Then he led me back along the bank of the river. 7As I came back, I saw on the bank of the river a great many trees on the one side and on the other. 8He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant waters, the water will become fresh. 9Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. 10People will stand fishing beside the sea from En-gedi to En-eglaim; it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of a great many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
In a description of the sixth window are these words: “The dove is in flight over the globe, carrying an olive branch, echoing Genesis 8:11: ‘And lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.’ This represents the eighth day of creation, God's grace coming into the world, the reign of God proclaimed by Jesus Christ. The light rising behind the earth represents the dawning of God's kingdom.”
A vision given to Ezekiel -- one part of a larger vision -- a vision about the abundant grace flowing from God to humanity -- to the world -- to all of God's incredible creation. In Ezekiel's vision was the temple in Jerusalem. The temple faced east directly toward the Mount of Olives. Even now, in the wall surrounding the temple is a large gate: it is known as the East Gate. It is currently sealed up, and has been for centuries. At the time of Ezekiel, it was a main gate leading to the temple. Leading out of the East Gate, one would descend directly into the Kidron valley which first winds its way south and then east, eventually ending in the Dead Sea. One can assume that in Ezekiel's vision, he was at the temple which was built by King Solomon almost three thousand years ago. The temple was a representation of the presence of God. In the vision, water flowed out of the temple, and that water grew in volume as it continued, as it moved along to the Dead Sea. The water was a blessing from God -- it was a blessing wherever it went. With that image of a river of blessing flowing from God's temple, we look at this stained glass window and see in the artwork a river flowing from a rainbow (the rainbow being another symbol of God's blessing) with the dove carrying an olive branch right at the center.
In Ezekiel's vision, out from the threshold of the temple, water was flowing. It was flowing east, but it was flowing from the south side of the threshold. Ezekiel was led to follow the course of the water. At its beginning it was only a small amount of water. It flowed out of the East Gate and the water was coming out of the south side of the gate. Again, in practical terms, from the East Gate, the Kidron valley runs downhill to the south -- one would expect water to flow in that direction. Ezekiel was taken outside the walls of the city through the North Gate (presumably because of the water flowing through the East Gate). The man leading Ezekiel through the vision took measurements of the depths of the water every thousand cubits (roughly a quarter mile), and at each quarter mile, he measured the water which was becoming increasingly deeper. Ankle deep. Knee deep. Waist deep. Then it was too deep to walk in and could not be crossed. One would expect that from a river like the Mississippi which has thousands of other rivers flowing into it causing it to swell and deepen over the distance, but that image is not the same as the one in Ezekiel's vision. In the vision it was one source of water, but yet the river kept swelling in size. The vision continued. Ezekiel was guided along the banks of the river which were covered with many trees. He described the river going on down to the Dead Sea (the sea of stagnant waters) and the water there had become fresh. The Dead Sea is so thick with minerals and salt that nothing can live in it, but here was an image of the fresh waters from the river being so abundant that even the Dead Sea would become fresh. There would be life -- every living creature and even fish. Everything living wherever the river went. There would be a great many fish there like the Mediterranean Sea, and the people who lowered their nets into the water would catch a great variety of fish. There were a great number of trees growing along the banks of the river. Their leaves would not wither nor their fruit fail, and they would bear fresh fruit every month because the water for them flowed from the sanctuary. Their fruit would be good for food and the leaves for healing.
This is an image of goodness and abundance and generosity and blessing. In a land usually parched -- very dry -- with little vegetation and with even less water, there was a transformation. Lots of good water giving life to a forest of vegetation -- good vegetation -- with many fruits and the power to heal. In a sea which was thick with salts and minerals, where nothing could grow and in which nothing could live, there would be a transformation. A great variety and abundance of fish could live and be there to bless those who lowered their nets into the water -- bless them with much food. It can make one wonder if there is a hint here of a return to the Garden of Eden. The vision is not about a literal transformation of the Dead Sea and the Judean desert. The vision is about God's blessing.
This last window paints a picture of the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. In the artwork of the glass, we see a river flowing towards us. Arched over the source of the river is a rainbow with the sun peaking out from behind it. Over it all is a dove with the olive branch in its beak. The sun coming up symbolizes that it is the dawning of a new day: of hope. The rainbow symbolizes God's covenant: God's promise. God wants to work with us. God wants to be with us. In the Christian faith, the dove represents the Spirit of God. When we see the olive branch, we think of peace. Right through the middle of it all is that river. That river of blessing. Becoming more and more abundant. Growing with blessing after blessing.
How do we imagine the Kingdom of Heaven? A place some souls can be invited to once they have died? An earthly utopia such as described in Isaiah 11: of the wolf living with the lamb and the leopard lying down with the young goat; the calf and the lion and the fatling together, with a little child leading them? Not hurting or destroying on the holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? The Kingdom of Heaven as coming into being when someone shows compassion for the hungry or the thirsty, when someone welcomes the stranger, who clothes the naked and who takes care of the sick, or those who visit the prisoners? Maybe it is all of those. And more. Much more.
Over a century ago, our ancestors in the Presbyterian church reflected and prayed and studied and wrote and pondered. They proposed to the church six short phrases which seemed to them to sum up the essence of being a follower of Christ. Now, over a century later, we ponder their words. We read the sentence “the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.” Perhaps they meant that in the Church and in us as believers and followers of the Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven is to be exhibited. It is about God and what God chooses to do in the universe and in the world and in our church and our souls. It is not about me -- it is not about us -- it is about God.
Ezekiel was not the one who “turned on the water faucet” at the temple to start the river. It was God. Only God. Only God. As the river of water went out from the temple and traveled to the Dead Sea, it grew and grew -- certainly in depth and seemingly also in width. Ezekiel was not finding other sources of water to add to the river -- the river grew only because of God. In a parched land, a river is a great blessing, and God is a God who blesses. God's blessings do not decrease, they only increase. They only increase. The blessings keep magnifying -- trees for food and medicine yielding harvests year round; the Dead Sea coming to life with the fresh water and all the varieties of fish.
There is even a tender thought in the midst of all the transformation. One sentence in this vision is especially unusual: “But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.” As there were whole communities which made their living in harvesting the salts from the Dead Sea, God's transformation of the whole of the Dead Sea to a fresh water lake filled with an abundance of fish and lined with vegetation which produced food and medicines would have been a curse to a people whose way of life and economy was in the harvesting of the salts and the minerals. Even for them, there would be blessing: its swamps and marshes would not become fresh; they were to be left for salt.
Ultimately the image in Ezekiel's vision was about the transformation which can happen because of God's blessing. A parched land -- in many ways a dead land -- the Judean desert is transformed by the life giving waters -- a gift from God. The Dead Sea -- perhaps the saltiest sea in the world -- a sea in which life cannot exist -- a dead sea is transformed and brought to life and filled with an abundance of life. The vision is about how God desires to bless the soul of a people who seem to be dead and hopeless -- very dead. God is greater than that hopelessness. God is greater than a dead soul. God is greater than a broken spirit. God is greater than our guilt. God is greater than the ways in which we have failed. God is greater than the doubts which have haunted our souls. God is greater than the fears which have tightened and twisted at our guts. Ezekiel's vision is about transformation. The transformation of an arid desert with a river of life. The transformation of a sea dead with salts and minerals into a freshwater lake teaming with life. Ultimately the vision is about the transformation of the lives of the people of this world whom God loves. It is about the transformation of our souls. It is about the transformation of our lives. All because of God's blessings and God's grace.
The exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven is not about how good we are at exhibiting God's presence in our lives. The exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven is more akin to Ezekiel’s vision. The vision was not about Ezekiel. All the blessings in the vision had nothing to do with Ezekiel. It was all about God. It is God who blesses. All Ezekiel was to do was to relate to us, the reader, the story of God's goodness.
In my imagination, a grand performance is just about to begin. The curtains on the stage are about to open. The audience is electric with anticipation. They know the performance will be awesome. The people are alive with excitement. In my imagination I have been given the special privilege of being the one who walks part way out onto the stage in front of the curtains, and with a deep bow and with my hand outstretched toward the center of the stage, I say these words: “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with the deepest of humility and with the greatest of pleasure, I present to you the Kingdom of Heaven.” The audience leaps to their feet in a wild ovation as the curtains slowly open, while I disappear off-stage to enjoy the show. Of course the ovation has nothing to do with me -- it has everything to do with the one who will be center-stage -- the reason everyone was there in the first place. In exhibiting the Kingdom of Heaven, we are not the show. We can be saints, we can be sinners. But in the end it is all about God. It is all about God.
If you were here last week when we focused our attention on the fifth stained glass window, we reflected how Jesus the Christ was associated with Living Water – specifically from his conversation with the woman at the well in Samaria. Reflecting on the significance of the day we celebrate today, we consider Jesus riding into Jerusalem to the Temple, riding on a donkey from the direction of the Mount of Olives. A mental picture to roll around in our collective imaginations. The One who was the Living Water entering toward the Temple from the Mount of Olives – crossing the Kidron Valley. A reverse of Ezekiel’s vision from six centuries earlier – the Living Water going from the Kidron Valley, uphill and to the Temple. A mirror image.
We enter into Holy Week. A week set apart within the Church as a sacred week. Holy Communion as a gift to the faithful on Maundy Thursday. The suffering and death of the Christ on Good Friday. Emmanuel – God with us – suffering. Human. Divine. The Resurrection.
An image we reflect on every year are the palms of Palm Sunday. For centuries, the faithful who made pilgrimages to the Holy Land brought back palms as symbols of their pilgrimages. Those who made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land were known as “palmers.” A great honor it is to be living in a city called “Palmer.” May we live up to the holiness and honor of such a significantly named people. Amen.