Tree of Life

Scriptures: Proverbs 11:30 & 3:18 & Luke 7:1-10

Video Link: https://youtu.be/dqemajnLd6I

Structure:

• Introduction
• Tree of life
• Winning souls
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning, everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series in the book of Proverbs. Broadly speaking, we might think of the book of Proverbs like a sandwich. The opening and closing chapters are the bread holding together the filling of proverbial sayings in the middle. 

Chapters 1-9 offer poems extolling the value of wisdom. We have been focusing on these chapters over the past few weeks.

Chapters 10-29 contain hundreds of short sayings which serve as a guide for how the world operates. These little nuggets of wisdom tend toward generalisation and don’t explore the exceptions to the rule all that much.  

The proverbial sayings do not appear to be arranged in any sort of helpful order. It’s not like there is a nice, neat chapter on alcohol and then a chapter on sex and a chapter on money. The sayings are all mixed together. 

The book of Proverbs closes (in chapters 30-31) with the bread of more poetry.

Today we take a bite into the filling of the Proverbs sandwich, the actual wisdom sayings themselves.

Our message this morning focuses on chapter 11, verse 30, which reads…

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

The tree of life:

Trees are amazing. They have the power to heal and to make life better.

Trees turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, so we can breathe. The leaves of a tree also purify the air, removing toxins within a 100 metre radius. 

Trees promote biodiversity by providing a home for all sorts of wildlife including birds, insects and small animals.

Trees take care of the soil. Tree roots help to prevent erosion and they purify the water running off into streams and rivers.

Trees act as a natural air conditioner, helping to cool temperatures in urban areas. City streets are covered in tar seal which exasperates the heat. Trees shade the tar seal from the sun, thus reducing the temperature in the neighbourhood.

Walking or sitting among trees supports mental health too. Trees reduce people’s stress levels and calm anxiety. This is to say nothing of the beauty of trees. Trees are life giving in every way.

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of trees though, is the fruit they produce. Trees are a source of food for humans and animals, birds and bees.

Proverbs 11, verse 30, is a verse of two halves. The first half describes the fruit of the righteous as a tree of life.

The righteous are people who, as a matter of principle and habit, routinely do the right thing in their relationships with others. Righteousness equates to right relationship.

The fruit of the righteous refers to the words and actions of righteous people. Things like justice, honesty, mercy, kindness, faithfulness, forgiveness, humility and so on. Let me give you an example based on something that happened to me when I was at university…

Imagine you go to a cash machine to get some money out. You try to withdraw $200 but the machine doesn’t give you the cash. The money comes off your account balance as a withdrawal but there’s something wrong with the ATM, so the money doesn’t physically come out.  

The ATM is right outside an actual branch of the bank, so you go inside and stand in line for 20 minutes. Eventually you are seen and explain your story to a bank teller. The teller listens patiently only to say, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” She doesn’t believe you.

At that moment another customer walks up to the teller next to you and says, “I just withdrew $20 from the ATM outside but the machine gave me $220, so I’m returning the extra $200.” It is then clear to everyone the ATM had a hiccup and the $200 belongs to you. The teller gives you the $200, you thank the honest stranger and go on your way feeling strangely warm inside.

The person who got $220 when they only withdrew $20 could have walked away with the extra money and no one would be any the wiser. But she didn’t. She was righteous and returned the cash that did not belong to her. The fruit of her righteousness in this situation was justice and honesty.

Her justice and honesty were a tree of life to you. Not only did you have the money you needed to buy your groceries, but you also felt better about the world you live in. The fruit of this righteous woman strengthened your capacity for trust and helped you to be less anxious.

The thing about trees is they are always doing good. It’s not like they carry out random acts of kindness when it suits them. Trees do good for the environment all the time, simply by their living presence.

It’s the same with righteous people. They have a positive, life-giving effect on those around them all the time, through their presence and because that is who they are.

Sometimes we might think that to be righteous we must perform some grand gesture or carry out a heroic task of superhuman proportions. Maybe like working in a refugee camp or finding a cure for cancer or rescuing kittens from a burning building or raising lots of money for a good cause. And while they may be good things to do, righteousness is usually more routine, more ordinary than that.

Righteousness is not an isolated act. Righteousness is a state of being. Being there for your family, to support them. Being content with your husband or wife and not looking over the fence. Turning up to work, doing your best for your employer or your employees. Using your pay to put food on the table.

Righteousness is being patient when your child is having a tantrum. Righteousness is knowing when to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no’. Righteousness is owning your mistakes and putting things right to the extent you can. Righteousness is trusting God to make things right when you have been wronged.     

Another thing about trees is they do good silently, invisibly. Most of the time we don’t even notice the good trees are doing. Unless we consciously go out of our way to study trees, we probably take them for granted.   

Righteous people are like trees in that they don’t advertise the good they do. Most of the time we don’t even notice righteous people. Righteousness is not glamourous or attention seeking. In fact, righteousness may appear quite pedestrian or boring even.

Reflecting on your own experience for a moment; who, through their righteousness, has been a tree of life to you? [Pause]

Those of you who know your Bibles will be aware there is mention of the tree of life in Genesis. What connection (if any) is there between the tree of life in the garden of Eden and the tree of life in Proverbs? In Genesis 2 we read…

⁹ The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve were allowed to eat the fruit of any of the trees in the Garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sadly, they disobeyed God.

Consequently, Adam & Eve were expelled from Eden and not allowed access to the tree of life in case they ate the fruit and lived forever. This tells us the tree of life in Genesis represents immortality. Living forever without dying.

It might seem unkind of God to keep the tree of life from Adam and Eve, but it was a mercy. To live forever with our Sin would be terrible. The essence of Sin is alienation from God, alienation from our neighbour and alienation from ourselves.

To be alienated from yourself is to hate yourself. Some people project their self-hatred out onto others. Some people internalise it. To hate yourself is a cruel torment. To not be able to live with yourself (or anyone else) for all eternity would be a kind of living hell in which one longs to die.

It is because God did not want us to suffer in this way that he kept the tree of life from us. God was limiting our suffering. Death and resurrection are the fresh start we need to be free of sin and alienation.  

So how does the tree of life in Genesis inform our understanding of the tree of life in Proverbs? Well, the writers of Proverbs were most likely piggy backing off the tree of life imagery in Genesis.

Proverbs 11, verse 30, is not saying that the fruit of the righteous will enable people to literally live forever. It’s simply a poetic way of saying, righteousness promotes long life and well-being. Righteousness feeds the human soul and spirit with good things. Indeed, righteousness blesses the whole community.

Proverbs 3, verse 18, says that wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her. This is another way of saying the same thing: the wisdom of righteousness is life giving.    

Winning souls:

The second part of Proverbs 11, verse 30, says: and he who wins souls is wise.

If you come from an evangelical background then, for you, winning souls might equate to convincing someone to become a Christian. Getting them to pray the sinner’s prayer, ask Jesus into their heart and be baptised.  

But I don’t think that’s what the writers of Proverbs had in mind, not exactly.

A soul is a person’s life force. So, the word soul is associated with life. It’s a term that describes your essence. More than that though, the term soul refers to a whole person. As in the phrase, ‘there were 250 souls on board’, meaning there were 250 living individuals on board.

You are not just a body, with a mind. You are a soul, with a body and a mind. Your soul (your life force, your essence) animates your body and lends uniqueness to your personality. 

In the context of Proverbs 11, to win souls could mean to save someone’s life or at least have a positive and lifegiving effect on their wellbeing. It may also mean being winsome in the way you relate with others.

Both halves of verse 30 shed light on each other. If the first part of verse 30 is saying that the words and actions of a righteous person are lifegiving to those around them, then the second half is saying wise people (who are also righteous) have a positive effect on the people around them.

Looking at verse 30 from another angle, we might also say, a wise person knows that righteousness is the way to influence other people for good. When someone is treated with kindness and fairness, it affects their soul in a positive way, so they want to be kind and fair too.

A wise person wins souls by their righteous and winsome behaviour, not by fast talking or manipulation.

Let me give you two examples of people who win souls through wisdom and righteousness. The first is from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

Andy, a righteous man, is sent to prison for a murder he did not commit. Despite suffering abuse and mistreatment, Andy petitions the authorities to send him books so he can teach other prisoners to read and write. The fruit of Andy’s righteousness is a tree of life to those around him. Andy has a lifegiving effect on his fellow inmates.

Through his wisdom and righteousness, Andy wins souls. One soul in particular is that of a fellow prisoner nicknamed Red. Red has been in Shawshank for decades and it has destroyed his capacity for hope. Red does not dare to imagine a better future because he knows that hope can drive a man insane. Hope is dangerous.

But Andy has a different perspective. Andy says, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

At the end of the movie, Red is released from prison and the last thing we hear him say is, “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Through his righteous friendship, Andy won Red’s soul. Andy restored Red’s capacity to hope.

As inspiring as it is, The Shawshank Redemption is a fictional story, based on a book by Stephen King. This is not to suggest the righteous who win souls are a fiction, just a nice ideal that does not exist in the real world. 

There is a true story, a gospel story, based on historical fact, which shows us what soul winning righteousness looks like. From Luke 7, verse 1 we read…

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. ² There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. ³ The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” ⁶ So Jesus went with them.

The Roman army were the occupying force in Israel at the time of Jesus. The Roman army were the enforcers. Mostly they restricted Jewish freedom and oppressed the people.

But here we have a Roman Centurion, in charge of 100 soldiers, who is not destroying or oppressing the Jews but actually helping them by building a synagogue. The Centurion does the unexpected. He overturns our prejudice.  

This wise and righteous army officer is a tree of life to the Jewish community. Through his fairness and generosity, the Centurion has won the souls of the Jewish elders. He has earned the trust and respect of those he is there to police.  

More than that though, this Roman Centurion wins Jesus’ commendation too. Not by some grand gesture or heroic deed but by his vulnerability and faith. From verse 6 we continue our reading…

Jesus was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus, who was Jewish, could not enter the home of a Gentile, like the Roman Centurion, without becoming ritually unclean. The Centurion knows this and finds a winsome way to save Jesus from this socially awkward and culturally embarrassing situation.

Here we have a greater quality of righteousness. The righteousness that comes from faith. The Centurion loves his servant, and he trusts Jesus to heal his servant from a distance.

⁹ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” ¹⁰ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Through his faith, the Centurion won the soul (or saved the life) of his servant, and he won the respect of Jesus in a winsome way. He continues to win souls even today.

Who do you identify with most in this story? The servant in need of healing? The wise Centurion? The Jewish elders who intercede? Perhaps you identify with Jesus? Or someone in the crowd following Jesus, bearing witness to it all? 

We may be reluctant to think of ourselves as the Centurion. Kiwi culture does not allow us to think too highly of ourselves. But we may not be too different from him. Like the Centurion, we too have put our faith in a Christ we have only heard of from a distance and not yet seen.

Conclusion:

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Jesus was crucified on a cross, nailed to a tree of death. The fruit of Jesus’ righteousness, in going to the cross in love and obedience to God, is a tree of life to all those who put their faith in Christ. Indeed, Jesus’ wisdom in obeying God, even unto death, has won millions of souls down through the ages.

In a few moments we will share communion together. Communion is a time to remember the abundant life Jesus has won for us.

It is through Jesus’ death that our alienation comes to an end.

It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that our relationship with God is made right.

It is through Jesus’ love that we are set free from self-hatred.

It is through Jesus’ resurrection that our hope is restored.

May the righteousness of Jesus bear fruit in our lives. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

• Discuss / reflect on the benefits of trees. When was the last time you planted a tree?

• What does the fruit of the righteous refer to? Can you think of examples from the Bible or from your own experience?

• Who, through their righteousness, is a tree of life to you? What do they do that is life giving? Give thanks to God for them. How might you be a tree of life to others?

• Why does God restrict access to the tree of life in Genesis 3? Why is this a kindness?

• What does Proverbs 11:30 mean by winning souls?

• Thinking of the story of the Roman Centurion in Luke 7, who do you identify with most and why? The servant? The Centurion? The Jewish elders who intercede? Jesus? Or someone in the crowd following Jesus?