June 2020
I recently read a review about the film 1917. I was intrigued to see the film because of the picture the review painted of the symbolism of trees, family and renewal in the film. When I noticed the film in the movie queue on our flight this past week, I was excited to watch it. The tree has a prominent place in the movie from the beginning to end. The makers of the film have masterly woven together the allegory of the tree in how it represents life.
The film starts right where it ends, under a tree, with the main character resting under its shadow. As they move to the front lines the devastation of the hewing down of both trees and men in the ‘war to end all wars’ is apparent. It’s hard to fathom the devaluation of life that takes place as men and tree alike are senselessly cut down and thrown into the chipper of a stalled-out war machine. The picture is clear, the destruction is an ugly symptom of the desacralization of the created order.
This destruction of the created order is reminiscent of another tree. The tree from which we came to know this evil. This isn’t the first-time man has risen in arrogance to His Creator. That the creation has attempted to grab knowledge for his own taking. The symptoms of the fall are not a new story. Through one tree, and coincidentally one man, we have come to know destruction and all of creation groans as we grind forward relentlessly cutting each other down, trying to grasp wisdom for ourselves.
At times it seems that hope will be lost and evil will prevail, but even in the somber tone of the scenes that unfold hope can be found. This is captured in the phrase voiced by the main character Schofield to his fellow soldier Blake. In the despair of the conditions around him his voice is clear,
“Keep your eyes on the trees”.
“This quick sentence is in fact the very message of the film. Throughout the movie, where trees flourish, there is rest; where trees have been hacked and hewn to evil ends, there is ruin and pain.” - Keep Your Eyes on the Trees: An Essay on 1917
The characters draw hope by keeping their eyes on the trees. They are disheartened to find on their journey across enemy lines a cherry grove that has senselessly been chopped down. The picture is a reminder once again of the created order, how this grove of trees is an allusion to the families being decimated by evil. The family draws the fiercest attacks of the evil one. Evil triumphs when God’s created order of the family is destroyed, and what we come to understand is that we can expect the family to increasingly become the target of an evil world.
The family is under attack today more than ever and while we may be tempted to despair at the evil that is determined to destroy what God has ordained, the scene that unfolds in the cherry grove is a beautiful reminder that evil’s attempts to destroy the family will ultimately fail. Blake reminds Schofield that the tree will persist and new life will sprout from the cherry seeds that have died and fallen off, they will actually produce more trees than before.
The message that we begin to understand is that the tree is a reminder of the renewal that is coming. That nothing can stop the created order that brings new life. That new life can even come from dead trees. The picture we get reminds us of another tree. The tree that bought our reconciliation. As destruction was brought by Adam through a tree, Christ has bought renewal through the mercy tree. He now calls dead trees to arise to new life, to bear fruit for His glory. These trees are the trees we see in Psalm 1:3 of those established in righteousness.
“[The righteous man] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
In a world that is constantly trying to increase wickedness by cutting down the created order, the grace of God calls us to root deep in the life-giving water of God’s Word so that we may be speak of the righteousness that we have found in Christ. This means that we will use our words and our actions to build up, instead of tear down. We will be the most gracious in dealing with those who oppose us, because we are rooted deep in the love of Christ and the grace that He offers. The righteous will hold strong in an evil world, because their strength is found in Christ.
Our world needs us to be messengers of reconciliation, to put our own opinions aside so that the message a lost and dying world hears is the matchless grace of Christ that brings dead things to life. May we draw hope in a messed-up world that all things are being made new for those who keep their eyes on the mercy tree.
Ministry Update
The family is central to our ministry in Berlin. Our desire is to pursue life together with others in a way that allows us to be agents of reconciliation that build up families to know Christ. We are working with families in our church for this purpose. We are seeking to build up families by drawing them into Christ-centered fellowship to give opportunity to consistently study the Bible. Our setting is very diverse, and we have families from all over the world. This makes for a challenging environment and we are learning how to bear each other up in love and encourage a like-mindedness that can only be found in Christ.
This is also the case in our outreach. We have been able to reconnect over the past month in the communities we were working in before the pandemic. Our work is the same, to build up families by serving them for the purpose of showing them Christ. We continue to reach into areas where families are struggling. It has been a joy to once again be with the boys and girls we work with in Reinickendorf and our time away has created a special bond with the kids now that we have been reunited.
Recent events have also given opportunities to spend more time investing in small group and one on one discipleship. We have been able to draw closer through online platforms as well as in person meetings. Your prayers have also become evident in this regard as my friend Arash, that I have asked prayer for on a number of occasions, has recently made it clear that he would like to become a follower of Jesus. We have been meeting weekly for the past month to read through the gospels. I know that the Spirit’s work in his life is a direct result of your prayers.
Thank you for continuing to stand with us and hold us up in prayer. We are currently in South Carolina and hope to see as many of you as we can during our time. Please pray for us as we seek to encourage believers and minister to those around us in our time here.
Family Update
The girls have finished their third year of school in Germany. They both finished strong and won the right to advance to 3rd and 4th grade, which is not always a given here in Germany! We are very proud of them for the progress they are making in many areas including their language. We recently identified that Quinn has some sinus issues that will more than likely require surgery. Please pray for wisdom to know how to best help her with this issue.
We continue to praise the Lord for how He has established us in so many ways. We look forward to the coming fall to use our home to bring people together in fellowship and share Christ. With the events of the past three months, we are convinced that coming together for worship will increasingly look different and we pray that our home will increasingly become a refuge for those living in a tough place.
Prayer Update
Praise for the role God has given us in the church to encourage believers through hospitality and opportunities to teach.
Prayer for Quinn’s sinus issues and wisdom for pursuing next options.
Prayer as we take aim at opportunities this fall for re-gathering our church and reaching into communities for the gospel.