Sermon 11th July 21

The Axe is Laid to the Root of the Trees

Gospel Reading: Matthew 3:1-17

​Dear Community of Christians,

The abundance of summer growth has reached a peak. We are witnessing greening and fruition all over the country. We can feed and refresh our sense of sight with the many shades of green.

Our soul also participates and even swims in this summer abundance. But, there is also a danger of getting lost in this.

At this time, we can encounter John the Baptist standing before our inner eye saying: "Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruits is felled and thrown into the fire.”

The nature integrated in the fullness of cosmic being gives its unconditional abundance.

Of course, human souls are no longer integrated into this cosmic fullness, and that is the tragedy of humanity.

From the very beginning of creation, the Gods have given humanity this task of developing as free divine beings. Truly, made in the image of God. But people can only become free when they free themselves from the guidance of the heavenly gods. We have achieved that freedom today.

But now we are in danger of missing the human mission. Now we are making ourselves into earthly gods. A few of us even make themselves into our overlords. They determine our health, how we live, how we should shape our social life. Yes, they determine what is good for us.
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But we must learn to be responsible for ourselves, to rule every part of our lives as divine creative beings.
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One day, every single human being will be faced with stark reality after death. Have we been able to produce such fruits that help us to fulfil our task, or does the axe need to be laid to our roots? Were we able to develop the spiritual capacity for becoming perfectly human? For example, losing the self-importance of our personal view, of our personal desires, towards spreading compassion and love towards our fellow human being. That is the burning task in our time – to be conscientious when we could easily get lost during this peak of summer.

Rev. Ute Koenig