Sunday thoughts: roots

 

Credit: StockSnap | Pixabay

I've been thinking a lot about roots recently.  I've been thinking about the ones we've put down, and how disruptive it would be to 'uproot' my family.

Roots are essential for plants and trees to grow and thrive.  They suck up vital water and nutrients from the soil, as well as keeping the plant grounded and safe.  Most importantly, they give a plant a steady source of water and nutrition even when the environment above ground is hostile.  In winter, many trees lose their leaves as there is not enough light to photosynthesise, and yet good roots allow a deciduous tree to remain living through the harshest of winter, until spring comes and new buds form.  A plant cannot survive long if it cannot put down good roots.  Of course, some plants seem to be able to put down roots and survive anywhere (unfortunately we tend to call them 'weeds'), whereas others are a little more specific in the soil they need.  Nonetheless, the roots are essential for any plant.   And if we 'uproot' a plant - say, to move it to a larger pot - it experiences something of a shock.  We tend to compensate for this by dunking the potted plant in a bucket of water, but the roots need to re-establish, connect back with the soil, in order for the plant to continue to survive.

When we put down roots in our lives, those roots do exactly the same thing - they give us the things we need, and none of us can survive without them.   Our roots are family and friends and communities - they feed our necessary desire for belonging, for practical and emotional support, and for the feeling of being valued and having a part to play.  All those things almost literally feed our souls - they have been proven to help grow the part of our brains call the 'hippocampus', which is responsible for memories and meaning.

Our family have put down lots of roots over the last few years: each connection with a friend, family member or wider group is a root - like the ones we have with our extended family, particularly our parents who help look after our children; the connections we have with friends which mean that our children play together and we support each other on the journey of parenthood; the connections with mentors to guide us; the connection with a church family who will provide us with food and hospitality when we are vulnerable; the roles we have in working for others - for our clients and colleagues in the workplace and our church community where we serve - giving us purpose and a chance to leave an imprint on the wider world.  The connections can be with inanimate things too - the connections to special places, like knowing the secret paths by the river and the good places to play, having a routine for where we get our food, and having a stream of income with which to buy food and shelter.  If those things were to be taken away, we would be uprooted: feeling vulnerable and naked.  It would take some time to grow new roots, and get reconnected.

All this thinking about roots got me thinking about what this should look like from a Christian perspective.  The most important roots the Bible talks about is being rooted in the truth.  Having a living faith in Jesus as our Saviour is the thing that keeps us going, as Paul writes to the Colossians: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:7).  Here Paul is urging the church at Colossae to remain in the faith they started with, not looking to supplement the righteousness given by Christ with human religion.  Without this conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, then, like a tree without deep roots being uprooted by a storm, we are swayed by the lies that are constantly around us, or, like the seeds that fell on rocky soil, who would have wilted under the harsh sun without deep roots to provide a more continuous source of water, find that we whither in our faith when times of hardship come and God's promises and blessings are not so obvious in the world around us (the parable of the sower: Matthew 13:1–23, Mark 4:1–20, Luke 8:4–15).

But what of these other roots?  Those that are not merely about our belief and faith in Jesus, but those connections that I mentioned earlier to help us to function.  The Bible is clear that this connected community, where our roots reach out to each other, is the society in which God designed us to live and, more pertinently, a fundament property of any church.  We think, for example, of the believers in Acts: 

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47).

So the idea of roots that I introduced in at the beginning is a very biblical one - it is how we are made to function, whether we profess faith in Jesus Christ or not.  However, for the Christian, these 'other roots' are the ones that keep us rooted in Christ.  Christian faith is not a solitary activity.  Through our salvation God is not building a number of individuals, but a church, as the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22).  We see this demonstrated by Paul's discussion on spiritual gifts in, for example, Romans 12:3-8, where there are teachers and prophets, along with those who serve and show hospitality, and those who encourage others (of course we all have a role to play in all of these, but we would fail corporately without those with special gifting in these things).  We also see this when Jesus even refers to members of the church as himself (i.e. his body), e.g. when addressing Saul (Paul) at his conversion (Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?, Acts 9:4)), or when teaching about care for each other in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me, Matthew 25:40).

But what does that mean when Christians are uprooted from their churches - maybe moving to seek opportunities in employment or mission, or maybe uprooted from necessity?  Facing a planned and deliberate move for the better is very different from fleeing war or persecution, or having one's roots cut by famine, violence or natural disaster, but in all of these things God promises that he will be with us: he was there with Abraham when he told him to leave his land and his roots in Genesis 12, he promised the Israelites that he would go before them into the promised land (Deuteronomy 31:8), and Jesus said to his disciples in what is known as the Great Commission: surely I am with you to the very end of the age.  To the Romans, Paul writes that he is convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

The miraculous and faithful love of God, the love and never fails, in which we can be rooted, is primarily demonstrated through our deep fellowship and unity with our Christian brothers and sisters - i.e. the body of Christ.   It means that there are roots, connections, that span distances and nationalities and countries, as we pray for our brothers and sisters across the world who are persecuted.  It means that when we arrive in a new area, our roots find fertile soil in our local church communities.  And as a church, we should be receiving with love and generosity those who have lost roots and connections, either through moving geographically or losing loved ones, helping to cover over that shock so that they can thrive again.  I have, on a few occasions, had opportunities to meet and pray with Christians in different countries, and each time the occasion has been joyous - the gospel knows no borders and spans across languages and cultures.  Even in the harshest of conditions - those which I cannot even imagine, the church continues to be built, and even when apart, we are with our brothers and sisters in sprit, through prayer and unity.  That's being rooted.