October 12, 2025
• Rev. Dr. Rob Fuquay
St. Luke’s UMC
October 12, 2025
The Faith of Trees
What You Leaf Behind
Philippians 4:5-7
We started a series last Sunday on the Faith of Trees. We thought about the fact that this time of year reveals the true colors of trees, but it happens because trees are under stress. Their food source is diminishing. We connected this to our own stress and how, like trees, it not only reveals our true colors, stressful times can still be ones that reveal beauty.
Today we move past fall color to what happens when leaves fall to the ground. This becomes one of nature’s most important tools of self-preservation. According to the Nature Conservancy falling leaves contribute to the environment in a number of helpful ways. It:
· Enriches soil with nutrients
· Provides a habitat for insects and pollinators in winter
· Mitigates climate change by storing carbon
· And reduces air and water pollution
So if you get nothing else out of this sermon, you’ll know that if you don’t feel like raking leaves off your lawn this fall, you’re at least supporting the environment! Trees leave behind an influence that makes the world better. What do you ‘leaf’ behind?
Whether we intend to or not, we all leave an influence in this world. Environmentalists point out that we all have a carbon footprint. Without even realizing it, we leave an influence that is destructive to the planet. Just by breathing we do this. We exhale carbon dioxide that can be harmful. Of course, trees consume CO2 so they have our back! But add to this our water usage, disposal of plastics, garbage production, fossil fuels used, and we leave quite a carbon footprint.
But, we have the capacity to improve that footprint and leave helpful things. Now, the point of this sermon is not about climate change, but let me take a moment to make you aware of some of the things our Creation Care Team is doing here at St. Luke’s. They help us live out our first act of stewardship which is taking care of the earth. They are working with our building team to explore putting solar panels on the new storage building and perhaps even other parts of our buildings. Our Governing Board just approved a document they created called The Carbon Neutrality Strategic Plan. This is in response to goals set at last year’s General Conference in Charlotte to have UM congregations have a net zero carbon footprint by 2050. Four years ago our boards and agencies approved a “Our Climate Commitment to Net Zero Emissions” that said “the UMC has long affirmed our individual and collective responsibility to address the unfolding climate crisis. In light of these values, the group said it was called by our faith, informed by science, and led by our relationships with impacted communities” to respond urgently.” (https://www.umc.org/en/content/um-agencies-commit-to-net-zero-emissions-by-2050)
In other words, we as United Methodists want to not leave a negative influence.
As I said, though, the point of this sermon is not to talk about what we leave behind physically, but rather, what leave behind spiritually and emotionally. No matter what, we each leave an influence everywhere we go for good or bad. And trees remind us that we were made to leave behind good things. Trees can’t help it. They ‘leaf’ things better. What do you ‘leaf’ behind? How can we have the faith of trees?
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is like a love letter. Its written by a pastor to a church that can’t help but leave a good influence on others. Part of Paul’s reason for writing to them was to say thank you. Paul has been in prison for some time. Probably Caesarea, where he has been waiting for 2 years for a verdict from the prefect. The Philippians are worried about Paul. They sent letters asking about his welfare, but they did more than that. They sent gifts and food to help him, to encourage him. And Paul is grateful. He opens the letter and says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” It is a letter that comes from a deep place in the heart.
But Paul also writes to encourage the Philippians to keep doing what they’ve always done. To keep loving and caring for others. To have what he called the “mind of Christ,” “who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and took on the nature of a servant…and humbled himself.” Toward the end of the letter Paul says, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.”(4:1) See what I mean? It’s a love letter. And a few sentences later Paul explains what “this way” means, what it means to “stand firm in the Lord in this way.”
He says, “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” (v.5) It is a curious phrase. Paul doesn’t say let your strength be known…or let your power be known. Or let your authority be known. He says, “let your gentlenessbe known.” I wonder if that thought would have been as unpopular then as it would be today?
Back in the 1970’s a guy named Robert Ringer dropped out of Ohio State after a 5-year attempt at getting a degree. He didn’t know what to do with his life. A friend said, “Well, you write good letters, why don’t you become a writer?” So he wrote a book. Couldn’t get it published. It was rejected by 23 publishers, so he came up with the money to publish it himself. It became #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. The title? Winning Through Intimidation. Remained #1 for 36 weeks—one of the most dominant runs in the history of the NYT best seller list!
He published a follow up book, To Be or Not to Be Intimidated: That’s the Question. It was basically the same book, but he retitled it to explain that the point of his first book was not how to intimidate, but how to deal with intimidators. This book didn’t crack the NYT Bestseller list.
So he printed another book, Looking Out for #1. It was the #1 bestseller for 22 weeks! It appears Robert Ringer learned what Americans want to read. He would go on to publish a number of other books with similar titles including, Restoring the American Dream. Do these titles still resonate with our culture? How counter-cultural is Paul’s encouragement: Let your gentleness be known to everyone?
The word translated “gentleness” is the Greek word epieikes. It’s a peculiar word. It doesn’t show up in other writings of the time. William Barclay says “it’s one of the most untranslatable of all Greek words.” It is the combination of the prefix, epi which means “on” or “upon;” and eikoswhich means “fitting” or “reasonable.” The nearest analogy to its use is in the courtroom where a judge renders a verdict. Because a certain offense warrants a particular punishment, then a judge can render that. But a judge might take other factors into consideration, the person’s mental state, or the factors that influenced the person, or the potential of a person to change based on what the judge thinks. And therefore a judge might rule not according to what the law says, but what seems “fitting or reasonable” according to what that person needs.
So what epieikes, or gentleness, means here is not just withholding harsh judgement, but extending the mercy or kindness someone needs. [You might remember that we started this year with a series on the Fruit of the Spirit. One of the fruit is “gentleness,” but Paul uses a different word, prautes which describes something more like a rein on a horse. It means “strength under control. Gentleness in that context is about restraining yourself.]
Epieikes is not just about restraint. It means paying attention to another person so that you can show them the mercy or kindness they need. Paul said “let your gentleness be known to everyone.”
Now, why would Paul feel the need to remind people who are already gracious, and kind, and compassionate, to let their gentleness be known to everyone? Because we all slip. If we aren’t focused on ‘leafing’ behind something good, we will leaf behind something else.
You know what gets in the way of me ‘leafing’ behind good things, letting my gentleness be known? I won’t speak for you. You can determine what gets in your way, but what gets in mine is when my wants take center stage. When my wants take center stage, gentleness becomes a secondary actor.
Two weeks ago I went out to Denver for my grandson’s third birthday. It was on Saturday, so the next day, Sunday, that afternoon I wanted to watch the Colts play. They weren’t televising the Colts on TV in Denver, which I don’t understand, we show enough Broncos games here. Nonetheless, I had to go find one of these sports bars where they have about 100 televisions playing every game.
I walked in but the Colts weren’t showing. Someone said I had to ask the bartender to put them on, so I did. She was most friendly. She said, “Absolutely!” pulled out an ipad punched a few things and suddenly the Colts game was on three TV screens. Remember, I’m wants are center stage. I’m there to watch the Colts.
I took a small table in front of the nearest screen. A waitress took my order and I started focusing on game. But then I started looking at the other two screens that had the Colts game and I realized those screens were a little bigger and clearer. When the waitress brought my food I said, “Can I sit over there in front of that screen, or over there in front of that one? Those screens seem a little better” She said rather curtly, “Over there you’d have to have a different server. And those tables over there are bigger, and, well, you just one.” And then she walked away.
I decided I didn’t like her. And I’m sure she felt that over the next few exchanges. I wasn’t rude. I didn’t say anything mean. I just didn’t show much grace.
And the next morning in my prayer time the Lord reminded me. That encounter came up. I felt God say, “You were a jerk yesterday. And all because of a football game, and one the Colts lost at that!” Now God didn’t say, “They lost because of you.” But I could hear him thinking it!
What I did hear God say is, “You don’t know what kind of day she had. She may be a single mom just trying to make ends meet. Her partner could have just broken up with her. She could have just had a big fight with a family member. She could have been running empty on grace and I needed you in that moment to be my grace for her. But you had a game to watch.”
I recalled a line from one of Barbara Brown Taylor’s books. She reminds us that Philo of Alexandria said, “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” (Leaving Church, p230)
Psychologists tell us the Stimulus-Response Theory. This theory posits that organisms experience stimulus in their environments, which in turn, causes a stimulus reaction for the organism. The theory says that over time, the external stimulus in an environment conditions an organism to respond a certain way.
If that is true, how might the stimulation of our environment be conditioning us these days? How might our lives be conditioned right now to react constantly to fear, to self-protection, to anger and violence, to division and fighting? What Paul says is a warning to stimulus reaction. To choose not to react to what is happening around us. Not to give back to what people show, but to look at what people need. That’s what this word for gentleness means. To pay attention not to what people give, but what they might need, and offer kindness and mercy.
To let our gentleness be known to everyone.
Now frankly, this isn’t a bad sermon, but something is wrong with it. It’s missing something, and that something is grace. To critique my own sermon, grace is lacking. When I had to go before the Board of Ministry to be approved for ordination, the committee that reviewed sermons had one question they always asked, “Where is the grace in this sermon?” And honestly, grace is somewhat lacking up to this point. I’ve been talking about grace as something we show, something we offer, give, but where is the grace for us? How do we receive grace in Paul’s mandate to let our gentleness be known to everyone?
And it’s a fair question, but I do know the answer…because of another recent experience. I learned first hand, that just as I can struggle to show grace, or show gentleness, that when I do show it, I find it. Grace is received as we allow grace to be given.
**close with story about Rodney Frieden’s son…