Seems like a strange title for a post but bare with me. Sometimes this is just how my mind works. I was doing some mowing recently and saw an Azalea that was clearly at deaths door. Over the last few years it has been declining and this year may be its last. It is mostly made up of dead limbs and branches. But what made this particular Azalea remarkable was the fact that it is clearly dying, and not long for the world. Yet even this year it still has covering it a significant number of beautiful white blooms.

I was reminded of a number of things. At first I looked at this poor Azalea trying to bloom and was reminded of the parable Christ tells us in Luke 13:6–9.

[6] And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. [7] And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ [8] And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. [9] Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (ESV)

This poor Azalea has been there for far more than three years. Perhaps is has suffered from neglect or was in need of fertilizer or pest control or something all together differently. But the reality is this was not a healthy plant that just failed to produce any fruit. This was a sick and dying shrubbery that was year by year declining until it reaches a point where it will not grow any more and there will be a spring in which it fails to bloom and that will be the end of it. This then reminded me of what the preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 tells us. That for everything there is a time and place.

[1] For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

[2] a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
[3] a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
[4] a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
[5] a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
[6] a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
[7] a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
[8] a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. (ESV)

There is a time to be born and a time to grow and a time to thrive and then a time to die. It is the ultimate curse of the fall that we see on creation. Baring a violent death, this is the path that awaits each living thing in the world whether we like to think about it or not. We are born, we grow, we live and then we die. It is the truth of this world and as depressing as that is, I thought about how it is not just living things like people and animals and plants that go through this. Organizations and governments and countries and even the Church goes through these stages.

And while dealing the with loss of loved ones can be hard, understanding that the same thing can happen to the Church can be just as hard. We plant Churches and we hope that they will grow and thrive and last beyond us and out lifetimes. That they will be there for our children and our children’s children. There are Churches that have been around for hundreds of years. But most do not. They have stages of life and if like a health tree that does not produce, if neglected and left to itself, will eventually end up like a struggling Azalea blooming one last time. Look at Revelation 3:15–17 and what is said of the Church at Laodicea.

[15] “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! [16] So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. [17] For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. (ESV)

People can fail to thrive and Churches can also fail to thrive and it is usually due to ambivalence and mediocrity and a body that only cares about itself and its needs and not the kingdom work that it is called to do. Oh if only all the Church was like the Church in Philadelphia. Revelation 3:8

[8] “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. (ESV)

We as people and as Churches should always be seeking to keep the word of God, never deny Christ and to do kingdom work as long as we can. Even towards the end of our lives, there is no reason that we cannot bloom like the Azalea and still show the world the Glory of God, through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Even when our time on this world draws to a close.