Corpse Finder Mushroom

Fungi are fascinating: they grow in all kinds of shapes and sizes, colours and locations, and have some very interesting characteristics and names. Giant Puffballs, Old Man of the Woods, Poison Pies, Apricot Jellies, Dead Man’s Fingers, and Jack-O-Lanterns are just some of these unique descriptors.

One species is called the Corpse Finder Mushroom, and it is named this way for the obvious reason: it indicates the presence of a decaying mammal. Like many mushrooms, the Corpse Finder is a decomposer living on dead organic material. Apparently a whole cluster of these mushrooms helped find a shallow burial site of a human corpse and solve a crime.

The Corpse Finder Mushroom, while very much alive itself, is an indicator of death. 

We have these indicators of death in the spiritual realm, as well, but often overlook them. In the Message, Eugene Peterson translates Jesus’ words of Rev.3:1-6 by pointing out these indicators of death in contemporary language:

“Write this to Sardis, to the Angel of the church. The One holding the Seven Spirits of God in one hand, a firm grip on the Seven Stars with the other, speaks:

“I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you’re dead, stone-dead.

2-3 “Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there’s life in you yet. But I wouldn’t know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God’s work has been completed. Your condition is desperate. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God.

“If you pull the covers back over your head and sleep on, oblivious to God, I’ll return when you least expect it, break into your life like a thief in the night.

4 “You still have a few followers of Jesus in Sardis who haven’t ruined themselves wallowing in the muck of the world’s ways. They’ll walk with me on parade! They’ve proved their worth!

5 “Conquerors will march in the victory parade, their names indelible in the Book of Life. I’ll lead them up and present them by name to my Father and his Angels.

6 “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.””

The problem of the church in Sardis is often our problem, as well: busywork, having a reputation for vigor and zest, but not completing God’s work.

We run a sheer endless array of programmes at our churches, create mountains of paperwork, work on countless committees, keep our volunteers busy every night of the week, attend Christian concerts and conferences, organize fundraisers, community events, bus trips, short term missions, etc., etc.

Could it be that much of what we do is just busywork, not the actual work that God has called us to?

Are we more concerned about an outward appearance of having a vigorous and zestful ministry, than about taking the time to listen to Jesus and finding out what He has in mind?

Are we more like the distracted Martha than the devoted Mary?

Or worse yet: are we like the Scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus criticised severely in Mt.23: 

“27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Jesus, like the Corpse Finder Mushroom, indicated the presence of death, decay and decomposition right at the top leadership levels of the religious establishment. What’s He pointing out in our lives?