This last June, when Lisa and I were in Colorado for my ordination and our vacation, we went to the Rocky Mountain National Park and it was amazing: the mountain, the lakes, the wildlife and the trees! At the park entrance on the west side there was a ranger station with a gift shop. And, being suckers to commerce, we found ourselves looking through the gift shop to see what we could buy to remind us of the amazing creation around us. At the gift shop I ran across this poem, entitled Advice from a Tree by Ilan Shamir. It is advice that is given, as if a tree were letting you know what it had learned. It goes:
Dear Friend
Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of your true nature
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet renewal of Winter
Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light
Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots
Enjoy the view!
It is a great poem. I think trees have much that they can teach us. But this poem only scratches the surface. It leaves out other things that trees can also teach us. These other things can be found in the Bible. It’s not our true nature whose light we need to reflect, rather it is the Son’s light, it’s God’s light. It’s not ordinary water that we are to drink, rather it is living water. Trees show us the importance of having deep roots and trees show us the importance of growing good fruit. So, this morning, as we did during Sunday School, we are going to take some advice from a tree. Let us see what we can learn.
1: Advice
In Psalm 1 we are introduced to a person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. We are introduced to the person who does not live the life of a sinner, who does not mock people. This person is described as someone who delights in the Lord and his law. That’s an interesting thing to do, delighting in God’s law. We don’t often focus on that. Yes, we delight in God’s love; yes, we delight in God’s grace—but in God’s law? Isn’t that kind of Old Testament? Actually, it’s very Old Testament, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t also true for us today. The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. And Psalm 119 is basically a love song to the law. The law being referred to is not human laws but God’s law. And we begin the book of the Psalms, here in chapter one, being told how good it is to delight in God’s law. But what does it mean to delight in God’s law? It means to enjoy, it means to find joy in, it means to love it, delight is something that gives one pause, something that lifts one up, something that someone finds fulfillment in.
But what is this law of God that we are supposed to delight in? Is it the Ten Commandments? Is it the rules that we are to follow to make sure we are good people? Is it about wearing hats in church and whether we are allowed to go to the movies or not? Is it a list of do’s and don’ts that we are constantly trying to be aware of?
Jesus sums up the law for his disciples in a very simple way. And you all should be getting to the point now where you are getting sick of me talking about this summary of the law that Jesus presents. It’s not because I don’t think you’re hearing it, rather it’s because it is so very important. Jesus summarizes the law in two commands. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is center of the law that we are to delight in.
When we pay attention to this great commandment, we are like a tree by a stream of water. This is important. It is not enough that the person who abides in God’s law is like a tree, cause in and of themselves, trees are great. No, it is like a tree planted by a stream of water. The water nourishes the tree. The water supplies the needed food to the tree. The tree finds its strength in the water, and the tree bears fruit because it is next to the water.
And what is it that allows the tree to get the water, what is it that brings nourishment to the tree? It is the roots. You see, roots are very important for trees. Though you normally cannot see them, they are what give the tree its strength and they are what allow the tree to get the living water that trees need. Roots that grow shallow cause weak trees. Roots that grow deep make for strong trees.
Hopefully, we have learned the importance of roots. In Seattle, there is the famous Space Needle. It is this building that reaches up into the sky. It has a restaurant and a gift shop on the top of it. It has an observation deck that allows you to see the city around you. It is a breathtaking sight. When you see a picture of Seattle, you know it is Seattle that you are looking at because of the Space Needle. The Space Needle has three legs that go down to the ground and they are what hold it up. But they don’t end at the ground. You see, we only see 2/3rds of the legs of the Space Needle. The other 3rd of the legs are underground. The Space Needle has roots that keep it strong, that protect it from high winds, that give it its strength. Roots are important. Deep roots are what allow us to grow.
2. Strait Trees
In western Washington State, on the Olympic Peninsula there are rain forests. They aren’t tropical rain forests like what we see in movies, but they do get rain about 70% of the time. The pine trees in these rain forests are bigger and stronger than others in the area and they are covered with all sorts of mosses. One interesting thing about these rain forests is that trees grow in them in straight lines. The first time I visited the rain forest I thought someone had planted the trees for there seemed to be too much order to the way they were growing as they lined up perfectly with each other. You would find a line of trees growing in an area that all seemed to be about the same height and width. Some were younger, some much older. But then I discovered that there was a reason for this order, for this precision.
You see, when a tree fell in the rainforest it would sit on the ground and rot. As the tree rotted, new trees would begin to sprout out of its trunk. This is where the nutrients were for them. This is where their roots would find the most nourishment and this is where their roots would gain the most strength. But then the old, dead trees would disintegrate into the floor of the forest and all you would see would be the trees that had grown out of it’s fallen trunk. And these trees would be strong and mighty and they would grow up in a strait line. You would still know where that old tree had lain because the younger trees marked its place.
I think we can learn something powerful from this strange order that we find in creation. The young trees found strength and nourishment from the old tree. Those who are older in our church, in our community have something to offer those of us who are younger. We ignore them at our own peril. It is their strength that we can learn from, that we can find nourishment in. And when the old tree is gone, its place can still be seen in the young trees that had grown from its trunk. Is there a better legacy that we can leave than to raise up our children, our grandchildren, the children and grandchildren in our church and community in the delight of the Lord? By teaching them and nourishing them in the ways of the Lord, we leave something special in this world, something important, something needed.
3. Bearing fruits
So, take advice from a tree! Let your roots dig deep and drink of the water that God provides you. Let your roots drink of the water that is God’s strength in your life. And bear fruits, fruits that glorify God. We are told in the New Testament that we will be known by our fruits.
In Matthew 7 it is laid out so very clearly for us. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. If our roots are deep, if we drink of the living water, if we abide by the law of God, if we train ourselves up in the way of the Lord, learning from those who have gone before, finding strength as we spend time learning about God, studying his word and praying to him; then we will be good trees and we will bear good fruit.
We are told that our purpose in this world is to bear fruits. These fruits are not just for us to look pretty. They are not just for our own sake. These fruits are to help those around us who need our help, to feed those who need food, to clothe those who need clothes. Let us bear the fruit of life. This is what we are about.
We are called to be trees of many fruit. We know of the fruits of the Spirit that our children learned about this morning in Sunday School: Love, faithfulness, self-control, joy, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness and peace. These fruits aren’t optional. We aren’t given the choice whether to be loving or not. Matthew 7 tells us that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. We are commanded and expected to be more loving, more joyful, to live lives of self-control.
But we cannot just say to ourselves, I want to be more patient and expect it to happen. It doesn’t work that way. You see, the fruits aren’t the cause of our health, they are the result of our health. It is the nourishment that we get at the trunk, it is the water we receive from our roots that allows us to bear these fruits. In many ways, the fruits of the Spirit are the symptoms of living as God’s children. And they are symptoms that we all want to have.
As we begin our Sunday School year together, as we study God’s word in Sunday School, in our Adult studies, in Confirmation, on Wednesday nights; know that this isn’t just about head knowledge. Know that we aren’t spending this time studying just because we feel we have to. There is a point to it. We are trying to grow ourselves. We are trying to build ourselves up as Christ’s followers precisely so that we can bear good fruits that will make a difference in this world around us. We are called to make a powerful difference in the world around us. If we do these things, God will bless us with much fruit and the world around us will change, it will change for the better.
No comments:
Post a Comment