Wednesday, April 24, 2024

“But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.  I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.” (Psalm 52:8, New Living Translation)

               Last week, the City came along and chopped down our ash tree on the front lawn. We didn’t receive any notice that they were planning to do so. It was not a healthy tree. It was the last to leaf in the Spring and the first to drop its leaves in the Fall.  They had been treating it for ash borers over the last few years.  But, every year, more and more of its branches did not leaf and it was a sorry sight.

                It was a good-sized tree but it took the workers less than a half hour to fell it, chop it up in the wood chipper and be gone, leaving little trace of its existence, but for the stump and some sawdust. Susan commented on how long it takes to grow a tree and yet how quickly it is chopped down and gone. It was situated right beside the front sidewalk and was a very popular tree for dogs to leave their pee-mails. I’m sure they will miss it, too.

                We’re hoping that the City will plant a new tree or two to replace it.

                In the Creation stories of Genesis, God takes great delight in planting trees. “The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit.” (Genesis 2:9) Throughout scriptures, trees are a symbol of prosperity, abundance, health, vitality. “But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (Psalm 1: 2 -3) Trees are a place of refuge and safety. “The birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees.” (Psalm 104:12) They can be symbols of longevity, strength, hope, renewal and blessing. “I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.” (Isaiah 41:19)

                Yet a unhealthy tree is a wasted and forlorn thing, good only for the woodpile. “The people are like the dead branches of a tree, broken off and used for kindling beneath the cooking pots. Israel is a foolish and stupid nation, for its people have turned away from God. Therefore, the one who made them will show them no pity or mercy.” (Isiah 27:11)

                Jesus said, “A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.  Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” (Matthew 7: 17 -20) In a puzzling but prophetic action, he once cursed a fig tree for its lack of fruitfulness. He told a parable about a barren fig tree which owner wanted to chop down until the gardener persuaded him to allow the tree to be fertilized and nurtured.

                Fruitfulness is Jesus’ expectation of us all. What does that look like? “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Ephesians 5: 22 -23) Good works, good deeds, good words, good actions – all are part of a hale and healthy faith. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

                We are nurtured by the life of Jesus Christ so that we may indeed be fruitful. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15: 4 -5)

                Perhaps we all can’t be mighty oaks or majestic pine trees or fruitful apple trees. But we can be straight and tall like a maple tree or well-rooted and offer our shade like a chestnut tree. “But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.” (Psalm 92:12)

Dale