From the Pastor's Study
From the Pastor’s Study
Four Trees
June 21, 2023
About 7 or 8 years ago I planted 4 maple trees in my yard. Two I planted were in the sun, on the site where a tree had been before but had died and the stump had rotted away. The third I planted near my driveway in full sun but not too far from another maple tree. The fourth I planted under the circumference of another maple tree which seems to be reaching the end of its life. I thought that if the old tree dies, the younger tree could quickly replace it. If you would see those trees, you would never believe that they were all planted on the same day and were all the same size when planted. The first two have trunks which are about 4 inches in diameter, and they are as tall as the house. The third is much smaller with a trunk only an inch in diameter an although it is healthy, it is growing much more slowly. The fourth has hardly grown at all. It has branches on one side only, and it is only 8 feet tall. It’s alive, but it is not flourishing. I am told that if the older tree would die giving room for the new one to grow, it would take off quickly because it is already well rooted. But it will not grow unless I take the old tree down, something I do not plan to do. Maybe the next owner of my house will do so.
These trees present a powerful object lesson: when conditions are right, trees will grow, and they will grow well. However, when trees have competition for water, nutrients and sunlight, they will not grow at their full potential. It’s not that they don’t have potential; it’s just that they are not living up to their potential.
We experience the same thing as human beings. While in the Philippines, I met a couple who were of Filipino ancestry, whose ancestors had immigrated to the United States a few generations earlier. This couple both could trace their lineage to the area of the Philippines where we were, but, amazingly, they were a lot taller and bigger than their distant cousins from that place. That particular area was one of the poorer, mountainous areas of the Philippines where nutrition and food supply was limited. However, this couple, whose family had access to good food in the United States, had grown much taller and stronger. Limited resources had hindered growth for those living in that area of the Philippines.
We can say the same of all of us spiritually. We confess that we are made spiritually alive in Jesus Christ, and we can be thankful for the gift of life that the Holy Spirit sparks in us as we come to faith in Jesus. We know that something that is alive has potential to grow and, in fact, should be growing. If it is not growing, then it must follow that something is hindering its growth. All of us have the potential to grow spiritually, but not all of us do, but it’s not a function of who we are; it is a function of our environment. Unlike trees, however, which cannot choose their environment, we can. We can decide whether we live our lives in the shade or other influences or in the light of Jesus Christ. Like with my trees, the difference can be quite astounding.
Without a doubt there are far more opportunities to shade our lives from the light of Christ today, perhaps far more than there were in generations past. Sometimes we even make excuses saying that, for example, our youth have so many influences we didn’t have. True enough, for they do. But it all comes down to a simple choice that we all must make: either we seek the light of Jesus Christ or we find ways to shade ourselves from him. This is a choice that every single believer has had to make since the beginning of time. Based on the choice we make, we will either grow to become strong spiritually or we will not.
I haven’t always made good choices. In fact, there have been times when I have allowed the world and its offerings to shade me from the light of Christ, and in those times my growth has been stunted. Thankfully, like many of us, I have some habits that bring me back into the light of Christ regularly. Communal worship on Sunday brings me back into the light of Christ, and, if the truth be told, sometimes I am so much in the shade that it takes two worship services on Sunday to make things right again. Mealtime devotions bring me back into the light of Christ. Writing sermons (a privilege most don’t have) is one of the greatest opportunities for me to experience the light of Christ. Fellowship with other believers, praying together, talking about our faith – all of these bring me back into the light of Christ. Now, of course, some of these are expected of me as a pastor, and so I am obligated to do them. (My job would be on the line if I didn’t attend regularly communal worship on a Sunday morning, for example.) Yet, I am thankful for these practices that bring me back into the light of Christ.
All of us have to make choices about whether we will enjoy the light of Christ or live in the shade of the world. If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, that is good, for that is an appropriate way to respond to God’s gracious call to salvation, and we respond by his grace alone. God also offers us the opportunity to grow strong spiritually, and we can respond appropriately, seeking the light of Christ or we can respond inappropriately, choosing to live in the shade of the world. The results will be shown in our spiritual vitality.
If you wish to see the trees in my yard, you can see them from the streets. The two thriving trees are on the north side of the house, the one which is doing okay is on the south, and the one under the trees is on the east side, not too far from the bird feeder. They were all planted on the same day from the same nursery stock. All of them had the same potential, but only two are doing really well. The third will do well, eventually. The fourth will only thrive if the tree that shades it is cut down. Or maybe I should transplant it so that it can thrive. It has potential, and so do we all. Spiritually speaking, we all have potential to grow in Christ if we belong to him through faith. It all depends on whether we live in the light of Christ. Some of us do. Some of us don’t, and maybe we need to be transplanted. Or, because we have the choice, perhaps it’s time to move out from the shade of the world so we can see the light of Christ and thrive.
Pastor Gary
