Healthy Trees

This Sunday, we worshiped in our recreation park amidst the green, growing trees. Knowing that we would worship in nature inspired me to preach this sermon. In it, I compare healthy trees to faithful Christians. Are YOU a healthy tree?

Most of you are familiar with the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer? I’ll bet that all of you know at least a couple of lines of it, even if you don’t know the whole thing. Let’s listen to that poem.

            I think that I shall never see

            a poem lovely as a tree:

            a tree whose hungry mouth is prest

            against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

            a tree that looks at God all day

            and lifts her lovely arms to pray;

            a tree that may in summer wear

            a nest of robins in her hair;

            upon whose bosom snow has lain;

            who intimately lives with rain.

            Poems are made like fools like me,

            but only God can make a tree.

It contains great imagery, doesn’t it? The author imagines a tree receiving nourishment from the earth and lifting her hands in worship. Her leaves are decorated with birds’ nests, and the weather is one of her best friends.

Trees lend themselves to poetry, because they offer such powerful images. It’s so easy to imagine trees as people. A tall, sturdy oak tree reminds us of a powerful man, secure in his strength, possessing great character and wisdom A weeping willow is like a beautiful woman in a flowing gown, graceful and sensitive. And a flowering dogwood – that reminds us of a young girl in her first bloom of womanhood, still innocent, and not yet all grown up. Even the Bible compares people to trees. We heard a comparison like that in this morning’s scripture reading. The important thing about the tree in the psalm, however, is not what it looks like, but where it is planted.

A righteous person, says the psalmist, is like a tree that is planted by a river. Because it has all the water that it needs to grow, it is full of leaves, and it bears lots of fruit at the proper time. This psalm was written long before Jesus lived, and so the water that the psalmist is talking about is the Torah – God’s word that nourishes as it teaches. I’m pretty sure that all of us, though, thought about the living water that Jesus Christ offers to us. That living water keeps us refreshed and healthy. The wicked, in contrast, are like chaff, says the psalm, that useless part of the wheat harvest that is left for the wind to blow away.

The prophet Jeremiah picks up on this image of a tree and adds something to it. Jeremiah says that it’s not only fresh water that a healthy tree needs, but good soil, too. In 17:5-6, the prophet focuses on the person who tries to depend on people instead of on God. He compares a person like that to a tree that is growing in poor soil. “Cursed is the one,” says Jeremiah, “who depends on other people for his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That one will be like a bush in the wastelands. He will not even recognize prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the dry places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.” The people who aren’t planted in good soil are sorry sights. Jeremiah says that they’re more like blighted little shrubs than trees. Because they are rooted in the soil of worldly things, their souls are gnarled and thick-skinned. These people hang on to every little bit that they have, like a cactus that hoards water. They live with a perpetual sense of want. When they actually do have enough, they don’t even realize it. Their slogan is “Ain’t it awful?!” Even in the midst of blessings, all they can see is their problems. They are classic pessimists. Their cup is always half empty, even when it is full; and they have no hope that things will ever get any better.

But then, Jeremiah (17:7-8) turns to the one who is rooted in the good soil of God’s word. “But blessed is the one,” says Jeremiah, “who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. That one will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots to the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Trees planted by the river in good soil are very different from struggling little desert shrubs! The folks who are planted in the good soil of God’s word aren’t afraid of the whims of the weather. Too hot? Not enough rain? No problem! These folks can make it through even hot, dry years just fine. Instead of crying, “Ain’t it awful?!” they state confidently, “I’ll get through this somehow.” These folks are optimists. Their cup is always half full, even when it’s almost empty! Oh, sure, they have clouds in their lives; but they can find silver linings even in the darkest clouds.

What a contrast between the tree planted by the river and the shrub in the desert. What a contrast between people who are grounded in God and people who are rooted in the concerns of the world. It is the contrast of hope versus despair; serenity versus worry; optimism versus pessimism. Where we are rooted, and what nourishes us determines what kind of people we are.

What kind of tree are you? I’m not asking you if you are an oak, a maple, or a weeping willow. I’m asking you if you are a tall, healthy tree… or has your growth been a little bit stunted? If you’re not as healthy as you would like to be, you might ask yourself where you’re rooted, and what is nourishing you. Are you taking time each day for prayer and meditation… or do you think that those things are a waste of your precious time? Are you watching for signs of God’s kingdom… or have you given up hope that the world will ever get any better? Do you expect to see signs of God’s Spirit at work in your life… or are you convinced that those things don’t happen to you, only to somebody else?

I don’t know what your answers to those questions are. But I do know that if you’re not happy with your growth, you can ask God to give you some help. He is, after all, the master gardener! He knows just what nutrients to add to your soil, and what vitamin supplements to add to your water. He will make sure that you get the right amount of sunlight; and he might even prune off some dead branches that have been weighing you down. God will help you grow straight and tall, and become the person that you were always meant to be! We just can’t do that by ourselves, any more than a tree can move to a better location. Trees need someone to take care of them; and we do, too. We need God’s help. After all, as Joyce Kilmer so wisely says in his poem – “Only God can make a tree.”