I've moved to a new house recently, so my commuting paths have changed. As such, I've noticed more details while I'm driving around home. One detail is a water oak in the median of the street I drive most. It is among a group of eight or so trees. Some time ago, I can't tell exactly how long, it was cut off about 5 feet above the ground. Now, it has a year or two's worth of growth out of the stump, and it's coming up kind of scraggly and rough looking. It’s ugly, but there’s still life in it.
This tree recalled a bit of forgotten farm folklore for me, although I can't cite the source of this tidbit: Never cut a tree down in winter. That's because, in winter, the tree always looks dead from the outside, even if there is still life going inside. If you cut a living tree in the winter, the stump will send out shoots in the spring when the sap rises with the temperatures.
The point is - In the winters of life we are tempted to cut down dreams, hopes, and ideals but you can never really tell if a thing is dead when the situation is at its worst. Nature teaches us that a thing isn't necessarily dead just because you can't see life in the winter. God taught nature to be that way. Seems that's part of the Holy One’s nature.
In Isaiah 11 there is a promise that a shoot will come out of the stump of Jesse. All of Israel believed that they were in decline and that foreign oppression was their fate. They were ready to cut down the tree, when Isaiah bursts in with "Wait! Something better is coming. Wolves are going to lie with lambs, and the root of Jesse will be a banner over all the people of the earth." And in just the right time, God delivered on his promise that was to come from the family of Jesse - his name was Jesus. And as surely as all of Israel awaited God's salvation, all the earth awaits something even now.
God's methods aren't always easy to understand, and sometimes life throws us curve balls that look like winter time. Advent reminds us that hope isn't hope if it doesn't have to wait and the God of Advent urges us to stop cutting down trees in winter time so that, when spring comes in its many forms, our dreams, hopes, and ideals will still be standing as trees of righteousness in the Kingdom of God.
What do you await? Love? Security? Kindness? Acceptance? Forgiveness?
Whatever you await this Advent, keep on waiting - for that is hope, and that is what we celebrate beginning this Sunday. I'll be preaching a sermon called All the Earth Awaits Hope based on Isaiah 11.1-10. We'll gather for worship at Willow Meadows Baptist Church at 11:10 a.m. and I'd be honored if you join us this week.
Waiting on the World to Change,
Pastor Gary
Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly column by Gary Long. I’m the pastor of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, and you can subscribe or unsubscribe by contacting me at http://webmail.logixonline.com/images/blank.png. Feel free to pass this along to a friend or family member who is awaiting something in these days. Encouragement and optimism cost you nothing but they are worth the world to someone else!
No comments:
Post a Comment