Trees - Bethlehem United Methodist Church

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Trees
Genesis 2:9; Psalm 1:1-3; John 4:1-15; Colossians 2:6-7
(Living Bible)
I love trees! I especially love very old trees.
I have three favorite trees in North Carolina. From the
coast to the mountains, there is one favorite tree in each region.
Moving from the coast to the mountains: in South Port, North
Carolina there is an ancient oak tree called the bent oak. It is
bent because of countless storms blowing up the Cape Fear
River from the sea. The winds from the storms have caused the
old tree to grow in a bent posture, away from the river and sea.
For almost a thousand years, the old tree has survived the
storms, bent but not broken.
In the Piedmont, on the grounds of Tanglewood Park in
Clemmons, North Carolina; on the front yard of the Manor
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House, to the right as you face the Yadkin River, there stands a
magnificent oak tree dated to be over three hundred years old.
It amazes me that it has survived all these years, and you and I
are blessed if we live into our 80’s and 90’s. I think about such
things when I stop and ponder the ancient oaks on the peoperty
of this church.
My third favorite tree is also an ancient oak tree that stands
on the front yard of the Oak Grove United Methodist Church in
Rutherford County, at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains.
In the history records of that church, founded in 1791, the old
tree is mentioned as being on the property when the first church
building was erected. Think of the history that that three
hundred year old oak tree has seen! How it has survived is
beyond me. It stands only four feet off a busy highway and has
been struck by cars numerous times. There have been
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lightening strikes and ice storms, but the old tree lives on, scars
and all; standing guard over a five acre cemetary where rests the
body of a best friend. I will always have a mental picture of my
sons, Les and Jonathan standing under that old tree waiting for
the school bus, its broad limbs sheltering them from the rain
during the leafy seasons.
Psalm 1 describes righteous people as those who follow the
ways of God. They are like trees planted by living water. As
my three favorite trees demonstrate, trees have the habit of
staying right where they are planted—come what may.
Even in great storms, I have witnessed the trees stripped of
their bark, limbs broken, but are able to take great punishment
and remain right where they are planted.
Isn’t that also true of churches? Isn’t that true of this
church? How many storms of human concoction has she
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survived, not counting acts of nature—the lighten strike in
1952?
Those who put their confidence in God are also putting
their confidence in the principles God has laid down in the Bible
for us to live by. Read the Bible! Living by these principles is
what makes one follow the paths of righteousness and become
like a tree planted by living water.
These principles we are to follow are often called laws,
particularly in the Old Testament. But we often make the
mistake of seeing the Law as something heartless and cold. One
of the possible interpretations of the Hebrew word translated
law is a revealed teaching. This teaching, from God, is not
intended to hurt but to preserve and save.
It is important to plant ourselves deeply into the ground of
our biblical principles. There, by the living water, which is our
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personal and living relationship with God, through God’s son
Jesus, we grow strong and safe.
When the storms of life come, it is too late for the tree to
grow roots if it has none. At the time of our testing is not the
time to try to figure out what we believe about God. Only if our
roots are deep and strong, only if we are regularly drinking from
the living water of Jesus Christ, can we withstand the storms of
life.
We build our life together. We are Christians, members of
Bethlehem UMC. We sink our roots deep into the eternal laws
of God. We do not say thou shalt not steal ... ordinarily. Thou
shalt not commit adultery...ordinarily. We do not say thou shalt
love thy neighbor...except for the ones we don’t like. We hold
to the principles firmly and then when the storms of life come,
we can see the rationalizations for what they are.
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Our problem often comes when we try to depend upon our
own understanding. Hear the words of Jeremiah: Cursed are
those who trust in mere mortals and make flesh their
strength....they shall be like a shrub in the desert....they shall
live in the parched places of the wilderness. (Jer. 17:5-10).
Compare that to trees planted by living waters. Do you want to
be a shrub in the dessert, or a tree by living waters?
Time and time again in the Bible when God’s judgement
was about to fall, we read the words: And everyone did that
which was right in their own eyes. This is where I fail the most
in my walk with the Lord. I am a Situational Ethicist. In other
words I let the situation dictate my response. Everyone is
different and every situation is different. What applies in one
situation may not apply in another situation with the same
dynamics.
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I am uncomfortable with the popular phrase: What would
Jesus do? What would Jesus do in this situation? I’m not Jesus.
I will never be Jesus. I probably can’t do in every situation
what Jesus would do. So I like to turn that popular phrase: What
would Jesus do? into what would Jesus have me do in this
situation? Now, how can I know what Jesus would have me do
unless I know Jesus?! Therefore, like the writer of Colossians
says in that great Living Bible paraphrase: And now, just as you
trusted Christ to save you, trust him too for each day’s
problems. Let your roots grow down deep into him and draw up
nourishment from him... . And I will remind you that in the
Gospel according to John, Jesus said I am the vine, you are the
branches.
We are connected to Jesus (spiritually speaking) like the
roots of a tree are connected to, and draw nourishment from, the
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good earth. You can’t see the Spirit but you know it’s there.
Just like you can’t see the roots of a tree underground drawing
nourishment from the good earth, but you know they are there.
Who do you follow? If you follow that which seems good
to you with no thought of asking Jesus about it; then you see
your god in the mirror each morning, and you watch as your god
ages and fades and dies. If you follow God, through the Son,
Jesus the Christ, there is no fading or falling away, or death that
is not conqured by eternal life. For as the writer of the N.T.
book of Hebrews says: God is the same yesterday, today, and
forever. O thou who changest not, abide with me.
Amen.
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Charles Lee Hutchens,Th.M, D.Min
Bethany U.M.C.
Lexington, N.C.
Revised October 21, 2001 for Homecoming Sunday
Preached again at Main Street United Methodist Church, Reidsville, N.C. (leaving out the Homecoming Theme)
October 8, 2006
Preached again at Bethlehem United Methodist Church, Climax, N.C., May 10, 2015.
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