trees

I’m not an expert on trees, but it sure looks to me like my hackberry tree is dead. We planted five new trees this summer, along with a dozen bushes, and the rest are looking OK (although one of the firs blew over and had to be propped back up). But the landscaping company I got it from tells me there’s likely life in the hackberry tree yet, that in the spring it will bud again.

In Ezekiel 17 this morning I read about trees, a vision of eagles trying to plant cedar shoots and failing to grow trees from them. And then, in verses 22-24, "'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. '"

I’m not sure my dry hackberry will ever flourish, although the experts think it will. I am sure, from this metaphor of trees in the forest, that dry spirits will grow vibrant when God chooses them. Green, robust-looking men and women who have their roots in the rotten stuff of this world will wither in their souls. Humble people will be elevated, while the haughty trees will be toppled.

This isn’t the only story of trees in the Bible, and all of them have the same point: trees need to be rooted in good soil, near abundant water. Jesus revealed the Holy Spirit to be the living water we need to fulfill this vision of green growth. Jesus himself is the Truth that nourishes our souls.

That’s why we worship in the Spirit and in Truth. Jesus, not just the capital T standard of what is true and good, but also the one who showed me in his life the truth of God’s words. The Holy Ghost, who helps me understand the truth and shines that light of truth on my life. Together, by God’s grace, they turn me from a dry stick into a flourishing, green tree.

This is grace. Thanks be to God for his mercy to me.