I Want to be a Tree

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Beautiful, healthy trees

As we celebrate Harvest Sunday and thank God for all he gives us, much of our focus is on the natural world.

For some people, one of the best things about the natural world is trees.

Are you a tree hugger?

Mum loved trees - all the different shades of green.

I’ve come to love trees.

They do so much:

Provide shade.

Often bear fruit or nuts.

Add oxygen to the air.

Wood can be used as fuel for fire or lumber for shelter.

Protection from the wind.

Foliage/roots prevent erosion.

Beautiful in shape and variety.

Bible often mentions trees:

God

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Psalm 1:1–6 NIV

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

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Which tree are you?

A farmer once planted two fruit trees on opposite sides of his property.

A farmer once planted two fruit trees on opposite sides of his property.

The one he planted to provide a hedge to hide the unsightly view of an old landfill;

the other to provide shade to rest under near a cool mountain stream which ran down beside his fields.

As the two trees grew, both produced began to flower and bear fruit.

One day the farmer decided to gather the fruit from the tree nearest his house - the one used to provide a hedge from the landfill.

fruit from the tree nearest his house - the one

Cadet Rob Westwood-Payne 2Candidates Sunday Message Outline: Rooted - Hednesford

used to provide a hedge from the landfill.

As he brought the fruit inside the house, he noticed that it was a little deformed - the symmetry of the fruit was not very good, but still the fruit looked edible.

Later that evening, while sitting on his porch the farmer took one of the pieces of fruit for a snack.

Biting into the fruit, he found it to be extremely bitter, and completely inedible.

Casting the fruit aside he looked across the field to the other tree over by the mountain stream.

After walking across the field, the farmer took a piece of the fruit from the other tree and bit into it.

The fruit of this tree was sweet and delicious so he gathered several more pieces of fruit and took them to the house.

and took them to the house.

Question arises from today’s passage: which tree are you?

Candidates Sunday Message Outline: Rooted - Hednesford

Transition Reminder

MESSAGE NOTES

The fruit of each tree was greatly affected by the nutrition of the root.

What Does it Take to be a Good Leader?

Good nutrition

The fruit of each tree was greatly affected by the nutrition of the root.

It’s the root that bears the fruit.

Just as the tree grew by the landfill to be bitter,

and the tree by the stream produced sweet fruit,

the psalmist says we have a choice:

We can either put down our roots into the soil of the landfill of sin and wickedness,

Cadet Rob Westwood-Payne 4

Candidates Sunday Message Outline: Rooted - Hednesford

of the landfill of earthly pursuits,

or into the cool refreshing stream of the law of the Lord.

The fruit of the Christian leader is the outward evidence of the inward motivation:

What choice do you make today?

An Either/Or Choice

Psalm 1:3–4 ESV

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Psalm 1:1–2 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

It’s one or the other.

It’s one or the other.

Black or white.

No shades of grey here.

We can either follow God’s teaching and prosper or we can follow the ways of the wicked and be driven away like chaff in the wind.

Just to make sure we get the point, the whole psalm is full of pictures of this either/or choice:

Streams of water/driving wind.

Fruity and leafy trees/discarded chaff.

Prospering/perishing.

Belonging/not belonging.

The whole point of the psalm is: choose your path.

Which one will you take?

It’s Not as Simple as That

We don’t live in an either/or world!

We experience doubt, grief and fear.

We meditate on God’s teaching, but we also face pressure from the world around us.

Sometimes, the wicked win!

And sometimes, the righteous lose.

They face tragedy and wrong.

And none of us are perfect. Are we?

We seek righteousness, but we are all sinners.

We want to be in right relationship with God and those around us, but sometimes we get it wrong.

A Psalm of Instruction, Not Ideology

So what is trying to teach us?

It’s a Wisdom psalm, and as such it is teaching and instructing us.

The purpose of this psalm is to encourage and challenge us to meditate on the teaching of God throughout our lives, so he can give us guidance about how to live.

This psalm challenges us to be planted.

Allow ourselves to be planted by the master gardener for a specific purpose, and through the Word of God to live that purpose out every day.

Understand that nothing in your life is haphazard.

Don’t drift through life

There is a purpose and a plan to everything in your life.

Second, the psalmist encourages us that we have been planted by streams of water.

God provides us with life-giving nourishment.

He gives us his Holy Spirit of life.

Rather than trying to nourish and support ourselves, we can drink from his spiritual power.

We can meditate on his Word.

We can communicate with God through prayer.

We can support each other in fellowship.

You

Give the fruit of goodness

And we can choose to focus on the goodness of God and being a child of that goodness.

Nan C. Merrill’s paraphrase of this psalm in her book, Psalms for Praying, uses the beautiful line, “And in all that they do, they give life”.

Wouldn’t you like people to say that about you?

Whatever he did, he gave life.

Whatever she did, she gave life.

Like the two trees in my story earlier, a tree is most known by it’s fruit.

An apple tree gives you apples.

A cherry tree gives you cherries.

A tree planted on landfill might well give you bitter, inedible fruit.

A tree planted by sparkling stream will give you beautiful, life-giving fruit:

The godly man or woman produces thanksgiving in seasons of plenty, faith in seasons of doubt, patience in suffering, peace in turmoil, mercy when wronged, gentleness when falsely accused, strength in temptation, humility in leadership, and prayer in all seasons. (James Johnston, pastor).

The godly man or woman produces thanksgiving in seasons of plenty, faith in seasons of doubt, patience in suffering, peace in turmoil, mercy when wronged, gentleness when falsely accused, strength in temptation, humility in leadership, and prayer in all seasons.

As we live consciously connected to God, consciously rooted by the streams of his life-giving water, we can dedicate each thing that we do each day to God and to give life to others.

We can produce a harvest of good fruit.

We can people that others can trust:

To look after and teach their children.

To manage their finances.

To care for their property.

To keep their confidence.

To manage their office.

To make wise leadership decisions.

And so on.

Let’s use this harvest celebration to commit to being fruitful by allowing the life of God to flow in and through us.

Next Steps

SB 577 - Channels only, blessed Master

Channels only, blessèd Master, But with all thy wondrous power Flowing through me, thou canst use me Every day and every hour. Mary E. Maxwell Used By Permission. CCL Licence No. 30158 Copied from The Song Book of The Salvation Army Song Number 577