September 16, 2007

Three Trees
2 Corinthians 4:5-7

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7

I’m going to share a folktale with you today. For those of you who have heard this story before, I think you’ll enjoy hearing it again. After the folktale, we’ll look at what God wants to say to us through 2 Corinthians 4.

Once upon a time, there were three trees.
These three young trees had big dreams.

The 1st tree looked up at the beautiful stars in the sky and said, “I want to be a beautiful treasure chest, covered with
jewels and filled with beautiful treasure.”

The 2nd tree looked out toward the ocean and said, “I want to be a strong sailing ship carrying mighty kings
over the ocean.”

The 3rd tree looked down at the busy city and said, “I don’t want to go down there. I want to stay up here and point
people to God. When people look up at me, I want them to see God.”

Years passed, and those three trees grew tall and strong and beautiful.

One day, 3 woodcutters came up the mountain.

The 1st woodcutter looked at the 1st tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. I’ll take this one.”
And as the woodcutter cut him down, the 1st tree rejoiced at the thought of being made into a beautiful treasure chest, covered in gold and filled with beautiful treasure.

The 2nd woodcutter looked at the 2nd tree and said, “This tree is strong. I’ll take this one.”
And as the woodcutter cut him down, the 2nd tree rejoiced at the thought of being made into a strong sailing ship, carrying mighty kings over the ocean.

The 3rd woodcutter looked at the 3rd tree and said, “Any old tree will do for me. I’ll take this one.”
And as the woodcutter cut her down, the 3rd tree cried out in confusion and anguish: “I just wanted to stand tall and to help people see God.”

The 1st woodcutter took the 1st tree to a carpenter, who began to make the tree into a box. The 1st tree rejoiced at the thought of being made into a beautiful treasure chest, covered in gold and filled with beautiful treasure.
But the shape wasn’t quite right. The 1st tree mourned as he was made into a feed box, and then was put on the ground with animals, covered with dust and filled with animal food.

The 2nd woodcutter took the 2nd tree to the shipyard. The 2nd tree rejoiced at the thought of being made into a strong ship, carrying mighty kings over the ocean. But they weren’t making strong ocean-sailing ships that day. The 2nd tree mourned as he was made into a smaller fishing boat, and put out onto a small sea (which was really only a big lake). Every day, he was filled with fish and carried dead fish back to shore.

The 3rd woodcutter took the 3rd tree to a lumber yard. The 3rd tree mourned in great anguish as she was cut into rough, ugly beams and thrown onto a pile. She cried out, “I wanted to stay up there so that when people looked at me, I would point them to God.”

Time passed,
and one day someone took the animal food out of the feedbox that was made from the 1st tree.
A young mother put her small baby inside the feedbox.
Her husband put his hand on the feedbox and said, “Ah, I wish I could make him a cradle.”
The woman smiled, took her husband’s hand, and said, “This feedbox is beautiful because of the beautiful treasure inside it.”
And all of the sudden, the 1st tree knew that he was holding the most beautiful treasure in the whole universe.

Years passed,
and one day, tired travelers got into the fishing boat made from the 2nd tree.
One of the travelers was so tired that he fell asleep.
Suddenly a terrible storm came up, and the 2nd tree was scared. He knew many other boats just like him had ended up on the bottom of the lake during storms like this. He was scared because he knew he wasn’t strong enough to make it across the lake in this storm.
But in the midst of the storm, the man who had fallen asleep stood up and said, “Peace, be still.”
And all of the sudden, the 2nd tree knew that he was carrying the mightiest king of all heaven and earth.

More time passed,
and one day, the beams made from the 3rd tree were yanked off the pile and dragged through an angry crowd.
They gave one of her beams to a man that was so beaten and weak that he kept falling. They grabbed another man out of the crowd, and made him carry her beam up a small hill.
The 3rd tree cried out in confusion. What was happening?
When they got up the hill, they threw her down on the ground. They nailed the weak and beaten man to one of her beams. And then they stood her up, straight and tall.
She couldn’t understand what was going on. Who was this man, and why was this happening?
After a while, some of the people left. Later it became very dark, and the 3rd tree cried out, feeling abused and abandoned. The man cried out, and then died.
Then there was an earthquake, and a soldier standing on the ground looked up at the 3rd tree – no, he was looking at the man nailed to her – and said, “Surely this was the Son of God.”
The 3rd tree was even more confused: “How could he say that?”
After a while, the man’s friends came and took the man’s body away, and the 3rd tree stood on the little hill, feeling abused and confused.
But then a few mornings later, she heard some people talking. They were saying that the man who had been nailed to her was alive again. Could it be true?
And all of the sudden, the 3rd tree knew that when people looked at her on that little hill, that they had been seeing God.

2 Corinthians 4 says,
God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Look at your neighbor and say, “You’re a jar of clay.”
Look at your neighbor and say, “But God is glorious!”

Like the 1st tree, sometimes we dream about being beautiful. We want people to look at us and think we’re beautiful. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about God’s beautiful glory working inside of us.

Like the 2nd tree, sometimes we dream about being strong and powerful and known for our great deeds. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s that God is strong when we are weak.

Like the 3rd tree, sometimes we dream about being people who point others to God. That’s great. The problem is when we tell God where and how we want to point people to him. Often, it’s not in some beautiful, delightful place where God needs people to point others to himself. It’s often in the midst of a crazy, angry, broken world. That’s where people need to see that God loves all of us so much that he died for us.

The night before he died, Jesus said, “This is my body, and this is my blood, which is given up for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice so that our sins could be forgiven, and we could have a relationship with God. When we remember his sacrifice, when we honor it as the way to have relationship with God, we come closer to him.

When we come closer to God that we are transformed; that’s when his glory shines in our lives.

We’re going to take communion, and as we do, Kelly and I will say, “May Christ’s light shine in your heart.” If that’s your prayer; if you know that you’re a simple jar of clay, and you want Christ’s light to shine in your heart, come take communion.

Now hear me on this . . . communion is not a magic thing. Just because you swallow this juice and this bread doesn’t mean that people are going to see Christ’s power at work in you.

It’s an outward sign of what’s in your heart. It’s a tangible way to say, “Yes, Jesus, I want your light to shine in me.”