Isn't that a beautiful hickory tree? Unfortunately, it no longer resides beside a friend's home. A summer storm removed this beauty that was so loved in the fall when it gilded the sky, in the spring when new leaves replaced winter's stripped limbs, and in the summer when it shaded their drive. This summer brought a storm that pointed out several natural occurences that show similar things in our own lives.
The Preacher wrote about seasons:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 KJV)
The above beautiful season announceer was over a hundred years old, sitting beside its house with a sister tree. Its sister showed signs of rot and decay, and was professionally removed several years ago. This tree remained for decades following that loss, no outward signs of inward decay until one windstorm. As the owner put it: "But this tree had withstood so many windstorms in its 100+ years of life that we never dreamed it was in that much a state of decay." The owner added: "(There is a sermon in all that which I will write someday!)" I hope to hear that sermon, as I have others from this pastor.
It might speak of decay within a church in which the leaders could almost match Jesus' descriptive words in Matthew 22 - here's a small example:
Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:24-27 KJV)
Sadly, there are many who attend such congregations, led by men more interested in the traditions of men than reaching out to our Father, who asks that we walk with Him:
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)
Jesus also filtered God's commandments into two small items. It was a "gotcha!" question from a lawyer who - obviously now - did not know the answer:
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV)
If you happen to belong to such a congregation whose leaders have forgotten God's commandments, substituting mankind's traditions for these two commandments, you may find yourself a bit lost as a bird the morning after the tree fell, as my friend wrote:
"I looked out the window and saw a little bird and it was flying really erratically and kind of circling right in the area where the tree had been only hours before. It was acting so strangely that I am convinced it had a nest in the tree and it could not figure out where the tree went. T**** said he saw a nest in the tree and he didn't know if there were eggs in it or not . . . That has bothered me ever since I saw it because a little bird could not figure out why its home had disappeared apparently."
When church leaders fail congregations, we can feel as lost as that bird. Everything we worked for disappears and the even the ground beneath our feet doesn't feel solid. Trust me, it isn't. Our earth moves, shifting mountains, moving rivers, spilling lava every once in a while.
No matter the trappings of ministry, the decorations of the sanctuary, the design of the tabernacle, God remains as He was when He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, when He made promises to Abraham, when He kept David from building the Temple, when He called Andrew and Peter to a life of fishing for men.Whether Jew or Christian, the two commandments have not changed.
God's love for the people in this world has not changed. He provided a simple way to reach Him. There will come a time when we are not able to do so:
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6 KJV)
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