FRUITFUL TREES

you find trees or bushes or branches or ruts mentioned over and over again. When you see a tree in the Bible, pay attention. God is usually at work in that tree. Hear how God makes us to be like fruitful trees in service to others today on the Lutheran Hour. ♪♪ I'm Mark Eisher. Glad to be with you once again. The Lutheran Hour is listener supported. To learn how your gifts and prayers help to bring Christ to the nations and the nations to the church, go to lutheranhour.org. The Reverend Dr. Glenn Nielsen taught practical theology at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He also served as Director of Placement and the Internship Program for Vickers and Deaconesses. Now, with a message titled "Fruitful Trees," here is Dr. Nielsen. ♪♪ I grew up on a small farm in central Wisconsin. The house we lived in was surrounded by trees. On one side of the house stood a row of pine trees, tall and majestic. They provided protection from the weather and a windbreak during the cold winter months. In the yard between the house and the barn grew a willow tree. Its shimmering leaves brought beauty to the dusty driveway and the farm building surrounded it. We had an apple orchard off to the other side of the house

with about a dozen trees. My mom made applesauce from the apples with an old canning set. I had fun climbing those trees and eating a few apples while doing so. We also had a plum tree. The plums weren't like the big ones in the grocery stores today. They were small and narrow. But on a late summer day, those plums were just the snack I needed. The trees provided beauty, protection, food, and enjoyment. Those trees were doing just what God had created them to do. On the third day of creation, God created vegetation and specifically trees. They were to produce fruit, and God saw that the trees were good. What's more, when you read through the Bible, you find trees or bushes or branches or ruts mentioned over and over again. They appear at major events like the timber of Noah's ark that saved the animals and Noah's family during the flood. Abraham was resting under an oak tree when God visited him. The Lord promised that he would have a son in his old age, promised him that he would become the father of many nations, including the nation of Israel. Moses' staff was used to confront feral at the plagues, and he used it to lead God's people out of slavery and into the promised land. The prophet Jonah sat under a tree that provided shade in the heat of the day. Psalm 96 tells of trees singing for joy before the Lord.

A short man named Zacchaeus climbed a Sycamore tree to see Jesus. Trees provided a place for birds to build nests for their homes. Jesus sought solitude in a grove of trees. When you see a tree in the Bible, pay attention. God is usually at work in that tree. Trees were majestic and beautiful in a land with few trees, but much wilderness. They provided homes and protection. They provided food and a place of refuge. Today, we know even more about how trees give us life. They take carbon dioxide and return oxygen for us to breathe. In a book titled "Reforesting Faith," the author, Matthew Sleeth, summarizes how valuable trees are for the lives we enjoy. He says, "They purify the air and are responsible for water and rain being able to travel more than 300 miles inland. Trees are home to one half of all creatures that live on land. They give us food and shade. They are one of the first things that children draw, and they give us chocolate." My mom loved plants and trees. She could make a Christmas cactus grow from a piece that had fallen off of another one in the house. She could identify trees and bushes. We had a garden that gave us vegetables. On occasion, she would walk down to the pasture on that farm where the cows grazed and a small forest of trees grew. She liked to be there and walk in the shade. they were a treat for a family with little money for buying treats in a store. I grew up in a place where the trees that grew there now bring me many happy memories. Yes, God

created trees, and they are very good. But something awful happened in that garden where the first people Adam and Eve lived. One tree came with a warning. Its fruit was not to be eaten. To do so would bring evil into the world. But they did anyway, and now a curse runs through this world infecting all of creation, infecting everyone who now lives. You can see it in the trees. Some trees are invasive species. Some trees produce poisonous fruit. On that farm, we learned what berries to eat, and which ones to avoid. You could get sick if you ate the wrong ones. You can also see the evil that came into the world by what happens to trees. Insects can kill a tree. A wildfire can wipe out thousands of trees in a drought-stricken area and the wildlife that lives in them. Trees can live a long time, but they get old and die. They need to be cut down. A tornado will rip trees right out of the ground, sometimes destroying homes and taking lives. From the eating of one tree in the Garden of Eden has come destructive trees and the destruction of trees. The curse that started so long ago with one sinful moment has brought evil to all creation. What has happened to the trees has happened to us as well. The Bible will speak of this in terms of good and bad fruit. Jesus uses trees to talk about what people do. He says, "Good trees bring forth healthy fruit, but the disease tree brings forth bad fruit." He's referring to people here, not trees. What is the bad fruit that grows in our lives? Anger, hatred, greed, cruelty, callousness, ugly behaviors, drinking too much, and misuse of God's gift of sexuality. All of these are just a few. Think about what happens when you're on your cell phone. You can be tempted to get some easy money and it prompts some greed inside of you. You read about some misjustice and you become angry and write a hateful post. You see some family having a great time and you get jealous and dissatisfied with the life God has given you. An invitation to a site that is pornographic tests your faithfulness to your spouse, to your family, and to your Lord. You hear profanity on different reels and it becomes more a part of your vocabulary. I could go on, but the bad fruit is a part of our lives, too. So is the bad fruit from other people damaging our lives. Someone steals a package off our porch or scams us out of our money. Identity theft creates havoc with our finances. One mistake can bring ridicule online from so many people you don't even know. Bullying brings depression to teenagers or when you put something you believe in on your Facebook page. Violence invades your home, abuse happens, you cry,

you hurt. The evil has infected your life, too. And the result of this curse is not just evil, but death. We do not get out of this life alive. In that garden long ago, the curse was not just for this life, but it brought the end of life. It brought the punishment of death. Even worse, it brought separation from the God who created us and this world we live in. Yet God has not abandoned us. The trees tell us this. An old traditional folktale called The Tale of Three Trees tells of three tall trees on a mountainside. One tree dreamed of being made into a treasure chest filled with precious stones and covered with gold. The second tree imagined being a huge ship that sailed the seas and carried mighty kings. The third tree dreamt of standing tall and majestic on the mountain so that people could look up at him and think of God. One day the three trees were cut down. The second was made into a fishing boat that would smell of dead fish. The third was cut into a beaman, thrown onto a pile. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night a young couple stayed in a stable, and the woman had a child. They placed the baby Jesus into the feed box. The first tree then realized he was holding the greatest treasure in the world. The second tree was carrying some men on the sea with one of them sleeping in the back. A powerful storm came up, and the waves were about to sink the fishing boat. But Jesus woke up and said, "Peace!" and the storm stopped. The second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth. The third tree was yanked out of the pile of logs and was carried through an angry, jeering crowd. Then soldiers nailed Jesus' hands to it. The tree felt ugly and cruel. But three days later, the sun came up and creation trembled with joy. God's love had changed everything. Every time anyone would look at the third tree, the cross, they would remember Jesus and that he had risen from the dead. The cross is empty. And Jesus lives as the precious treasure of God's Son, king of all creation.

The apostle Peter writes in the Bible, "Jesus himself bore our sins and his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." Jesus undoes the curse. He takes the punishment, the penalty, the evil, the consequences of that first sin and the garden of Eden for us and from us. His wounds heal us. His death gives us life. He is abandoned by God on the cross so that we could be right in God's eyes. He rose from the dead to give life and salvation. The trees tell us the story of God's love. At Christmastime, we put up Christmas trees and they are covered with precious ornaments to remind us of Jesus' birth. The church has a baptismal font, an altar, a pulpit, and lectured where Jesus comes to us and calls us His children. Every time we see a cross, we look up and believe we are right with God. And more, we are to live for Him. As Peter says, we are to live to righteousness. Now part of that righteousness is to bear good fruit, like love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, and kindness. But it also means to take care of God's creation, especially the trees, just as Adam and Eve were to do in that first garden. When I was in high school, the very first Earth Day was held. It was April, 1970. We were bused to a nearby county park, heard about nature, and given a little pine sapling. Now what would those of us who grew up in rural life do with another tree? I brought it home and forgot about it. My mom did not. She planted it.

She cared for it. One day I came home after college and noticed that the tree had grown tall and full, filled with life. As I think about that memory, I realized that my mom was living out that life of righteousness toward God's creation. She planted a tree. She cared for it. It was the right thing to do. It was the fruitful thing to do. We need to do the same. Perhaps plant a tree in memory of someone special or a special occasion. Take care of trees when the opportunity arises. Or simply look at the trees and give thanks for them. Why? Because God said that trees are good and they tell the story of His love in Jesus for us and for all creation. Amen. [Music] You're listening to the Lutheran Hour for free online resources, archived audio, our mobile app, and more go to lutheranhour.org. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, Self-control. That's how the apostle Here's a hymn about that with words in music by Ralph C. Schulz and Timothy Dudley Smith. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] Joining us now, here's Lutheran Hour speaker, Dr. Michael Ziegler. Thank you, Mark. Today, I am visiting with our guest preacher from today, Reverend Dr. Glenn Nielsen. Thanks for joining us, Glenn. Oh, it's great to be here. So you and I have talked about this series that we're doing, the Tree of Life series. And you shared with us the second sermon in the series. We've got one more next week. What was something that you came to more deeply appreciate about God's trees in the world that you see around you and how trees help tell the story of God in the scriptures? One thing I noticed as I was preparing for the sermon was that metaphors used. We are like trees planted by living streams or the rootedness that Paul talks about, that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. But as I began reading through the scriptures and reading about trees, the literal trees have such a significant important role in our lives as God's creation. On the day when trees were created, it talks about plans and vegetation. But it specifically mentions trees. And then I began to notice trees while walking the dogs and the book that we both read by Matthew's sleeth. Wow, it opened up how important trees are. There's a great quote in there. I loved it. Trees can go on very well without humans, but humans cannot get along without trees. And it opened my eyes to how important trees are. That they live a long time, but every year is marked by a ring. Just an amazing gift that God has given to us in trees and how much we need them. We had talked about the goals of this series is that as listeners be able to look around the creation on our walks out in the morning and see God's trees and fill us with gratitude for what God has done, but also draws deeper into the story of God.

And I hope that does that for our listeners. I walk the dogs in the morning. We have golden retrievers and so I'm out for a couple of miles. And one of the trees on the street near where we live died. And the city came along because it was in between the sidewalk and the curb. But one city came along and put a white X on it, marking it as this needed to be cut down. So I walked by that and I saw all of a sudden I thought, you know, there's a tree and we often use cross like symbol on this dead tree. And wow, that's such a reminder of out of this dead tree of the cross comes the living life all because Christ gave us life on it for us. And then rose from the dead. I would say as one of the things that came out of this series for me is my eyes were opened to those moments where I can see God working in our lives as creator and protector and giver of life, but also as the one who has redeemed us through Jesus Christ. I want to shift a little and talk about your work as a for most of your career, you helped grow pastors, men who had become leaders of God's people and preachers. And one of the programs you were in charge of was an internship program. Would you tell our listeners a little bit about that in our church at the seminary, we have a specific term, it's called a vicarage. It's a one year program where a student goes during his seminary career to a congregation. And full time becomes a part of that congregation working with an experienced pastor who will mentor them. So we call it vicarage. It's an internship. Most of the time I just call it their student pastors. And that gives them an opportunity to experience many of the activities in the pastoral office before they start to assume the mantle of pastor. So you get feedback, they get encouragement, the congregations that are in this program want them to succeed. It's a wonderful opportunity for them just to grow into what it means to be a pastor in the church. What advice or encouragement would you give to a person listening who's perhaps a member of a church maybe has a young pastor and or a student pastor even? What advice or encouragement would you give to that person? The humanness of the pastor who may be great, gifted, whatever you want to use talented, or maybe not so much. But the office is God's gift. And so to treat it with respect and the person who holds it. And by respect, I mean encourage them, give a compliment, build them up. Have a prayer group for your pastor, especially the younger ones that are coming in. Let them know that you're praying for them. The office forms the pastor, not just the

seminary or the seedbed, but the office itself handling God's word. The Lord's Supper meeting with people carrying out the responsibilities forms you to be a pastor. And the more you can encourage that kind of growth, that kind of understanding, that kind of honor and respect for the office will lead a man to begin to exemplify that in their lives. Trees don't need people. So God doesn't need pastors. He could do it just fine without us, but he chooses in love to involve us and to get messy. And as you said, the humanness of the relationship between the pastor and the people of the congregation, all this God wants because it involves us and helps us participate. Participate. There's something you could do that would make a different and a young pastor, or any pastor's life, is to show up, all right? Show up on worship on Sunday mornings. Volunteer for activities that are going on. Okay. Somebody out there, not even had listening, participating is a tremendous encouragement, particularly for a young pastor in the day and age where church going and church participation involvement has been on such a decline. Well, thank you so much for preaching for us today and for sticking around for the conversation. And we look forward to hearing from you again. And the season coming up, you're scheduled for a few more sermons. I really look forward to it. It's a joy to be able to preach at Timothy when I get to preach there at the seminary, but now in this opportunity here for "Lucinar Ministries." [Music] Spread the reign of God the Lord, spoken, present my t-word. ♪ To his heavenly banquet hall ♪ ♪ Tell how that the father's will ♪ ♪ Make the world upholds it still ♪ ♪ How his own dear son he gave ♪ ♪ Us from sin and death to save ♪ ♪ Tell of our Hebrews grace ♪ ♪ Who to save our human race ♪ ♪ And to every building's price ♪ ♪ Gave himself a sacrifice ♪ ♪ Tell of God the Spirit give ♪ ♪ Now to guide us on to him ♪

♪ Who have strong and holy just and true ♪ ♪ Working both to will and do ♪ ♪ Enter mighty word that feels ♪ ♪ Right the promise of its yield ♪ ♪ But the rebirth so how few ♪ ♪ For the work there is to do ♪ ♪ Lord of harvest, spring and kind ♪ ♪ Rows to action, heart and mind ♪ ♪ Let the young rendations all ♪ ♪ See your light and feed your glory ♪ Music courtesy of the hymnal project of the Michigan District LCMS. Now Dr. Nielsen invites you to join him in praying the Lord's Prayer. Let us pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen. The Lutheran hour is made possible through the support of faithful listeners like you. To learn how your prayers and gifts can extend the worldwide outreach of the Lutheran hour go to Lutheranhour.org. I'm Mark Eicher. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

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