3-10-2019

        Good Morning All,

     Jeremiah 17:8; “He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit"

    Just east of my dad’s farm are some monstrous cottonwood trees.  I have no idea of how old they are or how tall they are.  One has a trunk of about 5 to 6 feet across.  As I look at them, I can’t help but think of all the times nature has tried to bring them down.  We have had enough windstorms and tornadoes through the years to destroy barns and houses, to crumble steel buildings and huge grain bins.  We’ve seen these winds pick up stuff and send it sailing to places we can’t find them and yet these trees keep standing.  I keep thinking that just once, I would like to be able to watch these magnificent species as the wind howls at its strongest.  How much do they sway in the wind and how much do they just stand tall?   

    I remember reading or hearing one time from a “tree guy” that the root mass of these old trees is often twice the mass of the tree we see above ground.  The roots on these trees must be incredible; to think there is twice as much tree underground as above.  Yet that is what provides the stability that the tree needs.  That is what provides the nutrients and the water that the tree needs to survive all the droughts which that tree has experienced. 

    Jeremiah tells us we are like that tree.  The righteous, those whom God has given the faith to survive and have received this faith and trusted in God’s promises, will never be uprooted.  Just like that tree, we are nourished by that faith with the nutrients that we need through Holy Communion.  We are watered by the daily renewal of our Baptism through faith.  All of which serves to anchor us more securely into Christ’s Word.  Just like those cottonwood trees, we are able to stand all the devil throws at us because we are anchored in the faith which God gives us through the Spirit to be tall and strong.

     The irony of these trees is that a short distance away are some smaller elm trees which didn’t root as well.  They have since died out and now you can almost push them over by hand.  Every little wind that blows causes a few to topple.  These trees do not remain in the land.  That is how the wicked are.  They have no roots; they have no faith and receive no nourishment.  They do not remain in the land of God’s grace because they trust in themselves and not in God.

     God calls us every day to be rooted deep into His Word and connected to Him through prayer.  This is what keeps us strong and no amount of wind in our lives; jobs that just disappear, crops that withered away, relationships that crumble can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Trust in God’s promise and you can be rooted as well.

Dear Father, through your Son we are righteous and rooted in you.  Keep us strong during the windstorms of our life that we may never be uprooted.  Nourish us with your Word and your precious sacraments.  Use us to show others where to find this great gift of peace, comfort and hope.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret