Keeping the Tree Alive

Keeping the Tree Alive

Many years ago, I had the brilliant idea of having a real, live tree for Christmas. Not one that had been cut, but instead I chose a large Norway Spruce that would after Christmas compliment two others already growing in my yard. The plan seemed to be sane at the time. Big tree, huge galvanized bucket to place it in and lots of water to keep it alive. Jane at that time possessed the “perfect tree” syndrome which meant that every tree limb must be wrapped with lights starting from the trunk then going out. Thousands of lights went on and watering the tree became a full time job. The tree looked good until the day we were to host our annual Christmas party. On that day our tree decided to give up all sense of decency and shed nearly every needle it possessed. Jane cried. I didn’t!  I was angry and literally kicked the bucket as we drug that massive twig out of our home. The Christmas party survived, but only because we were able to laugh at our own misfortune.

From Christmas Party to a bad day is sometimes a short ride! The OT prophet Jonah can surely add commentary! Buried in the belly of a huge fish after having been thrown off a ship and from the depths of the sea the surly seer cried, “Salvation comes from the LORD.” The next line yields the result of his epic confession: “And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Jonah 2:9-10
The prophet finally said yes to God! It was a “yes” and “amen” to the hope and future God extends to His creation so God let him live. His was a reluctant “yes” to God’s divine intention to make that hope known. Although Jonah was a part of this Divine Drama, it is obvious from the story line that neither the play nor the outcome was contingent upon Jonah’s thoughts or feelings. He enjoyed the gift of grace, but he really could care less if Nineveh knew about them!
But it is God who is relentless in pursuit of the lost and undone, not man. Salvation belongs to the Lord. It is His work and He wants Jonah to join Him in that spirit. Jonah’s Creator drives this point home one more time as the story concludes by providing a vine for Jonah to shade under and then commissioning a worm to destroy it to the amazement of the angry prophet. Jonah had tremendous faith in God’s love and mercy. He just did not want to share them with the undeserving. Now, upon losing his tree of contentment (which to him signified what it was all about) he sits alone, angry and stunned by God’s words, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” I would have God saying here, “So what’s it to you?”

That was definitely salt on His wounds as he unhappily sat there while his vine died.  The church of Jesus Christ is feeling the same uneasiness about what is happening to the tree of Christmas!

Henri J. M. Nouwen said, “Songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying yes to a hope based on God’s initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel. Christmas is believing that the salvation of the world is God’s work and not mine.”

Presently we watch our own tree dying as the Season increasingly becomes about mobs driven into shopping frenzy as well as violence. We confess that we want to keep Christ in Christmas even as the idol of consumerism seeks to not only coexist but conquer our holy celebration and the economy dictates that many halls will not be so lavishly “decked.”
But worst of all is the prospect that God may leave us in the middle and muddle of all this anger and resentment with the words, “What is it to you?” and “do you have any right to be angry?” We definitely do not need to remain there with those words ringing in our ears! In order to not, we must not be angry about the tree of Christmas if it only means to us as Nouwen says,“Songs, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and sweet words..” Instead, we must join the true spirit of the season which is God proclaiming and revealing His peace and good will toward men. We must in a big way say "yes" to this hope! It must not be just a family event as Jonah desired. It must be extended to the poor (spiritually and materially) the barren and hurting.  And yes it must even be extended to the enemies of God!