When, in better times, I was a married man with a family, and good credit and money to spend, my wife and I bought a house. The house had many positive amenities, including a great room and a living room, a formal dining room, country Kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a heated attached garage, a deck, and a big fenced in back yard.
One of the things that I particularly liked about the house was that in the back yard, there was a young Apple tree. Not a sapling. More mature than that. I thought, "Wow! We can have fresh apples for free!"
But the summer came and went and the tree produced no apples. None.
"Oh well", I thought. "Next year for sure."
But the next summer came and went and still no apples. What a bummer!
Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from this apple tree that doesn't bear apples.
Matthew 3:10 says, "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
But should we cast the tree away without doing whatever we can to help it produce fruit? Shouldn't the fruit tree be given every opportunity to bear fruit eventually?
What if, after all our efforts, it still bears no fruit? Is it then useless to us? It still has leaves. It still gives cooling shade. It has beauty. It still gives us some pleasure to look upon. It has wood. It can still be used as fuel for a fire, which can warm us and give us comfort.
Above all, the question I would ask is this:
If an apple tree doesn't produce apples, is it still an apple tree? And if not, what is it?
6 comments:
What is it? I think it's worthless, at least it was to the owner of the tree in the parable. Christ's point seems to be that we are to be fruit producers, not stagnant in our beliefs. The tree that should be bearing fruit, but isn't, is wasting valuable resources. Rip it up and plant one that will produce fruit.
Good post.
"Another Kneejerk Theological Moment(tm) from Pastor Titus."
Context: Jesus was about to be baptized, and he was lambasting the hidebound, narrow-minded, rules-driven religious leaders of the day who, not unlike most of the religious leaders of our day, were religious to a fault, absent any relationship with God:
7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath cwarned you to flee from the wrath to dcome?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
If I were a pastor of a church, I would be on guard for indications of Phariseeism and Sadduceeism.
Answer: It's still an apple tree. It still contributes to creation, by producing carbon dioxide. Leave it alone.
Oh, and mulch and other stuff.
All fruit is not obvious. In fact, many of us are blind to the fruits of one another. Which is why we should be very careful about doubting one another.
But as an apple tree it is useless. If all we wanted from it is mulch, or comfort, or shade, etc. any tree would do.
It's not useless. It's only appleless. As an appleless apple tree, it still produces much good.
Another question is whose tree is it? If it's yours, do with it what you wilt. If it's someone else's tree, it's up to them.
So, if the real question you're asking -- and I have no idea idea whether this is it or not -- is what should one do when one sees a tree that is not producing fruit, the answer is, "If it's not your tree, nothing. If it is your tree, its up to you."
(This is like agricultural philosophy or something). :-)
Posted for GP:
Mark, is the apple tree more useless than a WEED? If not, I think you better leave it alone.
In Chapter 13, the Parable of the Weed and the Sower, Jesus points out that the OWNER is in charge of the harvest and we servants are poorly equipped for such decisions. In our quest to uproot the weeds, we just might yank up something good:
24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "
Post a Comment