Beauty For Ashes

HoHum:

Last year talked about a Blue Christmas where we acknowledge our losses of loved ones as we approach the holiday season. I was watching the Year Without a Santa Claus (lesser know production by Rankin Bass) and Santa gets a letter and it says, “I’ll have a Blue Christmas without you, I’ll be so blue thinking about you, decorations of red on a green Christmas tree, won’t mean a thing if you’re not here with me; I’ll have a Blue Christmas that’s certain, and when that blue heartache starts hurting, you’ll be doing all right with your Christmas of white, but I’ll have a blue, blue Christmas.”

WBTU:

When I think of this I often think of my grandfather who died in April of the year 2000. I grew up in a tight knit family spending my Sunday afternoons with all my extended family at my grandparent’s house. I am the eldest grandchild and my grandfather spent a lot of time with me growing up. My grandfather was the life of the party, he made everything fun. The holidays were the best. For example on Thanksgiving my grandmother would be working feverishly in the kitchen while everyone else would be in the living room enjoying the antics of my grandfather. My grandfather was a great conversationalist and he would fill in the gaps with limericks, mother goose rhymes, and silly poems. Here is a binder with pages of limericks that he memorized for such occasions, little orphan Annie was my favorite. Often after giving this one he would chase me and the other grandchildren around the house. My grandmother would say, “Now Ralph, you stop that!” After my grandmother finally got everything cooked we would gather in the kitchen, have the blessing and enjoy the best food this side of heaven. My grandfather would wait until you had the drink in your mouth and then do or say something funny and the drink would come out of your nose. Oh, what good memories!

My grandfather worked as a logger. He was an expert on trees and the woods. They burned wood for heat in their house. I remember going many a time with grandfather into the woods and sawing up a fallen tree and taking the wood back to their house. My grandfather could take the most mundane activity (and stacking wood is mundane) and make it fun. I remember going with him and laughing so hard that I almost (a few times I did) peed my pants. My grandfather knew every tree and he would often lecture me on the properties of this tree or that tree. At one time I thought about going into forestry and this was inspired by my grandfather. I am glad I did not, to be honest I am not a good student of trees.

This brings me to a Scripture I want to focus on today. Isaiah 61 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor” New International Version. Lots here but I want to focus on the end of vs. 2 and vs. 3. Notice that vs. 2 mentions us, “Comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve.”

I know that we do not grieve as the rest who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) but we still grieve, we miss those who have died and we feel it the most around the holidays.

Thesis: The Lord wants to bring good things out of bad things (Romans 8:28). What are some good things that we find here in Isaiah 61 that helps those who grieve and mourn?

For instances:

I. Beauty from ashes

Now, fire is a burning in which substances (like wood) combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke. Fire leaves behind ashes. In the Biblical world, people in mourning would take soot and ashes and throw it on their heads. They would be grey and dingy and wearing sackcloth. Isaiah is referring to the future where we receive beauty from ashes. The ashes will turn into a crown of beauty. We will have a beautiful turban on our heads. In our culture, this imagery is lost on us. We do not rub ashes on ourselves in our culture. A forest fire is more relatable for us. Several years ago (1988) there was a large fire in Yellowstone National Park that burned many acres. That is what death is like, a firestorm in the forest. It leaves behind nothing but ashes. Fortunately, out of those ashes, is the beginning of something new. Since all of those acres burned in Yellowstone, the forest has come back fuller and richer than before. The fire burned away the ground cover that was preventing vegetation and trees from growing. We can grow from this upsetting experience of loss. We can emerge from this like an oak tree. Oak trees are unique in several ways: 1). They have a long life span, usually 100 years but can live up to 1,000 years. 2). They produce approximately 10,000 acorns each year. The majority of acorns are a food source for birds, squirrels and other critters. 3). Oakwood is dense and durable. Many wood products are made from oak. We find here a tree that grows from the ashes that produces shade and food for the forest creatures, a planting for the Lord for the display of his splendor.