Jeremiah 10:1-5
“Christmas Trees in the Bible”
By: Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN
A few weeks ago I was sitting in a restaurant with a friend when my attention went to a Christmas tree in the corner of the room.
It had different colored lights, ornaments of silver and gold and a bright red bow on the top.
I got thinking, and thus speaking…
I said, “Imagine if someone from some other culture, who had no idea of Christmas trees saw this. What would they think? We see beauty in Christmas trees; what would they see?
Would they not think we were crazy?”
Then it occurred to me that Christmas trees, or something like them are nothing new.
For between 5 and 6 hundred years before Christ, the Prophet Jeremiah quoted the Lord describing something that certainly sounds similar to our modern day Christmas tree.
“They cut a tree out of the forest…They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with a hammer and nails so it won’t totter.”
Most of us love Christmas trees do we not, and we could hardly imagine the Christmas season without them.
And for Christians, Christmas trees often help us in our remembrance of Christ’s birth.
Lot’s of ornaments are of angels and the baby Jesus in the manger.
Many Christmas trees have a star placed on top which reminds us of the star which guided the Magi to the place of Jesus’ birth.
And the tree itself reminds us that Christ died on a tree…
…the green pine needles remind us that death did not and does not have the final word!
Christmas trees are pretty awesome indeed!
They point beyond themselves to Christ!
And this should be our entire message as well!
As the great evangelist...the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come to you with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
When we speak to others...
....are we trying to get them to be impressed by us or by Jesus Christ?
When we serve others...
....are we just looking for recognition for ourselves or do we want them to know that it is not I doing this, but
Christ Who lives in me?
“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
How badly do we want others to come to know the liberating and transforming power of Jesus Christ?
When we point beyond ourselves to Jesus Christ...
…we are not only freed from the heavy--self-conscious--burden to impress...
...but our entire lives are turned outward as we are transformed into joyful and expectant disciples of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
And once we have gotten a taste of this kind of living...
...everything else is as bland as cardboard!
Our secretary, Rebecca, was telling me about how some 4th and 5th graders at the church she attends decided to raise money for a needy family this year.
Someone in the church knew of a family that is having an especially hard time.
The mother and father, both divorced and remarried are trying to raise 6 teenage boys and the husband recently lost his job!
To top this off, the husband, only in his 30’s, has been found to have a growth on his neck which may be a sign of even worst things ahead.
The kids were able to raise $450.00.
So they went shopping, and shopping and shopping.
And they bought in bulk, so as to get more bang for their buck!
They bought so much food and other necessities for this family that it was almost too much to transport.
The kids showed up at the family’s door with a card and the husband answered.
They told him that they had heard he and his family were dealing with some difficulties and they had felt God calling them to try and help.
The man thought they were talking about the growth on his neck, of which he had told no one about.
“But how did you know about this?” he inquired.
“Who could have told you?”
The kids, not on the same page, simply replied, “The Lord laid it on our hearts that you might need some help this year…that you are facing some tough times.”
The man didn’t know what to make of this…
…and holding the card, he didn’t expect much more than a fruit basket or something…
“Do you mind if we bring some groceries into your home?” they asked.
The man, mouth dropped open, hardly able to believe his eyes watched as child after child walked past him into his home carrying sacks filled with groceries.
Again, the man asked, “Why are you doing this?”...
…and again he was told that they were doing it because God had laid it on their hearts.
This family which does not attend a church were truly blessed by some of God’s shining children pointing beyond themselves that day!
What a witness!
As the kids drove off the man was still standing on his doorstep, card in hand, mouth dropped open…
…all he could do was wave as they left.
Like Christmas trees, we are created to point beyond ourselves, not point to ourselves!
When they first became popular, I used to have one of those little singing Christmas trees.
Its name was “Evergreen,” and it sang a song which went like this: “O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree how lovely are MY branches.”
That little tree was pretty caught up in itself, and when we become caught up in ourselves…
…leaving God out of the picture…
…that is when disaster knocks at our door, depression sets in and life loses its meaning.
We were created to worship God.
We were created to point Godward—not inward.
In Jeremiah, God talks about trees cut “out of the forest…”
These trees are adorned with “silver and gold.”
But God does not appear to be too happy about this.
“Do not learn the ways of the nations,” God warns.
“For the customs of the peoples are worthless…”
Why does God say such things about these trees?
You guessed it, the trees, which probably did look similar to our modern day Christmas trees had nothing to do with the birth of the Savior whatsoever!!!
They didn’t point beyond themselves; they pointed to themselves, even though they could not speak, and had to “be carried because they cannot walk.”
They were idols.
The people, of whose custom it was to use them did so to worship the pretty tree instead of God.
Jeremiah follows up in the verses in our passage for this morning by proclaiming, “No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power…
…They are taught by worthless wooden idols…
…But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.”
I believe we would all say, “Amen” to that!!!
But idols are still a “tottering thing” to mess with.
They are “worthless” and they take us nowhere fast!
Only when we worship the TRUE GOD are we set free to live full and meaningful lives!
Only when our lives reflect the unselfish love of Christ are we able to be truly human!
I remember when I was about Mary Ellen’s age and my parents were much younger and thus not quite as wise as they are now…
…well, sometime after Christmas my dad was sawing up the tree and tossing the pieces into the fireplace.
Boy, do Christmas trees burn!
Those flames came bursting out of the fireplace and licked their way up the mantle.
The house didn’t burn down, but my dad never did that again.
Of course, that was back when most Christmas trees were real.
Now-a-days, depending on how busy your life is…
…a week or so after Christmas, most of us take down all the ornaments, put them back in their boxes…
…take the fake tree apart and struggle to get it to fit into its original box then lug it to the attic where it is all but forgotten until the next year.
We love Christmas trees, but they have their time and place.
For most of us, it would be a horrible sight to have a Christmas tree in our living room in, say, July…or even February or March.
So, all in all, Christmas trees are good things; they point toward Christ!
They can do no harm…
…unless of course, you try burning them in your fireplace.
When we take down our Christmas trees this coming year let’s remember that Christmas is not about the tree.
And we don’t point to Christ only a few months out of the year.
Our lives are to reflect God’s love and glory all year round!!!
True happiness is found in nothing else!!!
Baron Bunsen said to his wife on her deathbed: “In thy face I have seen the Eternal.”
Her life had a Godward reference.
Do our lives have a Godward reference?
Do our lives carry any strong suggestion of One Who is mightier than us?...
.
..or are we self-enclosed and self-absorbed?
Do we remind people of Jesus Christ?
Are we pointing beyond ourselves to the Only One Who can save, heal and forgive?
May this be our prayer this year; that we be used to bring others to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ the True God; Who is great and Whose “name is mighty in power”!
