In the back of our lot is an old tree. I’ve been told by more than one person here how it was a playground for them as they grew up in these neighborhoods. For a couple of years I wasn’t sure what type of tree it was. In fact, it wasn’t we built a tree house, of sorts, that I found out it was in fact a plum tree. What made the difference wasn’t what in the tree but what came out because to build that place for the kids I had to cut out a lot of dead branches. There were a couple of big branches that were difficult to saw through. Much of the dead wood was twigs and small branches and the job of taking them out wasn’t had as much as it was tedious.
The way I understand it is that even though these branches, twigs and limbs were dead they taxed the tree so that it didn’t have enough food and nutrient to bear fruit. But once it was removed the tree became fruitful once more.
Awash with unbelievable opportunities and options in the course of one’s ordinary, daily life operating as Christ’s person runs the risk of being obscured and overwhelmed by these vary opportunities and options which become “dead wood” in our lives.
Daniel is our biblical example of how to “cut out dead wood” out of our life. Daniel and the other captives dilemma was whether or not he should eat the food and wine which King Nebuchadnezzar gave them. Daniel had every reason to eat what was set before him. He didn’t know for certain that the food was unclean or had been offered to idols. But even if it was he was a captive, a slave and there was little he could do considering where he was. He had seen Nebuchadnezzar’s cruelty first hand as his army stormed Jerusalem. If he didn’t see it he heard how Judah’s King’s had his eyes gouged out, but not till after the last thing he saw was his children killed. Daniel and the rest knew Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t someone to play around with. Besides they could have reasoned, if I play along I can gain the King’s ear and put in a good word for sending Israel and Judah back home.
We don’t know what all of these captives did but we discover in Daniel 1 that Daniel and three of the captives didn’t eat the food and wine. What Daniel realized was that the goal of their training and teaching; the purpose of the food and even their new names was a threat to their worship of God and their relationship with their Lord. The Babylonians were trying to change their thinking by giving them a Babylonian education, their loyalty by changing their names, and their life style by changing their diet.
They were to undergo an education which included Aramaic, astronomy, cuneiform writing and Babylonian court protocols. These four young men get new names as well. These new names reflect the gods of Babylon whereas their Hebrew names told of the power and attributes of YHWH. No wonder Daniel took exception and made a stand on God’s behalf.
Have you ever gotten a soda at a 7-11 or fast food place and have the dispenser be out of either the syrup or the carbonated water? What you get is either something so sweet and thick or something so watery that either way it’s undrinkable. Well that’s the type of situation that Daniel wanted to avoid when it came to his faith. He didn’t want it watered down. And we do well to follow his example.
One common denominator I’ve discovered in the lives of many people who complain about not feeling close to God or who have a difficult time letting God control their lives is that they live cluttered lives. What I mean is that their lives have a lot of dead wood that they aren’t able to or willing to cut out. When challenged the stock answer I get is usually, “That’s not it. The problem is that I’m too…” Too busy, too pressured, too worried, too overwhelmed, too involved, too much in love, too hurt, too different, or just too… Let me suggest that “too-ness” we all feel isn’t the problem but a symptom. The root of the problem is the dead wood, the tendrils of the world that have wrapped us up so tight that we can’t seem to escape.
At last month’s gathering of Confessing Churches in Atlanta one of the main speakers was Dr. Mark Achtemeier. His topic was about living holy lives. Let me read you a portion of what he wrote.
“Brothers and sisters, I am not going to sugar-coat or sentimentalize the situation we face today. As I look around the Presbyterian Church, I see a supposedly Christian institution where abominations litter the landscape. Everywhere we turn, there are open and flagrant violations of the clear teaching of both Old and New Testaments, flaunted before the church with a brazenness utterly devoid of any sense of repentance.
I refer of course to rampant consumerism and callous indifference toward the poor. We live in a world where some 4,000 children die every day because they lack access to the medical vaccines we take for granted in the west. Tuberculosis, which has been all but eradicated in the west, will claim an estimated 30 million lives over the course of the next decade. Millions of our fellow human beings lack the most basic resources for proper health and nutrition. And we Presbyterians fill our driveways with luxury cars and our houses with expensive gadgets.”
After some very pointed statements about the way we live and what the gospel says he asks, “Do we believe in the authority of scripture, brothers and sisters? ” His point is that we all struggle with the issue of living life to God’s standards not our neighbors. Each person who knows Jesus is on a journey with the Lord. And even though all our paths are difficult and narrow they don’t always cover the same ground. Holy living means living life dedicated to Christ and taking the steps needed to keep that dedication fresh and alive.
The apostle Paul ran into this question among those Christians who lived in Corinth. Two times in his first letter he tells those churches that even though things may be allowable they still may not be the best choice.
In your Adult journal on page 57 and on 52-53 in the Student Journal you’ll find a place to help us cut out the dead wood or “Axe the Excess”. Take a stab at unplugging in some area of your life this week and see if it doesn’t make a difference. Sometimes we’re so involved in things that we don’t even see the danger clearly. Let me give you a step in recognizing when you need to step back and cut out the dead wood.
Notice what captures your imagination. What is that you dwell on when you’re alone? The movie In the Line of Fire, Clint Eastwood is asked “what do you see in the dark when the demons come.” What is it that draws our attention to itself? It may be our families, work or a hobby. It could be a fascination with sin, or a grudge or even a hurt that doesn’t heal.
Another way of asking this is where is your heart? What thing would you hate to lose? What person makes your life worth living? What activity do you find you want to do every chance you get? What is it that makes you feel worthwhile?
Having answered these consider for a moment Jesus’ words, “Where your treasure there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21). So the humbling realization can be that our heart is often not with Christ but with the world around us.
Let me suggest that if we want to feel closer to Christ day-by-day then we take steps to put ourselves in the place where we can feel Him and that involves getting rid of the dead wood, and even the good dead wood so that we’re able to be blessed by Christ.
