Sermon Feb. 15, 1998 A Tree of No Worries based on Jere. 17:5-8

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Some crops are easy crops to grow. You don't need to worry so much about weeds and pests as with other crops. Some are not so sensitive to the amount of water or sunshine they receive, and others are much more sensitve. Today, we shall learn how we can be like crops, like trees, with no worries. We can be like those easy-to-grow crops that can endure the droughts, weeds, and pests of this life and reach on into life everlasting.

Jeremiah speaks the Word of the Lord to us when he compares a person who trusts in man and trusts in human flesh and blood with a person who trusts in the Lord. First he describes the one trusting in man. "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord." This one who trusts in man is going to be cursed. He is going to suffer for his dependence on flesh for his strength. See, trusting in man keeps us from trusting in the Lord and causes us to turn away from the Lord.

How might we trust in man? One might think of the comforts and necessities of this life. Are they provided by the labors of your flesh? Are you thankful to the Lord for our daily bread? Daily bread, as the Small Catechism defines it is, "food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like." Do we trust in our own strength, our own jobs, labor, and effort to supply us with these things? "Cursed is the one who trusts in man."

Another way we might trust in man is in getting to eternal life. We might trust in man is in getting to eternal life. We might trust in man, and more specifically, ourselves, to get us to eternal life. By depending upon our works to save us, we are depending upon flesh for our strength. We are counting on our own efforts to make God happy with us. In a rather strange twist, this ends up turning us away from the Lord. We try to make God happy by our own efforts, but in the process, we reject what God offers to us and we end up making God unhappy. See, He offers us free salvation. In trying to then earn that salvation, we are rejecting God's free gift, and refusing what He has to give. We are turned away from the Lord. "Cursed is the one who trusts in man."

This one trusting in man is compared to a bush that is going to have a hard time growing and flourishing. Jeremiah writes, "He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." This bush is going to find it hard to stay alive. It is planted in soil which is not healthy.

In this region of the country, we might find it hard to visualize land not suitable for growing. Usually it is the land underwater. With the help of fertilizer, it seems to be the case that all land except what is covered by buildings can be used for growing some crops.

We may find it hard to picture wastelands. However, maybe you've been to the Badlands of South Dakota, or the rocky regions, or the salty areas of Utah. Places that are a waste-nothing grows. Little is alive. Parched places of the desert and in salt land.

Imagine a bush trying to grow there. Sagebrush might be all we find. Weeds can prosper, but no useful crops grow.

This is the picture of one who trusts in man and turns away from the Lord. He will not see prosperity when it comes to him. He won't see things like the free gift of salvation which our Lord gives us. The man trusting in himself alone, won't see what he has been given for free. What a shame to miss the gift we are given. What a shame to not see the prosperity which comes to us and is right in front of our eyes.

This one who trusts in man is contrasted with one who trusts in the Lord. "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him." This one is not cursed, but blessed. He will experience a pleasant outcome on account of his trusting in the Lord. His confidence, his hope, his certainty comes from the Lord.

This person will thank the Lord for all forms of daily bread. He will acknowledge the Lord as the source of all blessings and gifts. He will thank the Lord in prayer and tell others about what the Lord has done for him.

The one who trusts in the Lord is also equated to a tree. This tree is one that has an easy time of it. It is given all it needs to grow and prosper. Jeremiah says, "He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

What a tree this is! It has no worries. The water it needs is taken care of. See, the tree is planted by the water. Its roots reach out to the stream. Water is always there. When the heat comes, this tree will not fear the future. The heat cannot dry it out, or remove its supply of water. Because of this, the prosperous tree has leaves which are always green. Never do its leaves dry up and fall off. Never does it turn brown. This tree does not worry in a year of drought. It has no worries. Finally, the tree never fails to bear fruit. Trees that fail to produce are often cut down. Only the fruit producers are kept around. This prosperous tree will always bear fruit.

When we trust in the Lord, we are the tree with no worries. Trusting in the Lord means counting on Him for all blessings. He provides our daily bread. He provides our every need. He provides for our salvation.

None of this do we deserve. In our sins, we deserve to be treated as the bush in the wastelands. We deserve to be condemned to the wastelands of hell. We deserve to dwell in the uninhabited places.

C.S. Lewis, in his fictional portrayal of heaven and hell, in the book, "The Great Divorce," pictures Hell as a lonely place. Being in hell is like being in a large city and wandering around all day, and even beyond all limits of time and not finding another person. Hell is being eternally alone, according to Lewis.

This loneliness is what we deserve. Thanks be to God, that He came in the Son, Jesus Christ to break through our sins. He came to take on our guilt and punishment, and to die on the cross. Then He arose from the dead to show us what was to come for us.

Indeed, though we suffer the consequences of sin in this life, we have an eternal life to come which will bring us the full blessing the Lord promises the ones who trust in Him. In this life to come we shall always be fed by the stream of living water. Jesus offers us this living water, as He did the Samaritan woman as reported in John 4. He said to her, "...whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." And Revelation, chapter 22 also speaks of a river of life to come in the new heaven and new earth. Here is found, "the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb." On each side of the river stands the tree of life. This tree always bears fruit.

Through the works of Jesus Christ, we are like trees planted by the river of living water. We will not die, but live on in eternal life. Our leaves will always be green. We will not worry about drought.

All those who trust in the Lord will be blessed. They who place their confidence in Him will not be disappointed. Thus we pray with Jeremiah, "Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." Blessed is the man who trusts in the forgiveness, life, and salvation given as a gift of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.