"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. 1:25)
While Shopping for a Christmas Tree
Posted On: December 05th, 2005 at 11:08 pm
A Meditation: While Shopping for a Christmas Tree (Isaiah 11:1)
Every year I drag a dying tree into the house And stick it in water spiked with preservative, Ever-green symbol of the life in death that is ours in Jesus, Leaving stuck in some forgotten forest A stump where once a fir tree nobly stood.
Isaiah saw David’s family tree cut down And made a decoration in Babylon’s living room. Leaving a nothing but a stump, Lifeless though very much alive, A remnant Root buried deep in Israelite soil Nourished by the Promise that God is true to His Word.
That stump of Father Jesse sprouted When time was fully ripe, First, a tender shoot named Jesus, springing fresh on virgin wood Then a righteous Branch, making Jordan’s water sweet Finally a fruitful Tree of Life, Cross from which a dying world may eat And live forever.
And so, dear friends, as you gather round your Christmas tree And bask in all its glittered glory, Remember that noble stump in some forgotten field, Dead yet very much alive, Waiting silently for resurrection day.
For we all will one day be cut down Just another Tannenbaum, And leave behind nothing more noble Than a gravestone and a salty tear Dabbed from the corner of a grief-filled eye. Dead yet very much alive, Soon to rise in the power of the Shoot named Jesus On that Day when death is swallowed up in Life, And the hungry lion’s mouth is filled with manger straw.