THE RISE AND FALL

PLANT YOUR TREE =

BY THE WATER=

Psalm 1

Living God’s way brings prosperity.

A sermon pr= eached by

Dr. William= O. (Bud) Reeves

First Unite= d Methodist Church

Hot Springs, Arkansas

June 7, 200= 9

It so h= appened that a cowboy and a symphony conductor were both imprisoned in a third-world country. One night the guard = came in and told them that they would be executed by firing squad at dawn. Then he asked the cowboy, “D= o you have any last requests?”

The cow= boy replied, “Yeah, if you could have somebody play ‘Achy, Breaky Heart’ just before I die, I would like that to be the last thing I he= ar on this earth.”

The gua= rd said, “That can be arranged.” Then he turned to the symphony conductor and said, “Do you have any last requests?”

The maestro replied, “Yes. Can you shoot me first?”

Music i= s a very important part of our lives. = One of the great things about living in Hot Springs is the variety of musical venues you can find. From concerts out at Ma= gic Springs to the classical music of the Music Festival to the jazz of the Jazz Society, there is a lot of music in this town. The different styles attract different crowds, but they are all engaged and interested in the music they love to hear or play.

Music i= s the soundtrack of our souls. It&#= 8217;s a spiritual experience. I can’t quote many of the sermons I heard as a child, but I know the hy= mns by heart. It’s the same= way today, whether you are singing the old hymns or the contemporary praise son= gs. The music of faith informs who we = are, what we believe, and how we relate to God.

The Boo= k of Psalms is the hymnal of ancient Israel, and music was just as important to their spiritual life as it is to ours. Unfortunately, all we have is the = lyric sheet; we have to make up the music on our own. But at least we have the words. This summer I’m going to foc= us on the words from a dozen of my favorite Psalms. I love the Psalms. They are always= a part of my devotional life. These are truly “Wonderful Words of Life.= ” They are songs of the heart. I hope they will feed your spiritu= al hunger as they have mine over the years.&n= bsp; This summer, I believe we can grow in faith together as we hear God’s Word in these beautiful yet ancient poems.

The Psa= lms begin with a beatitude. A bea= titude is a statement about human life the way it is, a word of instruction on how= to be happy. It’s not a blessing, in which we ask God to do something to make you happy. Psalm 1 is not a prayer; it’= s not really like a hymn, either. Scholars call it a wisdom Psalm, written in the style of the great teachers of Israel. It functions more like an introduc= tion to the whole book. It tells u= s what the whole book is about. Psal= m 1 invites us to read the Psalms as a guide to the blessed life.= = [1]

That is= exactly what Psalm 1 is—a guide to a happy life. The Psalm compares and contrasts t= wo types of life: wise and wicked. Wise makes for happiness; wicked makes for destruction and death. The dominating image in the psalm = is a tree planted by a stream: = 220;They (the wise or the righteous) are like trees planted by streams of = water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.= ”= = [2]<= o:p>

Picture= a tree in the semi-arid land of Palestine in the= days of the Psalmist. During the long, hot, dry days of summer, all the vegetati= on would turn brown and die. But= not this tree. It stood by the stream, its roots plunged deep into the moist so= il of the river bank. Even on the hottest days, even in the midst of a dry spell, as long as there was water = in the stream, the tree stood green and lush and fruitful.

We saw = this phenomenon in the Holy Land this spring.= Especially in Judea, much of the land is dry and desert-like.&n= bsp; Even in the wadis, which= are the dry creek beds that fill up when a rain does come, there is very little vegetation. But wherever ther= e is a stream with water, the trees grow thick, like they are crowding around to g= et a sip of the precious water. The Jordan River, which is not that big, cuts like a green ribbon through the brown landscape= .

So what= a great image the Psalmist gives us for the spiritual life: “like a tree planted by streams of water.” When our tree of life gets dry, we= need that water. When our leaves w= ither and our fruit dries up on the branch, we need that water. When the prevailing spiritual cond= itions all around us seem to suck the life right out of us, we need that water of God’s Spirit. We need t= o be planted in the right place. S= o today I want to look at three roots of a well-watered spiritual tree. These are the keys to the kind of nourishment that will keep your tree living, growing and green.

The fir= st root of a well-watered tree is PRAYER. We cannot drink the cool water of = the Spirit unless we root our lives in prayer.= Prayer is the communication of our spirit with God’s Spirit th= at keeps us alive. Much more tha= n just asking God for our personal wish list, prayer is the way we let God fill us= up and cleanse our souls and focus our minds.= The result is a clearer head and a cleaner heart and a more blessed life.

One man= who knew the power of prayer was Robert G. LeTourneau. He was a major industrialist in th= e 20^th century. His company manufactu= red giant earth-moving machines. = During World War II, LeTourneau received an order from the government for a very large, complicated machine that could lift airplanes. No machine like this had ever been designed or manufactured, but there was a need for it.

LeTourn= eau and his engineers went to work on the machine, but for several days, they were completely baffled. They were= n’t getting anywhere. They began to get nervous and tense, because they were un= der a deadline to produce something. Finally, when Wednesday night rolled around, LeTourneau, who was a Christian, said, “Well, boys, I’m knocking off. I’m going to prayer meeting.= ”

They sa= id, “You can’t do that, boss. We’ve got a deadline on this thing.”

“I know,” LeTourneau answered, “but I have a deadline with God.” He went to church= . He sang hymns, and he prayed. He got his heart into harmony with God. What happened after the service? LeTourneau reported = that as he was walking down the street, there in his mind, in complete detail, w= as the design of the machine. The capability had been there all along, but until he was planted in prayer, Ro= bert LeTourneau’s mental tree could not bear fruit by itself.= = [3]

The sec= ond root of the spirit-watered life is the = WORD. The Word of God, Holy Scriptur= e, waters our spiritual tree like no other physical resource can. If our tree is to prosper and grow= , we have to be planted in the Word, soaking up Scripture, growing in our understanding of the Bible. T= he happy person, according to the Psalm, is the one who loves the Word of God: “Happy are those whose deligh= t is in the Law of the Lord, and on this law they meditate day and night.= 221;= = [4]

Being i= mmersed in Scripture gives us the strength and courage to endure the droughts and extremes and hardships of life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the pastor and theologian who met this death in= a Nazi concentration camp in World War II, used the Bible as his foundation a= nd compass through his time of trial. He wrote, “Because I am a Christian, therefore, every day in w= hich I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God's Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me. I can only move forward with certainty upon the firm ground of the Word of Go= d. And, as a Christian, I learn to kno= w the Holy Scriptures in no other way than by hearing the Word preached and by prayerful meditation.”[5]<= /a>

Terry A= nderson found that Scripture helped him through his time of captivity. Anderson was the chief military correspondent for the Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon. He was kidnapped by terrorists on = March 16, 1985, and released nearly seven years later, on December 4, 1991. It was an incredible ordeal, but h= e came through it all with amazing strength. Terry said he was able to survive because of three things: his faith, his friends, and his stubbornness. <= /span>Fortunately, one of the few possessions Terry was allowed to have was a Bible, so all through his captivity he spent lots of time in the Word. The words of hope and trust became= his strength to make it each day. Scripture kept Terry Anderson from despair and encouraged him to tru= st God for his future. It can do= that for you, too.

Plant y= our tree by the water of the Spirit with the roots of prayer and the Word. Add to th= at the root of COMMUNITY, and you= will be blessed. We can’t go= it alone through this life. God = is with us, of course, but sometimes we need someone with skin on. We need friends and fellow pilgrim= s to accompany us on our journey. = The support of Christian friends is so important. When times are hard or when we are= sad or near to the point of giving up, an encouraging word or reassuring hug or just the presence of a friend can make a difference.

The Psa= lmist is clear about this point: “Happ= y are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sin= ners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; …the wicked will not stand in = the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”[6] In other words, if you hang with t= rash, you’re going to smell like garbage.&= nbsp; Pick your friends and associates well. Choose to be with people who are p= ositive and moral and spiritual, and their goodness will rub off on you. Spend time with folks who build yo= u up, not bring you down.

That= 217;s why we emphasize over and over the importance of small groups in the life of the church. There is spiritual support you can get in a class or prayer group or ministry group that you j= ust don’t get in the big worship service or by being a Christian alone. It’s in the community that w= e find our roots.

One of = the most amazing trees in the world is the California redwood. A similar tree in th= e same area is the sequoia, although they are two different species. These giants can grow hundreds of = feet tall and be as big around as a house at their base. It is a spiritual experience just = to stand next to one. You would = think that the roots of such a magnificent tree would plunge deep into the earth = as well. But actually the root s= ystems of redwoods and sequoias are very shallow, only a few feet deep. How does such a shallow root syste= m hold up such a massive tree? The a= nswer is community. Redwoods and se= quoias grow in groves, never alone. = The root systems intertwine, so in effect the trees help hold each other up. A little lesson from nature about = how to be the church! We hold each o= ther up, too. One of the roots of = our spiritual life is the community we build and share with other Christians.

Like a = tree planted by the water, God provides us what we need to live and grow and thr= ive, even in a hostile environment. We have prayer; we have the Word; we have Christian community. When your life is rooted in these = three ways, you will be blessed. Yo= u will find happiness. The Psalm pro= mises: “In all that they do, they prosper.”[7] When we come together in worsh= ip, we experience these roots. We pray. We hear the Word read a= nd proclaimed. We celebrate in community. When we come to the Lord’s Table, we plunge our roots deep into the living water of God, = and we find life. Come and drink = of God’s goodness today. A= men!

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