ORNAMENTS ON A CHRISTIAN TREE
By Pastor Jim May
King Tut never saw a Christmas tree, but he would have understood the tradition.
The Egyptians were part of a long line of cultures that treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life’s triumph over death.
The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a festival called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with green leaves, plants and trees; set candles and torch lights all around; and they exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one’s journey through life.
Centuries ago in Great Britain, forest dwelling priests called Druids used evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and placed evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits.
Late in the Middle Ages, the Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from these early traditions.
Legend has it that Martin Luther began the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas. One cold Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ’s birth.
The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio, adds Robson.
But the custom spread slowly. The Puritans banned Christmas in New England. Even as late as 1851, a Cleveland minister nearly lost his job because he allowed a tree in his church. Schools in Boston stayed open on Christmas Day through 1870, and sometimes expelled students who stayed home.
The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when a farmer in the Catskill mountains named Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens into New York City and sold them all for a tidy profit. The industry caught on then and by 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree. Just 20 years later you could find a Christmas tree in nearly every house in America.
So we have the Christmas tree of today. Today you would probably be called a Scrooge if you didn’t have a Christmas tree and there are few places indeed that won’t have one on display to celebrate the season. We have them in our homes, in our churches, in our places of business - just about everywhere.
A Christmas tree is a thing of beauty and carries such a wonderful message of light, life and wonder to the heart of the beholder.
Tonight I want to talk to you, not so much about Christmas trees with all of their ornaments, but about the Christian tree and the ornaments that should be seen on us.
The Bible refers to God’s people on a number of occasions as “trees”. Let’s look at few of them.
Psalms 104:16, "The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted…"
In this verse David is not talking about wooden trees, but about the people of God who have been planted in the Promised Land and into the covenant of Abraham.
Matthew 3:10-11, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire…"
We can clearly see here that John is referring to men as “trees”. It wasn’t a wooden tree that was being cut down here, but trees of unrepentant and unfruitful men in God’ kingdom. That’s why John said that men needed to repent, to keep from being cut down and cast into the fires of judgment.
Matthew 7:16-20, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
Jesus again compared us to trees in this passage of scripture. Here we are compared to a fruit tree that should bear fruit fit for the Kingdom of God. The fruit that our life bears, whether good or bad, marks us with an identity. People can talk about being Christians all they want to but if there are no fruits of righteousness on their tree, then they aren’t true Christians at all. A true Christian tree must bear fruit.
Finally, there is another place in scripture where men are compared to a tree. In the last days of history, during the rule of the Antichrist, God will send forth from Heaven, two men who will be His greatest prophets to preach the gospel. Look at how they are described in Revelation.
Revelation 11:4, "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."
The thought came to me last night as I was meditating upon the Word of God and thinking of this Christmas season, that if we are often compared to trees, then like the Christmas trees we see all around us this time of year, there should be some ornaments hanging on us to attract people to Jesus whom we serve.
So what kind of ornaments should we find on our tree if we are a Christian? What should the Christian Tree look like?
There are at least two places in the Book of Proverbs where we are told of a few ornaments that should be on all of us.
Proverbs 1:7-9, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."
Proverbs 4:7-9, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee."
And so we see that we should all carry with us the ornament of wisdom.
What is wisdom? It is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight to any given set of circumstances. It carries with it the quality of being prudent and sensible in all that we do and say.
How many of us have wisdom? If you are wise, you won’t be quick to raise your hand because the wise man knows that he doesn’t really know much at all and that he lacks so much in understanding, common sense and insight. He is careful to take any step until he fully understands what may happen next, (especially when his pastor is known to ask loaded questions.)
Wisdom is the thing that keeps us from putting our foot in our mouth. I’ve seen a lot of Christians with “Foot in Mouth disease” because they lacked the ornament of wisdom.
Wisdom is the thing that gives us common sense and forces us to make right judgments before trying to enter into anything without knowing the facts. Prudence is better than repentance.
But how many of you know, by your wisdom that you have gained through many years of practicing being foolish, that common sense is not very common at all. The more I’m around some people, the less sense I think they have, and some make no sense at all. If we think of some of the really foolish things people do, it’s just amazing.
The younger generation always seems to have to learn the lessons of wisdom the hard way. My generation was that way. The hippies thought that they had all the answers but they didn’t. The yuppies think that they have all the answers, but they don’t.
The “X generation” won’t listen anymore than we did. We all are destined to learn wisdom by hard way.
It would be so much easier if we would just listen to our elders, you know, those dear folks who sit quietly by while we make our dumb mistakes. Those folks who have learned to “cool it” when everyone else is running around like a mad dog. Those folks who have gray hair, white hair, blue hair, or no hair at all. How much quicker and easier could we learn to have the ornament of wisdom if we just learned to talk to some of them first?
Sometimes it’s just all that we can do, as the older and hopefully wiser generation, to sit by and watch our children make all the same mistakes we made. But sometimes that’s all we can do, because they just don’t want to hear what we have to say. That’s why history just keeps repeating itself.
If you are a Christian tree that has the ornament of wisdom on your branches, then wear it like a crown, because it is only by the grace of God that you made it this far and lived long enough to get the wisdom you have.
There’s another ornament that goes along with the ornament of wisdom. Let’s turn to the Book of 1 Peter.
1 Peter 3:3-4, "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
When we think of the ornaments on the ”Christian tree” we aren’t talking about glittering lights, shining glass globes, or other trinkets of the world. We are talking about ornaments of the Spirit. While our ornaments will be visible in many ways on the outside, their real presence is in the heart, hidden inside the soul of the one who carries them about with them.
The ornaments of a Christian Tree can’t be knocked off the tree and broken. They won’t burn out, crumble or grow old with time. Instead they are renewed every day by the sweet presence and power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. They are incorruptible in every way because no power on earth can stop their glory from shining forth.
I love a man or woman of God who has a meek and quiet Spirit. Why are they meek and quiet – because the Holy Spirit is meek and quiet too, and they are but a reflection of the Spirit on the inside.
Some of the ornaments on a natural Christmas tree are shaped like different types of fruit such as an apple, a cherry or a sugarplum.
I believe that many of the ornaments that should appear on the “Christian Tree” are like that too. The Book of Galatians tells us what some of those ornaments should be.
Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
There you have it – a really good list of the ornaments that you should have hanging on your branches right now for others to see. If you have all of these, it’s only because the Holy Spirit reigns in your heart. Only God can give you all of these ornaments and they all appear as fruit that your life bears for the Kingdom of God. If you have these, you are truly a “fruitful Christian tree”.
Love must be first. It is the focal point, the hallmark, and the brand if you will, of all who are called Christian. How can we be Christian if we not like Christ, since Christ is pure Love?
Joy comes from loving and being loved. Joy isn’t based upon circumstances but upon position. I’m joyful because I’m a child of the King of Glory, and Jesus is my elder Brother, my Savior, my Lord and my King.
Peace is a by-product of love and joy. It is only by knowing your position in Christ and feeling His perfect love that you can have real peace for He is the Prince of Peace.
Longsuffering is a fruit that comes from the heart of a man or woman who has been through the fire with their own faults and failures. They have learned that God has longsuffering toward them and now they must have it for others as well. But for the grace and mercy of God, they know that they could be that Brother or Sister in the Lord who needs help.
Gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance are all fruits that should be ornaments on our tree. All of these ornaments are obtained in succession, as the results of serving and knowing the Lord and allowing Him to be the King of your heart.
This Christmas Season, as you look at all of the Christmas trees wherever you go, think of the ornaments of your Christian Tree and make sure that your ornaments are showing for the world to see. If the world sees your ornaments, then they will give God glory, for it is only through His power, love and provision that they are in you and on you.
