Springtime, aspens, old prophets, and ministry
Spring is here. Buds are bursting from wintery sticks which by mid- month will be covered with the brightest green confetti of the year, new growth leaves. Certain trees are flush with flowers, others are dropping pollen like gold-dust on the ground, and driveway, and the car windshield. These are all signs of spring; they are the loud cry of new life.
Everything is waking up except for the quaking aspen in our backyard, which is still asleep. I think. Dormant, or is it dead? That’s the question. Yet, I have hope. I’m holding more than a wish that it will bud, that leaves and new shoots will still come. Daily I’m comparing it to its sister. We have two of these trees in our yard. The other is fully alive and blooming with all the signs of Spring. If it doesn’t come back, I’ll be sad. It will be a loss. It’s just a tree but a tree I will miss.
Habakkuk wrote, “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Those were his last words. That ends his book in the scripture; his only book. Though he talks a of a tree refusing to blossom, he will still rejoice in the Lord, the God of salvation. AND, he’s talking about more than a tree dying. He’s talking of drastic loss. No food. No livelihood. Yet he will still rejoice.
Habakkuk was an Old Testament prophet, but he had resurrection faith! How much more do we, New Testament prophets (all of us, you too), live with resurrection faith. We have faith that when we experience loss, our God can replace it with new growth. Loss of job, loss of friendship, loss of a loved one, whatever the loss, new growth will come from it for those with faith in the God of resurrection. Perhaps that new growth is not a replacement of what was, but the sprout of a seed entirely new in me—in you. Surrounding that quaking aspen in our yard are now three new shoots coming right up out of what was bear turf. These are the promise of new aspen trees. What’s amazing about aspen trees is that they are all connected, underground their roots connect. A grove of quaking aspen may, scientifically speaking, be all one single organism. So whether that tree comes back this spring or not, the promise of new life is already there. It’s a little different. It’s in a different place. It’s starting small again. It’s growing. It’s also promising to bring more life than we had before. Five trees now where there were two.
That’s a good reminder for all of life’s losses that the God of creation who designed the quaking aspen is also the God of resurrection who designed our salvation.
It’s also a good reminder when we think of Holy Cross, and worship, and routines, and fellowship, and activities, and COVID-19, and disruption, and loss, and what we miss, and as we wonder will it come back. Will all that wonderful ministry sprout again? When the cold winter of COVID-19 has finally passed, and we can officially say we have made it to Spring, and ministry can return again, will it all look like it did before?
Here it is good to remember: my two aspens, Habakkuk, and the God of resurrection. Some of what we loved may not come back. Some of what we loved will. Some new ministry shoots might rise and look a little bit different but promise to bring more life and fruit than what we had before. What’s more, down deep, this new ministry is still connected to what was. It’s all rooted in Jesus.
As you read this newsletter you’ll hear of some ministry making its come back. You notice some is not mentioned—it’s still lying dormant. You might even read about new things sprouting different than before. I encourage you to watch for this for the next several months, as the Spring thaw from COVID-19 progresses, and if you find yourself saddened by a loss, think of Habakkuk, and you may just find yourself rejoicing too. And I’m always eager to hear your thoughts, sad or joyful, as this Spring unfolds.
In Jesus,
Pastor Mike