“Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught, while you overflow in faith with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7)
As we near the end of another growing season, I reach down and pull out the roots of the pea vines that I had planted back in spring in one of my self-watering garden tubs. The edible pod peas produced well this year, with the vines snaking their way all the way to the top of my 8 foot deer fence. They grew high enough into the stratosphere that I needed to use one of those high-shelf grabbers in order to pick the pods at the tips of the vines. So I’m not surprised to see the extensive root balls that I’m now throwing on my compost pile. Without those healthy roots, I wouldn’t have had any peas.
Back in 2001, severe storms rolled through Northern Wisconsin. In the Eagle River area, tornadoes touched down here and there. One storm took down a lot of trees on my mother-in-law’s property. That included a majestic white pine that had graced the shoreline, always welcoming us back when we came in from fishing, because it towered over the pier. It was well over 100 years old. But this severe storm toppled it over, massive root ball and all.
My brother-in-law and I were assigned the task of cutting that huge tree into 10 foot lengths to be sold for lumber. We started towards the top and worked our way to the bottom. We were finishing what we had planned to be our second-last cut, about 10 feet up from the root ball, when something unexpected happened. The tree groaned. The bark snapped. And the bottom 10 feet of that tree popped straight up with so much force, it was like an explosion! The house shook. The neighbor’s houses shook. And everybody came running to see what my brother-in-law and I had done this time. We had done nothing. But the roots of that white pine, though mostly ripped out of the ground by that fierce storm, were still so strong that they yanked that last ten feet of pine trunk back into place, so the trunk stood ramrod straight and pointed back up to the heavens! The root ball crashed down into its hole in the ground so perfectly, you would never know the tree had been toppled. So we let the last ten feet of that trunk stand. My mother-in-law had a carving made out of it.
Roots are important. Roots give life. And that’s what it means to continue to walk (live) in Christ, “by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught.” Life’s storms will come. At times they will be devastating. (Health crises, accidents, sudden deaths, marriage issues, parenting problems, financial crunches.) We will be knocked down. But when we are rooted in Christ, we will be able to stand! (See also Psalm 1:1-3)
That’s why it’s so vital that you never do anything to chip away or saw through your connection with your Savior! Instead continue to walk through life. . .
rooted in him: That sprout of faith you received when the Holy Spirit used water and word in your baptism and rooted you, a spiritual sapling, in Christ—continue in that faith!
built up in him: That childlike, Christ-centered faith that your parents, pastors, Lutheran elementary-school teachers and Sunday School teachers worked so hard to nurture--sermon-by-sermon, Bible-class by Bible-class, devotion by devotion, Bible story by Bible story—continue in that faith!
strengthened in the faith just as you were taught: Don’t throw away the faith in which the Spirit rooted you, thinking our world offers something better! Don’t look for something new and improved! Let God’s Spirit continue to use his Word and Sacrament to send your roots down even deeper into Jesus and to cement your faith even more solidly on that rock which is Jesus!
Then when the storms of life come and beat down on you from every side, you will be like that white pine trunk and root ball. You will still be able to stand tall, because you are rooted in Christ. (See also Matthew 7:24-26, and Ephesians 3:14-19)
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
As we near the end of another growing season, I reach down and pull out the roots of the pea vines that I had planted back in spring in one of my self-watering garden tubs. The edible pod peas produced well this year, with the vines snaking their way all the way to the top of my 8 foot deer fence. They grew high enough into the stratosphere that I needed to use one of those high-shelf grabbers in order to pick the pods at the tips of the vines. So I’m not surprised to see the extensive root balls that I’m now throwing on my compost pile. Without those healthy roots, I wouldn’t have had any peas.
Back in 2001, severe storms rolled through Northern Wisconsin. In the Eagle River area, tornadoes touched down here and there. One storm took down a lot of trees on my mother-in-law’s property. That included a majestic white pine that had graced the shoreline, always welcoming us back when we came in from fishing, because it towered over the pier. It was well over 100 years old. But this severe storm toppled it over, massive root ball and all.
My brother-in-law and I were assigned the task of cutting that huge tree into 10 foot lengths to be sold for lumber. We started towards the top and worked our way to the bottom. We were finishing what we had planned to be our second-last cut, about 10 feet up from the root ball, when something unexpected happened. The tree groaned. The bark snapped. And the bottom 10 feet of that tree popped straight up with so much force, it was like an explosion! The house shook. The neighbor’s houses shook. And everybody came running to see what my brother-in-law and I had done this time. We had done nothing. But the roots of that white pine, though mostly ripped out of the ground by that fierce storm, were still so strong that they yanked that last ten feet of pine trunk back into place, so the trunk stood ramrod straight and pointed back up to the heavens! The root ball crashed down into its hole in the ground so perfectly, you would never know the tree had been toppled. So we let the last ten feet of that trunk stand. My mother-in-law had a carving made out of it.
Roots are important. Roots give life. And that’s what it means to continue to walk (live) in Christ, “by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught.” Life’s storms will come. At times they will be devastating. (Health crises, accidents, sudden deaths, marriage issues, parenting problems, financial crunches.) We will be knocked down. But when we are rooted in Christ, we will be able to stand! (See also Psalm 1:1-3)
That’s why it’s so vital that you never do anything to chip away or saw through your connection with your Savior! Instead continue to walk through life. . .
rooted in him: That sprout of faith you received when the Holy Spirit used water and word in your baptism and rooted you, a spiritual sapling, in Christ—continue in that faith!
built up in him: That childlike, Christ-centered faith that your parents, pastors, Lutheran elementary-school teachers and Sunday School teachers worked so hard to nurture--sermon-by-sermon, Bible-class by Bible-class, devotion by devotion, Bible story by Bible story—continue in that faith!
strengthened in the faith just as you were taught: Don’t throw away the faith in which the Spirit rooted you, thinking our world offers something better! Don’t look for something new and improved! Let God’s Spirit continue to use his Word and Sacrament to send your roots down even deeper into Jesus and to cement your faith even more solidly on that rock which is Jesus!
Then when the storms of life come and beat down on you from every side, you will be like that white pine trunk and root ball. You will still be able to stand tall, because you are rooted in Christ. (See also Matthew 7:24-26, and Ephesians 3:14-19)
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
RSS Feed
