When we moved into our home, almost 2 years ago, it became obvious that the previous owners had one love in life: watching NFL football. We gathered this because there were televisions mounted to the walls in the living room, every bedroom, and there were three in the den. They were kind enough to leave us all the wall mounts, which we quickly put on the curb for disposal. I don’t think they ever imagined we wouldn’t follow their lead, and mount 15 televisions throughout the house. We have one.

But the real problem with people like that is that they don’t care for the yard, or the house itself. People like the previous owners should be renters, not owners. Just look at the pictures of the back yard when we moved in back in August of 2022.

Sparse.

But they did try to add some curb appeal out front. In fact, the yard out front under the big oak, was actually in good shape. It was filled with St. Augustine grass. The rest of the yard was mostly weeds, and three, newly planted trees. One of which was this Burr Oak.

As you can see, this burr oak isn’t very big. Maybe a foot tall, and it has been about that size since we moved in back two years ago. There were times where the weeds and grass in the front yard almost obscured its existence all together. I had to put those yellow warning flags around it, so that my boys wouldn’t mow over it when they were helping me in the yard.

It’s a small tree.

This morning, while cutting the grass, I had to stop, get the hand shears, and cut the St. Augustine away from the trunk. I got my shovel out and worked to get the roots of the grass out, then added some mulch around the base. I love this tree.

Some might say: why not plant a Bradford Pear, it will grow 25 feet in 5 years? Because it will be dead in 15 years.

Not a burr oak. The burr oak is a tree that can last as long as 400 years. It only grows about a foot every year, so it is a slow growing tree.

I need to remind myself of this. I’m not caring for this tree, for my benefit, but for some future homeowner. I seriously doubt I will ever sit in the shadow of this tree, unless I pass out from the Texas heat, an just so happen to fall next to it.

But there is a deeper spiritual truth illustrated by this tree that is helpful to me in my ministry. The way this tree grows, is often times the way the LORD chooses to grow the church. The roots of this tree are going deep, and the branches are slowing going upwards. This is exactly what ministers should want in the growth of their churches. They should desire that the roots of the gospel are going deep in the parishioners, while they slowly produce sprititul fruit of their own.

This burr oak may not produce any acorns for some time, but it will. It may not provide any shade in the near future, but when does, it will be magnificent. This oak may not even be noticed for years, but when it is noticed, it will point back to God and His glory.

All these truths help us to see the greater reality of building Christ’s Kingdom and the church. Elders and pastors have to ask ourselves: what are we trying to grow?

Sure, we can use the ways of the world, with flashy concert-like worship services, lots of entertainment, smoke machines and loud praise teams to build the church. In fact, that is more often than not, the approach many take. But to do so, has consequences and those consequences are not good.

Paul put it like this in 1 Corinthians 3.

For no one is able to lay another foundation than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, ¹³ the work of each one will become evident. For the day will reveal it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the work of each one, of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work that he has built upon it remains, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but so as through fire.

The question is: what are you going to build the church with? Gold, silver, precious stones, which Leithard see as true believers in the church, or wood, grass, and straw, which are more like tares. Who are we going to appeal to?

This has always been my fight as a pastor. Yes, we can put on shows, adopting the ways of the world, and draw large crowds, but Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep.” In doing that, we must realize that we don’t have the freedom to use the wisdom of the world. For us to be faithful, and truly feed His sheep, we must use the means HE has given us: the preaching of the word of God, prayer, and the sacraments. These are the things that work in the lives of believers. These are the tools He has given us to work in the body of Christ.

In doing so, it’s going to take a long time. This is why the burr oak gives me hope. It reminds me, that what I’m doing as a pastor, is slow work. We might not produce a great deal of noticeable fruit for a while. We might not provide a lot of shade in the near future. But we are not working just for the near future. We plow in hope, grow burr oaks in hope, not for our benefit. We may never see the fruit of our labor. For the tree we have planted is not a Bradford Pear, here today with lots of entertainment and smoke machines, but gone tomorrow. We a planting for the future.

That takes time.

I’m grateful the former owners planted the burr oak. I shall water it, fertilize it, keep the St. Augustine off of it, and let God cause the growth.

Here is our backyard as of a few a moments ago. I believe we are to take dominion of all that we have been given. Hopefully you can see the difference.

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons, 2024.