The Legend of the Three Trees

The Legend of the Three Trees

Adapted and Told by Rev. Randal K. Lubbers 

Sunday, January 5, 2015

(Children) What do you want to be when you grow up?(ad lib discussion)

This is a story about three trees who shared their dreams about what they wanted to be when they grew up. And it begins, as stories often do…

Once upon a time… a long time ago… in a land far away… 

On a hilltop in a forest, there lived three very young trees… they were friends… growing up next to each other… And one day, talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up… each tree shared her dream with the others…

The first little tree had heard stories of buried treasure and riches like gold and silver coins and precious jewels. She looked at the stars and said, “I want to be a beautiful treasure chest and hold the most valuable treasure in the world!"

The second young tree had heard stories of adventure. She looked out at the small stream making its way to the ocean and said, “I want overcome the big waves and great winds and even carry a great king. When I grow up I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!”

Last and least, the third tree looked into the valley below where men and women lived and said, “You know, I don't want to leave here at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

Winter came and spring arrived. Rains came and the sun shone bright. Year after year the little trees grew taller and taller. Until one day a woodcutter climbed the mountain, looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is perfect for me." With a swoop of his ax, the first tree fell. And she was SO happy when the woodcutter brought her to the carpenter's shop. But the carpenter made her into a feed box for animals. She wasn’t filled with gold or jewels but with hay for sheep and cows.

The next year the woodcutter returned and looked at the second tree and saw that it was strong and straight. “Perfect,” he thought as he prepared to cut it down. And the tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, thinking, “Just as I dreamed, I’m going to be a mighty sailing ship.” But, instead, the tree was crafted into a very small, very simple, very humble fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean and was taken to a little lake.

And then, the very next year—
Would you like to guess what happens?

The third tree felt her heart sink when the woodcutter came towards her. She stood straight and tall—her top branches pointed up to the heavens.

But the wood cutter never even looked up.
“Any kind of tree will be just fine—”

And with a mighty swoop of the axe, the tree fell to the ground. Back at the lumberyard, the woodcutter used a big circular saw to cut her into big, strong, rough wooden beams. And the once tall tree wondered, “What happened? All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."

After a long, long time the three trees nearly forgot their dreams.

But one night, a young girl named Mary placed her newborn baby in the feed box. She smiled at her husband Joseph and gently squeezed the baby’s little hand. “This manger is beautiful,” she said, and the first tree felt as if she was holding the greatest treasure in the world. And she was.

Years later, Jesus and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat to sail across the lake. But soon a great storm wind blew and the waves crashed into the boat and the second tree knew she didn’t have the strength to carry so many passengers safely. But Jesus, who had fallen asleep earlier, got up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace, be still." And the storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And the second tree felt as if she were carrying the King of heaven and earth—who else could conquer a mighty storm with just a word?

A year or two later, two rough beams of the third tree were yanked from the wood pile. Roman soldiers tied and then nailed a man's hand to each end of one of the beams; and pulled up the beam and the man; and people made fun of him and even laughed at him… And he died…

The third tree had become the cross where Jesus died…

But all she knew was that it all made her feel dirty and ugly, cruel and sick to her stomach—it was horrible.

After Jesus’ died on the cross his body was wrapped in white cloths—bands of cloth not unlike the “swaddling clothes” of the manger—and he was laid on a rocky ledge in a cave. Then, on the first day of the week, women came to the tomb and learned that Jesus had been raised from the dead— “Why do you look for the LIVING in this place for the dead?” one angel asked.

God’s love had changed everything. And on EVERY single first day of the week since that first Easter, people who know and love and follow Jesus have gathered together to worship God.

The three trees each remembered what they had hoped and prayed for and how it had happened, only in different ways than they had thought.

The first tree had held the greatest treasure—Immanuel, God with Us.

The second tree had sailed through wind and waves carrying a great King—Jesus Christ—who could calm the storm with but a word.

And the third tree remembered exactly what she had hoped for too: “I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

And even today we lift high the cross and proclaim the love of God.

So the legend of the three trees tells the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection. And the story reminds us, too, that God has good plans in mind for your life:

I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord;
they are plans for peace, not disaster,
to give you a future filled with hope.