Birds of every kind will nest and find shelter in its branches (Ezekiel 17:23, emphasis added).

[Editor’s Note: We started writing this week’s Connect Devotionals when it appeared that we’d be in our new building on December 5.  We had decided to take a small break from our current sermon theme and re-visit our church’s “noble cedar” vision from Ezekiel 17. As you know, that opening date will need to slide a bit, but we felt that the re-visiting the noble cedar might refresh our hope as we await the final and official “opening of the doors” on Andrews Store Road!]

I’ve never been able to get an avocado seed to sprout into a tree, much less cut off a small pine branch and grow next year’s Christmas tree.

So when God talks about a cedar growing massive from a “tender sprig from [the smallest] topmost shoot” (v.22) and “produc[ing] branches and bear[ing] fruit” for “birds of every kind to nest” (v. 23), I know this is no ordinary tree. 

Surely, it’s God’s Messianic promise to Israel. Jesus will be the root, the “tender sprig of His great Kingdom Tree wherein anyone from any race can find shelter, a home, a Family. Whereas our backyard trees routinely have birds defending their turf, in this Kingdom Tree, there will be no interlopers; no one will drive anyone away. All will be welcome.

Our church, a small “sprig” at first, has grown as part of this great Kingdom Tree. Look around at both campuses. We have “birds” of all ages, ethnicities, and personalities, with plenty of room for more! Whereas ordinary trees produce one type of berry or fruit, God’s cedar feeds birds of “every” kind, necessitating different fruit for different tastes and needs. Chatham Church offers myriad programs and staff with different abilities to “feed” the flock nesting in its branches. God planted us as part of His tree and continues to help us “flourish” (v.24).

As we move to a larger tree - a new building - we must take care not to pride ourselves in our arborist skills, in how we’vepruned a budget to grow this new tree, how pretty we’ve made our branches, or how varied our snacks table is. We want to be a Tree, not just a building, that God grows for His people. He warns He will “bring down the tall tree” (v. 24) that looks like it doesn’t need any help. We must remember God plucked the sprig, God planted it in a place of His choosing, and God produced the growth of branches and fruit. So….

Everything we do to beautify the building, to pay for it, to increase programming, we must do in step with God, with an eye on building His family tree. We want our tree to grow welcoming branches even if it might pinch a little. Fruit will get eaten, branches may have to be pruned as more come to perch, and a bit of maneuvering might have to occur to make room for someone moving onto “my branch.” But those are all signs of a healthy, thriving tree.

And “all the trees of the field” will take notice (v.24) that this church is no ordinary church.

What one thing might you do to spread wide the branches of our Kingdom Tree?

To read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can click here.