The Legacy of Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed was about as strange a character as you could find. He was born in 1774 in Massachusetts. His father was in the Colonial army and his mother died when Johnny was only two years old. He and his younger sister were cared for by relatives. When Johnny was 18 years old he set out for the “frontier.” He went through New York, into Pennsylvania, and then Ohio. He never really did settle down in any one place.

Johnny was trained to be a nursery man; and as he moved around, just preceding the wave of immigration from the East Coast, he planted apple tree nurseries where ever he could buy land. He would go to any cider mills he could find and get the seeds for free. He proceeded to plant the nurseries, putting a local person in charge of taking care of the trees. He would then move on and come back to check on the nurseries after a few years. The person in charge was asked to keep some money from the sale of apple trees and give it to Johnny when he came back through. In this way, Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees all through out Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and southern Michigan.

Because he never stayed long in any one place, Johnny often just lived in little Indian huts made of poles, covered with bark, and having a hole in the top to let the smoke out. Not wanting to spend his money on himself, he lived a very generous and simple life. He often went bare foot even during much of the winter. He dressed in plain clothes, and often ate a meal of simple mush, washing it down with only water.

Johnny was known for his ability to get along with the Native Americans that he came in contact with. They often received him warmly and he eventually learned several of their languages good enough to converse with them. He was often even invited to their tribal counsels and is said to have negotiated various agreements between the Indians and the settlers. But what he is most famous for is the sheer number of apple trees that he planted. He died in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the month of March, 1845, at the age of 70.

Johnny lived a very sacrificial life just so that he could plant apple trees and bring a better life to people in the frontier, both Native American and settler. I wonder what would happen if more people would become as dedicated to planting the seeds of the Gospel as Johnny Appleseed was to planting apple seeds. You have to applaud those people who have been called to a Johnny Appleseed ministry in planting churches. They are the present pioneers and we need to pray that they will also harvest a wonderful crop. We cannot forget the words of Jesus which still ring true today, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Absorbing Evil

One of the more puzzling verses in the Bible is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Here in chapter one verse twenty four Paul says, “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

What could Paul be saying to us here? Well, we can say with certainty that the afflictions and suffering of Christ on the cross were sufficient to garner salvation for all who call on him in faith. So it is not that something required for salvation has not been accomplished by Christ. His sacrifice was enough. But what about the sufferings that Paul is talking about?

We can also be sure that Paul is not thinking that it is only he who suffers. Though he suffered considerably, he also is clear in teaching that anybody who follows Christ will suffer. So if our sufferings are not redemptive, that is they do not contribute in any way to our salvation, why should we experience suffering?

We often think that evil can be defeated by force. The greater the evil, the greater the force needed to defeat it. However, when Christ took on the greatest evil there has ever been, Satan, he defeated it by absorbing it. What I mean is that he took the hardest blows that evil could dish out and he absorbed it into himself. This is also what he taught his disciples to do when they would face evil.

If somebody is going to strike you on the cheek, turn the other cheek to them so that they can strike that cheek also. If somebody asks for your coat, you should give them your shirt as well. If a Roman soldier asked you to carry his back pack one mile, carry it two miles for him. This type of action is what destroys evil. Paul summed it up when he said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

So what is it that overcomes evil? Evil is absorbed and overcome by loving your enemies and those who do evil. This is what Jesus is doing and this is what he is asking us to do as well. His mission is now our mission. “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you,” says Jesus to all his disciples. So true disciples of Christ should be absorbers of evil and not perpetrators of evil. When we see suffering and pain, the right response should be to do what we can to enter into the suffering and pain of the person suffering it. We too are called to be carriers of pain and suffering. Now this is not a very jazzy calling and one which most Christians shy away from. But none-the-less, it is our calling as Christians to actively bear the burdens of others and not to run away from them or isolate ourselves from them.

To some Christians this may not sound very inviting, yet this seems to be the clear teaching of Christ for his disciples. We should look around us and be more willing to find the hurting and the suffering in order to come along side of them and carry their burden with them. Engaging in this type of action is the great destroyer of evil, and it is within our ability to do.

God the Seamstress

Some time ago I gave a funeral message for a member of my congregation. She was well known as a seamstress par excellence, sewing innumerable wedding dresses. So in my funeral message I encouraged the family to use their memory of her work as a seamstress to be reminded of the Gospel which saved her, and all those who are clothed in Christ’s garments of salvation.

After all God does indeed know a bit about sewing and clothing. In fact, on that dark day when his perfect creation was sliced open by sin, God sewed his first outfits and gave them to Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness; something they had not be aware of before. Their sin caused them to sense their need for clothing and their crude fig leaves were replaced with God’s garments.

Ever since Adam and Eve’s plunge into sin, mankind has had a sense of nakedness and the need to be clothed. This is a universal result of sin. Even people who live in the remote tropics and seemingly have no need for clothing still wear something without which they would feel, well…naked.

As a result of this universal feeling of nakedness, God has been a great seamstress who is clothing his family. Clothing is a symbol of God’s salvation and this can be seen even in the great sin sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. On this, the most holy day of the Jewish calendar, the High Priest would take off his priestly garments, the robe, the ephod and the breast plate, and was instructed to wear only the white linen tunic woven of one piece of fine fabric. Then in this white linen garment he was allowed to meet with God in the Holy of Holies as he sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the ark.

You know there was somebody else who wore a fine white linen tunic. He too was a High Priest, though unrecognized as one until his sacrifice was finally understood. The Apostle John gives us the story:

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

I have always wondered why Jesus would wear something that was so fine the Roman soldiers did not want to rip it up. I like imagining Jesus as the funky itinerant teacher dressed in something from Salvation Army. But under it all he wore a fine white linen tunic of the sort the High Priest would wear into the Holy of Holies. In the case of Christ though, it was stripped from him in order that he would take our sin, shame and nakedness on the cross, so that we in turn could be clothed in his righteousness. He was the only one who could stand before God naked and unashamed. He became unclothed, so that we could become clothed with the finest of wedding garments.

In this life we still feel a bit naked and exposed. Death is one of the things that can do this. Death reminds us just how feeble and frail we are no matter what we might be wearing. You cannot dress up death. Our own sense of nakedness simply moves us to find the greatest seamstress, our Father, who gives us the festal garments of salvation.

It is God who has created us for this very purpose, for this very wedding feast. And it is with confidence that we look forward to this feast for in Christ we will not be found naked but clothed in the white garments of righteousness.

The Gift of Gardens

When you start reading the Bible it does not take very long until God makes a garden and tells Adam and Eve to starting tending it. Even before God had placed a curse on the ground they were working the soil. Maybe, that is why some still think that gardening is an divine vocation.

I know that I enjoy gardening along with a growing number of people. There might even be more people who would enjoy getting dirt under their fingernails if they only had a place to do that. So with this in mind, Trinity Church started a community garden on our property. It is in a lovely spot across a small creek from the church building in large section of green grass and trees. The garden, called "Seeds of Friendship Community Garden", has 16 plots which are 12 feet by 16 feet. People from our neighborhood and some folks from our church have been watching with joy the phenomenal growth in our little green space.

We have watched the radishes, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, watermelon, onions, peas and a cornucopia of other fruits and vegetables go crazy with life. We have also combined forces in defending our produce from the various insects that would love to consume it before we get a chance to. We have experimented with some very different organic pest controls in an effort to protect our produce.

We even added the incentive of a tallest sunflower contest. We have some beauties that must be over 10 feet tall!

I have been picking some of my produce and I thought I would just show you what can be done with just a little space and a little work. I love to eat the peas, the great potatoes and especially the small long white onions.

Tending a garden is a wonderful way to provide some wholesome food for your family and relax and enjoy the beauty and awesome mystery that God has placed in the tiniest seeds that grow to be sunflowers or friendships.

Please, make a garden to tend and enjoy the life that it brings to you.

Worship is a Relationship

When I was a missionary in Central America, I traveled to various countries. I remember exchanging money in Nicaragua in the mid 1980s when there was rampant inflation. I still have some nice, fresh 1,000 Cordoba bills. At that time, they were worth about $.50. They became so devalued that they were recalled, and another zero was stamped on them, making them 10,000 Cordoba bills. (Today they work well for playing Monopoly.)

Typically in our culture, the financial principle of supply and demand determines the value of things. Generally, if there is a great deal of something, its value is much less. If a commodity is in short supply, its value goes up. This principle has been applied to worship in unfortunate ways.

Does Absence Make the Heart Grow Fonder?

The apostle Paul tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, instructing us that this is our act of worship. Based on this teaching, many Christians want to say that everything we do is worship. Others counter this trend, though, saying that if everything is worship, then nothing is worship. I call the latter view the economic view of worship. It treats worship as a commodity. Viewing worship in this way might be popular with many, after all, look at all the people who just worship on Christmas and Easter. They might argue that they starve themselves of regular worship in order to make those few times of worship much sweeter. I know that in my own denomination it has been argued that if we celebrate the Lord’s Supper too often, it will lose it’s meaning for the people. Less Lord’s Supper, more value. More Lord’s Supper, less value. But worship is not a commodity, it’s a relationship.

Relationships function in a different manner than commodities. That “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is a rumor that has been passed around for years now. But is it true? Should relationships be treated like commodities, so that when lovers do not see each other frequently they actually grow fonder of each other? If you feel a distance between you and your spouse, do you really think it will help to send him or her to Oregon while you stay in Kansas, hoping that after a year apart you’ll have grown closer together? This is nonsense!

Regular Fellowship Around the Living Word

Since worship is a relationship between God and his people, the more time we spend together the stronger our relationship will be. The very first worship “service” of the New Testament church illustrates this. The apostle John says that the disciples were locked in a room when Jesus suddenly appeared and stood among them. The Lord said, “Peace be with you!” They looked at his hands and side and were filled with joy.

On the next week the disciples were at the same place, and Jesus appeared among them again and said, “Peace be with you.” Then turning to Thomas, who had missed last week’s “service,” Jesus showed Thomas his hands and side. Thomas responded by exclaiming, “My Lord and my God.”

Worship can’t be commoditized; it is a relationship in which we fellowship around the living Word of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Word speaks to us, and we respond in joyful commitment to him. Ever since that first Sunday worship service, the church has continued to see worship as gathering around the risen Savior and fellowshipping with him.

Our worship planning must never turn worship into a commodity or take away from the beautiful simplicity of fellowshipping around the Living Word.

The Garbage Runs In It

Hal Boyle once wrote: “What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt - it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.” What a splendid way to pass some time, sitting by a fresh stream and getting a sense of peace from the flowing waters. Why then do some folks want to flood the peaceful waters with tons of trash? The serenity of the stream is lost when a beer can or a chunk of Styrofoam comes floating by. Why is it so easy for some to dump their garbage into waters that flow? I wonder if there is some universal idea that the waters will wash the trash away. Perhaps it is not thoughtlessness that leads people to pour their garbage into running water, but rather an unspoken idea that once in the water it is gone.

Water is the great natural cleaner after all. Who would ever think of taking a shower in anything but water? Water is the perfect solvent. So why not let the river clean up our messes? The trouble is that what was once our mess now becomes the mess of somebody else living just a bit further downstream. Though water is a great symbol of our sins being washed away, it does not work for garbage. The garbage does not simply disappear; it will be an eye sore for many years to come. So what can we do make sure that the streams God has given us keep reminding us of him. We simply need to stop putting our trash in the water and then we should get into the water and clean it up.


This is what our Stream Team did this past Saturday, June 13. We put a canoe in Rush Creek and in less than a half mile we had so much junk in the canoe that we had to finish our trip downstream without picking up any thing else. We picked up lots of Styrofoam, plastic cups, bottles and buckets, even somebody’s living room carpet. We had to leave a tractor tire in the creek as we could not even lift up onto the canoe. It is nice to think that we got about a half mile of the creek cleaned up, but we hope to finish a two mile section by October. Just wait, we’ll get it done. There is sense of accomplishment in cleaning up a stream. Somehow it makes sitting on the bank and watching it flow a little more peaceful.

With the Eyes of Your Heart

Octavio Ocampo is an artist from Mexico who paints in what he calls a "metamorphic" style. What this means is that he superimposes and juxtaposes images within the painting that he is creating. Here is a good example of his artistic skill:

What do you see? Most people look at it and see an elderly couple. But as you begin to make out the detail you will find a young couple in the center of the picture. Ocampo painted the older couple seeing each other as they were when they were much younger. You can even look into the older man's mind and notice how he carries his chosen as a beautiful young woman standing in a doorway. You might say that this couple is looking at each other with the eyes of their hearts.

The Apostle Paul informs the church in Ephesus that he is praying for them. He says, "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened." (Ephesians 1:18) The reason for this is so the people could fully understand all that they have in Christ; the hope and the wonderful spiritual riches. These are things that we cannot see with just the eyes of our mind, but things that will become clear when we learn how to see with the eyes of our heart.

I have a feeling that we probably miss a great deal of what Jesus might be doing in our lives because we do not see well with the eyes of our heart. We have not developed the spiritual vision to capture the truly wonderful things all around us that our Lord is doing on our behalf.

Paul's prayer should become our prayer. We would be so greatly blessed if we would only be able to better see the ways in which God is working all around us giving us hope and assuring us of his loving care.