Late one afternoon, the church doorbell rang. One of the church's neighbors stood outside the door, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. What could be wrong? Was someone sick or in trouble? As I opened the door and the man began to speak, it was obvious he was nervous about something.
"Umm…sorry to bother you…" Yep, he was pretty nervous. I asked how I could help. As he shifted his weight back and forth once more, he announced, "We're going to have the big tree right there trimmed. Just, ummm…, wanted to let you know, because they'll be coming with a big truck and equipment to get it done, probably this week."
I thanked him for letting us know and told him how I admired what he and his wife had done with their patio and yard. After a bit of this kind of conversation, he seemed to be less nervous.
“I was hoping things could be different, and when you waved and said hello to us out your office window, well, I hoped….” OK, now I was puzzled. They seemed to be wonderful people, and I hadn’t heard anything different from other people. I thanked him again for coming over, and invited him in. He declined, saying he had to get back home. I told him he was always welcome at the church and invited him to stop back over when he had more time to visit.
“You know,” he said, “I was really dreading coming over here, because last time we trimmed our trees, some people over here got pretty upset.”
“Really?” I was more puzzled now. “Did big branches fall on the church or something?”
“Nope,” he shook his head. “I think they just didn’t like losing some shade, that’s all.”
I thought, What? His trees, his yard…really? Besides, trees need to be trimmed! "But," I answered, "Even Jesus said that pruning is necessary – if we want to stay healthy. Those trees will be even fuller and better looking when they bud back out. The shade will be even better then!"
He smiled (the first smile I’d seen so far), “They’re getting a major pruning. Way back. We don’t want to lose any of the scraggly branches if we get an ice storm like we got a while back.”
“Well, like I said, I think it’ll be great when they sprout back out in the spring. They’ll come back stronger, fuller, and probably better looking too!”
Here's what Jesus said about that: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. You are already clean because of what I have said to you. Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit." (John 15:1-7)
That conversation began a new relationship with those neighbors. When they went on an extended trip, we kept an eye on their house. When our church was broken into, they stood by us, talked with the police, and now keep a closer eye on the church when we're not there.
Like those trees, it seemed our relationship needed pruning so it could produce more fruit. When he took the risk of ringing the church doorbell that day, he accepted the "pruning" of old dead branches in his relationship with his church neighbors. Old "branches" which were not bearing any fruit were removed, and buds of new relationship branches began to grow.
As I write this chapter, it is winter and those trees look pretty bare. But I know they’re going to look wonderful with all the new growth (and resulting shade) that will come in due time. Spring’s coming!