LESSONS FROM THE OLIVE TREE
I am not a big fan of olives. Tried them on pizza and Greek salad, but they are strangely salty. Sharon loves the black ones and actually craves Greek salad on occasion. I do, however, love to use olive oil in cooking. It is one of the healthier and heartier oils out there.
When we travelled to the Mediterranean exactly five years ago we saw olive trees in groves by the side of the highway. You could tell that for both Turks and Greeks olives were a staple of life.
The olive tree is a very hardy tree. It can withstand drought, disease and fire allowing it to live to a great age. Even if the tree is set ablaze and seemingly destroyed, its root system is so robust it can regenerate the tree from down-up. The older an olive tree gets the more gnarled its trunk appears. Many olive trees in the Mediterranean are said to be hundreds of years old.
Various countries claim to have olive trees that are 2000 years old. It is even said that several trees in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem date back to the time of Jesus. “If trees could talk,” as they say.
One town in Lebanon claims to have the oldest olive trees in the world. It’s hard to believe and there is no scientific support for this claim but the residents of this town declare these trees to be from 4000 BC. Can you imagine?[i]
Two questions beg to be asked of an olive tree that old: 1) Is it still vital and living? 2) Is it fruitful? If it is not living and fruitful then it is a museum piece or a tourist site but it is not useful; it is not doing what it was created to do.
In the OT the Lord called Israel an olive tree. It even became one of its national symbols. Now in Romans Paul points to the olive tree and makes a lesson out of Israel’s failure to receive Jesus. What are the lessons we need to learn from the olive tree?
They come in the form of two questions:
1. Are we making anyone envy us?
When God chose Israel to be his special people he did not intend for Israel to keep this privilege to themselves. Israel was meant to be a missionary people, to spread the news that God is real and he is to be worshiped. The Lord gave them a land and he intended to shower them with so much blessing that other nations would envy them and turn to Yahweh.
But the story of Israel is one of rebellion, idolatry and sin. In his patience the Lord put up with the chosen people and continued to rescue them, loving them back each time. God finally sent his Son and the Jews rejected him.
a) The Jews’ loss is our gain – God is not done with Israel; they have not gone so far as to be beyond saving. But because of their transgression, “salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious” (11b).
If Israel would not become a people that all the other nations would envy, then God was going to make a people out of other nations that Israel would envy. The Jews loss has become the Gentiles (our) gain.
When Barnabas and Paul went on their first missionary journey they came to Pisidian Antioch. Their habit in preaching was to go to the Jews first with the gospel. Teaching in the synagogue they found the Jews resistant to the message of Jesus Christ. Barnabas and Paul responded, “We had to speak the Word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). This happened several times in Paul’s ministry. Even so, Paul had a burden on his heart for his own people.
The Jewish rejection of Jesus Christ has been a blessing to us. Blessings are meant to flow to us and through us to others. If the Jewish habit of hoarding the blessings was going to be the norm it was better for us that they reject the blessing of Jesus Christ and let it flow around them to others, namely the Gentiles.
However, it is worth noting that there is a ping-pong ball effect in Paul’s words. He declares, “But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!” (12). In other words, Israel’s rejection of Christ is to our benefit; but our benefit will make Israel envy our relationship with God; that envy will make them want Jesus; if they accept Jesus our blessings will be greater than without them. The blessing ricochets from Israel to the Gentiles, from the Gentiles back to Israel, and from Israel back to the Gentiles again.
Why does the church need Jewish people? Well we want everyone to come to salvation – that’s a given. But they are God’s chosen people intended to lead us in worshiping God. When a Jew comes to faith, because of their background and understanding of the OT, they tend to receive a fuller understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
A few Sundays ago Dr. Jabbour challenged us to pray for a Muslim friend to come into our life. I think it would be equally appropriate to pray that we would make Jewish friends as well.
b) Making much of our ministry – Our hope, whether our friends are Muslim or Jew, is that they would see Jesus in us and be envious of our relationship with God. The question then is: Are we making anyone envy us? Do they see God at work in us? Do they see us expressing our faith in good times and in bad?
Paul said, “I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them” (13c-14). To make much of our ministry is to exult in it or make it the top priority of our lives. As in every sermon I ask now very pointedly, is Jesus the reason you get up in the morning? Is he the reason you go to work? Is he the permanent resident in your home (not guest)? Do we make much of Jesus?
As we make much of Jesus people will take note of our faith. If we make much of other things people will note our lack of faith.
John Piper wrote along these lines when he said, “The health, wealth, and prosperity “gospel” swallows up the beauty of Christ in the beauty of his gifts and turns the gifts into idols. The world is not impressed when Christians get rich and say thanks to God. They are impressed when God is so satisfying that we give our riches away for Christ’s sake and count it gain.”[ii]
What impresses people (and Israel) and will cause them to envy is when they see that we are enjoying the mercy and goodness of our God. They will see what they are missing and desire the salvation they have rejected. This is why it is essential that we be a church where we forgive one another and make an effort to show love in all its forms to each other.
In regards to Israel, Paul says of their rejection, “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (15). What does it mean to receive Jesus? Eternal life, yes – but it is also a resurrection of the spirit from death to life. When we are saved we truly begin to live. That’s what Paul desires for Israel.
This hope for Israel is expressed in two illustrations: “If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches” (16). The first illustration is the imagery of the firstfruits of an offering described in Leviticus 15. God asked for the first portion of grain or product from each person’s crop as thanks to God for his provision. What it meant was an acknowledgement of God’s provision and that the best was yet to come. One Jew receives Jesus – more will follow; we share Jesus with one person – more opportunities will follow. If the first lump of dough given to God is holy, the rest will be holy too.
If the root is holy, the branches are holy too…this is the basis for Paul’s next lesson.
2. Are we learning from Israel’s mistakes?
If Israel had a fault it was spiritual pride. They had Abraham as their father; they had the Law of Moses; they had the Prophets; they were a chosen people. But resting in these possessions they became arrogant and looked down on other people who were not Jews. This is what led to God’s rebuke of Israel and their rejection of the Christ.
What can we learn from their fault? This is the second lesson of the olive tree. Paul focuses heavily on the analogy of being grafted into the olive tree to teach this lesson.
Grafting was a common practice in coaxing new growth from old stock. If the branches on the olive tree were not bearing fruit then God was going to break them off and put different ones on the tree. Usually a branch from a cultivated tree would be grafted on to a wild tree in order to produce orderly fruit. The wild tree would benefit from the new branches. In a sense this is what God does, only reversed. Our faith is an old cultivated tree, but we are from wild stock. God put wild branches on his good tree to bring new life into it. That’s not normally done. God does it anyways.
Jesus said, “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1-2). God, like every gardener, wants branches that bear fruit. There is no point in keeping a withered branch on the tree. So he cuts it off.
a) The Danger of Spiritual Pride - There are four attitudes that lead to spiritual pride.
1. Forgetting the root – Paul said if the root is holy, so are the branches. It seems that the branches thought they were holy on their own. Paul warns the Gentiles that they have the same temptation and may look down on the Jews because now they are in and the Jews are out.
“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you” (17-18).
This means that there is only one people of God. There are not Jewish believers and Gentile believers, there are just believers. The only thing that matters is that we belong to Jesus.
This week in the Messenger I was reminded of the spiritual elitism that can come with making too much of the branch. Tim Moore from MacGregor wrote concerning the EMC 200th anniversary that too much emphasis was put on celebrating culture. He wrote, “As we celebrate this year it would be better and more inclusive to serve Jesus by celebrating the many people of varying cultural and religious backgrounds who worship together and call themselves Evangelical Mennonites. When we focus on one culture and religious heritage we become exclusive and it goes against the evangelical of our name.”[iii]
We share a common heritage with every person who puts his or her trust in Jesus Christ. We have a common heritage that runs through Christ and goes all the way back to Abraham. This is why the church should be the least prejudiced place on the earth.
2. Faith alone – We might be tempted to forget that we are grafted into the tree for the sole reason of our faith in Christ. “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith” (19-20).
While we have concentrated on Paul’s teaching of divine election and God’s calling in that respect, this verse balances this out. Faith, our responsibility to believe, is the key to our stability. We are “in” only because of faith. So the warning is to nurture our faith and not grow lazy like Israel did and rest on our pedigrees or Mennonite heritage.
3. Avoid Arrogance – I think Paul has made that plain but he draws a line under this attitude to make it clearer. “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches he will not spare you either” (20b-21).
How easy it is to look down on those who are not as enlightened as we are about faith. We have Jesus and they don’t. Does that make us better? We have a long history of church attendance. Does that give us an advantage spiritually? What do we stand confidently on that is really sinking sand? Yes we have faith, but it is by grace we have been saved. Paul said not to look down on the Jews just because they don’t believe yet – And we are not to look down on those who have yet to make a decision.
What do we have to be proud about? “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world” (Gal 6:14).
4. Focus on God – We must never take God for granted. Many Christians are asleep in their faith expecting God to be there but making no effort to be in relationship with him. Do we meditate on the character of God? “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God…” (22), Paul exhorts. Make much of God and his Son Jesus Christ.
b) God’s version of horticulture - As it says in v. 24 God does what is contrary to nature by allowing us to belong to his olive tree. It is a far more natural thing for a Jew to be grafted in to the olive tree because they are made of the same stuff. So for us, wild branches, to be grafted in is another act of his grace. We do not naturally belong and therefore it is a privilege to be grafted in.
What is the bottom line? It’s this: God is no respecter of persons. He deals with the Gentiles and Mennonites on exactly the same basis as He deals with His chosen people, the Jews. He forgives and blesses those who believe in him. He is severe toward those who do not believe. What do we believe? Just what Paul began this letter saying: the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We are sinners without hope of God’s favor and deserving only wrath. But God sent his Son to die in our place, to pay the penalty and to give us his righteousness.
On this ground we are all equal: Saint and sinner, Mennonite and English and French and Latino and Jew and Muslim.
I have heard it said, and I have thought it myself, that Mennonites and Jews have a lot in common. Both:
1) are not very populous.
2) have been persecuted and dispersed.
3) are strong on heritage and genealogy.
4) are successful everywhere they go.
5) have a heavy emphasis on ethnic preservation (intermarriage).
6) seem to think heaven is reserved only for them.
7) favor the names Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Both do have a proud heritage. That is a blessing and a curse, especially if we rely on it for faith. God has called us to an active faith dependent on him alone. He wants us to be true Jews, true Mennonites, and more so, true Christians (though all of these could be the same thing spiritually). What does that look like?
The missionary E. Stanley Jones once asked Gandhi the leader of India what Christians would have to do to win India over for Jesus. Gandhi knew India well and also knew very much about Christianity. He said, “There are four things Christians should do if they want to win over India for Christ. First, Christians should act like Christ. Second, do not compromise your faith. Third, learn all you can about the non-Christian religions. And fourth, let everything you do be characterized by love.”
We have been grafted into the olive tree by the grace of God in Christ. To remain grafted in requires drinking deeply of the life-giving sap. In other words, to dwell in Christ alone, making much of Jesus, and forsaking all other worldly distractions. And in humility to consider all men and women as potential branches in the olive tree, winning them and loving them just as they are into that divine and wonderful connection.
May God help us to be true branches of Jesus the true vine.
AMEN
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