The poster hung on the wall of my office for many years.

It spoke truth to me.  It comforted me.

It read: “Advice from a Tree.  Stand tall and proud.  Sink you roots into the earth.  Be content with your natural beauty.  Go out on a limb.  Drink plenty of water.  Remember your roots.  Enjoy the view.”

In these words and picture, I experienced tranquility.

I heard serenity.

Nature has a way of expressing calmness to us.

Spend time in nature, and you’re not so worried about the future.

Enjoy nature, and you’re not thinking about past regrets.

In nature, you have the beauty, you have the present moment,

you have the message that all is right in the world, and you can enjoy it.

That’s why we spend hours sitting in a fishing boat on a lake.

That’s why we enjoy gardening.

That’s why we pause and smile at the honking of the geese…

flying south for the winter in perfect V-formation.

That’s why we are captured by the pair of blue jays…

Self-appointed bosses of the bird feeder on the back deck.

That’s why we have to stop at the back door…

and watch Acorn the chipmunk…fill his cheeks with peanuts.

That’s why we climb the hill at the Laurentian Divide in leaf-changing season.

To spend time enjoying nature and the message it has to say to us.

Take some advice from a tree.

The opposite of contentment is craving, wanting.I want what I do not have.

I want a bigger garage so I can put more stuff in it.

When my large garage is full, it’s time for a Morton Building.

I want a different haircut, that will make me stylish and stand out,

and draw oohs and aahhs, and make me popular.

I want a new car.

I want a ring with more diamonds on it.

I want a bigger house.

I want that new six-in-one kitchen utensil.

I want.  I want.  I want.  I want what I do not have.

No matter how much we buy, there is always plenty more that we can want.

We live in a never-enough world, and we cling to the myth…

that material things provide the answers to the basic questions of life.

How do I find peace of mind?  Buy more insurance.

How do I show someone how much I love them?  Send them a greeting card.

What do I do when the going gets tough?  Go shopping, of course.

In the end, if we are mature, we may come to realize…

that our possessions do not provide the contentment we seek.

No matter what we possess, we are still cursed with dis-satisfaction.

The Rolling Stones sang it for my generation: I can’t get no satisfaction.

The group U2 sings it this way: I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

Behind wanting what I do not have…

is unhappiness, a lack of contentment, craving, anxiousness.

You can either be content, like the trees teach us,

or you can want, like our culture teaches us.

On this 22^nd Sunday after Pentecost, God gives us Holy Scriptures…

and insight into our contentment-craving tension.

The Hebrew writings give us the story of Job.

When you think of Job, you think of distress.

The suffering that Job experienced…

all the problems that he faced…

the loss of his property, his health, his family…

would overwhelm most people.

But Job refused to give up.

He was a person of hope.

He clung to his faith right in the very midst of his brokenness.

To his friends, to his suffering, to himself, and through him to us, Job announced:

I know that my Redeemer lives.

And the day will come…in my flesh I will see God.

So…his faith gave him peace… right in the very midst of his suffering.

Could our faith bring us contentment, even when we do not have what we want?

Might our faith see us through all the times of life?

Might our faith be God’s answer…to all of our wanting?

Could we look at the world of nature…and be reminded by God…

of God’s loving intention for us?

Paul wrote two letters to the house church in Thessalonica.

Life in the first century was not easy for them.

They lived in the capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia.

That brought tensions between the ways of Rome and the ways of Christ.

They often encountered opposition from others.

They were confused about the delay in the second coming of Christ.

In the midst of these difficulties in the first century, and the usual struggles of life,

the second letter to the Thessalonians…

speaks about giving thanks to God for them.

And why the thanks?

Because the people were beloved by the Lord.

Because…God chose you.

Because…God called you.

Because…you will obtain the glory of our Lord.

The writer of this epistle wanted the good people of Thessalonica to…

remember their faith.

Remember what God had done for them.

Remember the difference Christ made for them.

Remember the truth of their salvation.

So…stand firm and hold fast.

These holy words have been preserved in the Bible…

And thus recognized as holy words for you.

You, too, have been called…chosen…beloved…and promised the glory of God.

So…be content.  Remember your roots.

And if you don’t read the Bible…

Just look in the backyard…and take your advice from a tree.

Jesus often encountered opposition from the religious leaders of the day.

In today’s Gospel reading, it is the Sadducees who ask him a trick question.

They didn’t believe in resurrection,

so they asked him a question about marriage in the afterlife.

Jesus responded in two ways.

First, marriage is not what’s important in the age of resurrection.

What’s important is that people are like angels…

They are children of God…

They are children of the resurrection.

Secondly, Jesus told them one of the most beloved stories of the Old Testament.

It is the call of Moses in Exodus, chapter three.

What does God use to call Moses?

Nature.  In two ways.  A burning bush. Holy ground.

An angel of the Lord spoke through a bush on fire.

God called out through the bush: MOSES.

HERE I AM.

COME NO CLOSER.  YOU ARE STANDING ON HOLY GROUND.

Holy ground?  Ground, earth, filled with the presence of God.

God speaks through the bush and the ground to Moses.

God says, I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHER…

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, THE GOD OF JACOB.

So, the Holy One used nature…to call Moses to the walk of faith.

I wonder…if God can use nature today…to call people to the walk of faith?

I mean, if it worked for Moses, maybe…it will work for you.

Accept the advice of a tree.  Be comforted.

There’s an old way to talk about contentment.

We used to use the language of…making your peace with God.

I heard it in the Forest Gump movie last week.

Lt. Dan used all kinds of ways to ease his pain.

Finally, he found his contentment.

Forest used these words to describe it:

He never actually said so, but I think Lt. Dan made his peace with God.

Oh….peace with God.

Relationship with God.

Comforted by the presence of God.

You can take your advice from a tree,

From Job, from 2 Thessalonians, from the burning bush story,

or from St. Paul to the people of Philippi and Minnesota:

Now…now…now…

the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will keep your heart…and your mind…in Christ Jesus.