The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.  Isaiah 40:8

Our tree wore a scarlet letter that sealed its fate…

For almost twenty years, it stood in front of our house.

At first, it was little more than a stick.

We watched it grow every year…

As if it were a member of our family, we tolerated its moods…

And forgave its troublesome behavior…

It broke the sidewalk with the force of its roots

Its heavy shade turned the grass at its base to mud…

But we forgave those sins every summer when the shade made our front porch a pleasant place to sit late in the afternoon…

We forgave the tree every fall, when its leaves turned gold or crimson, depending on the summer’s rain.

It was an ash tree.

We watched as nearby ash trees succumbed to the Emerald Ash Borer…

As their growth slowed…

As their leaves retreated from the top of their crowns.

But our tree stayed healthy.

It thrived.

The village announced it would cut down dead and dying ash trees…

“We’re lucky,” we thought.

“Our tree’s not dying.  They won’t cut it down.”

But then the village retracted its offer of grace for healthy trees…

All ash trees would be cut down…

“To protect the rest of the village’s trees,” they said.

“To introduce more species into the village’s tree population,” they said.

All the ash trees would go…

All… for the sins of a few.

How different from the One who died for the sins of all.

Today, a couple of guys in orange sweatshirts cut down the tree with its red “X”…

And turned it into wood chips and sawdust.

The tree that had been in our yard for almost twenty years…

Disappeared in ten minutes.

Its sudden vanishing a reminder of mortality …

…for dust you are and to dust you will return.   Genesis 3:19

Its scarlet letter a reminder of how God’s grace washes the stain of our sin…

Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Our tree needed grace.  But there was no one to give it…

The tree is gone now…

The grass will start to grow again…

The village will fix our sidewalk…

We’ll plant a new tree this spring.

Twenty years from now, someone will say, “Isn’t that great shade?”

Or maybe they will say, “What an ugly tree.  Let’s cut it down…”

“Change is the only constant,” says the almost-true cliche.

And so we offer thanks and praise…

To the only One who never changes…

To the One whose promises are forever true…

To the eternal “I AM” … whose grace and love are with us always…

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1:17