2 Corinthians 10:15 May 8, 2013

Ken Davis
2 Corinthians 10:15 

"Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand," (NIV)

Paul desired that the faith of the church would grow and that, in turn, they would support his ministry spreading the gospel. In sitting with this passage and reading various commentaries for context, I began to draw an analogy of the church as a tree nursery. (With apologies to John Hendrickson for what will be my obvious ignorance of nursery operations, let me explain.)

In American history, we are told of John Chapman - "Johnny Appleseed". The image that many people have of Johnny Appleseed is of a man walking through the countryside randomly dropping apple seeds, hoping that they would sprout and produce fruit. On the contrary, he established nurseries, not orchards, to grow seedling trees, not apples. I can imagine him carefully selecting and purchasing the land, erecting fences to protect the nursery from livestock, and planting seeds in rich soil.

Once established, he would leave the nursery in the care of a neighbor who then sold the trees on shares. He would return every year or two to tend the nursery. Thus, he was able to branch-out (pardon the pun) to other areas and was responsible for introducing apple trees to many parts of the Midwest.

The "nursery" that is Westminster Presbyterian Church was established almost 60 years ago. Several of the charter "trees" are still growing here. The first "seedling" that was baptized is still here. Some of us have been "grafted" onto native "rootstock." Many of us are "transplants." Whichever category you claim, remember that a nursery propagates trees and nurtures them until they have grown to a usable size. That includes the establishment of a healthy root system. Without a healthy root system, the tree will not grow and bear fruit. In the case of the church, the root system is faith.

By the way, did you know that Johnny Appleseed was also a missionary? He would tell stories to children and spread the Gospel to adults, including many Native Americans, which were converted.

Prayer: Lord, grant that we will establish our faith-roots. From that faith, planted in your rich soil, may our nursery continue to distribute the seedlings of Good News throughout our community and our world. Amen.