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June 26, 2004
Sermon: "The Secret of Longevity"
Scripture: Isaiah 55:10-13
Reverend Larry Gerber

The Methuselah Tree, a bristlecone pine that popped up before the Pyramids and has now lived more than 46 centuries, offers some survival strategies that can help the church to grow in even the harshest of conditions.

The conditions under which the Methuselah Tree has accomplished this extraordinary feat are surprising. At least they were to Robert Mohlenbrock.

A few years ago, this professor of botany visited the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, part of the Inyo National Forest. "At the time I thought that any organism that lived longer than the norm had to have optimal conditions going for it," he wrote in Natural History magazine. For plants, that would mean moderate temperature, shelter from extreme weather and plenty of moisture and nutrients.

Mohlenbrock was in for a shock. "When I stood looking at Methuselah," he recalled, "I knew I had been wrong." Though it was midsummer, a bone-chilling wind ripped right through him, and the scarce patches of soil at the site appeared to contain little -- if any -- moisture. Conditions turned out to be horribly harsh at the 10,000-foot elevation where Methuselah and other ancient bristlecones grow.

So, what's Methuselah's secret? How can it survive, much less thrive, in a place that would strike fear into the trunks of virtually any other trees?

It turns out that the bristlecone pine has evolved survival strategies that help it to cope with one of the most austere and unfriendly environments on the planet. Methuselah's adaptations include slow growth, extensive roots, disease resistance and small size.

These strategies are the basis of the tree's marathon mentality. And maybe Methuselah has something to teach the church today.

The prophet Isaiah certainly wasn't afraid to look to trees for inspiration. In today's passage, he speaks of God's Word as a force that comes down from heaven like the rain and the snow, bringing refreshment and growth and nourishment to the earth. God's Word always accomplishes its goal, according to the prophet, inspiring us to go out in joy and be led back in peace, and joining our jubilation are mountains and hills that "burst into song," and trees of the field that "clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12).

The cypress tree and the myrtle shrub shall grow up, says the prophet, and they "shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (v. 13). These plants are a sign of the wonderful new things that God is doing in human life -- the days of judgment are over, says Isaiah, and new life is now available to all who repent.

It's probably no accident that the tree growing up in this passage is a cypress. These particular trees were used extensively for shipbuilding in the ancient Middle East, and grew abundantly in the area. Many believe that Noah used cypress wood for the ark -- a vessel that carried faithful people safely through a time of judgment, and delivered them to a place of new life, just like the church today.

So what is the secret of the bristlecone pine? The marathon mentality expressed in the four principles of slow growth, extensive roots, disease resistance and small size.
Slow growth. In many ways, bristlecone pines are like our nation's numerous small churches -- congregations found in remote rural areas, in aging suburban neighborhoods and in decaying urban centers. They are miles from high-growth areas, located in spots that feel rocky and lifeless. Bristlecones have to survive on less than 12 inches of precipitation a year, and most of that falls as snow in winter. In addition, they experience only about six weeks of a warm growing season, and they are rooted in a substance called dolomite, a limestone substrate with few nutrients.

With so little rain from the heavens, so little time to get energy from the sun and so little nutrition to be had from the soil, how do these pine trees grow?

Very slowly. A bristlecone may add to its girth no more than an inch per century. That's perfectly acceptable, and it serves as an excellent survival strategy for many 21st -century congregations as well. We shouldn't feel insecure when our membership growth doesn't match that of some booming megachurches. A modest increase every year has served the Methuselah Tree very well for over 4,600 years.

Extensive roots. Trees also know that if they live in challenging environments, then very little competition exists for water and nutrients. They can put down extensive roots and expand their upper branches, maximizing intake of scant resources. Churches that minister in transitional neighborhoods can concentrate on putting down deep roots in their communities, so that they can make the most of the gifts God gives them. By being known as a place where Scripture is faithfully studied and proclaimed, they can take full advantage of God's promise that his Word will not return to him empty. This Word shall accomplish that which God intends, like the rain and the snow which come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth (vv. 10-11).

Disease resistance. A true marathon mentality also includes a strategy for resisting disease. The Methuselah Tree has a dense, highly resinous wood that is a formidable barrier to invasion by insects, bacteria and fungi -- and in similar manner the church is challenged to create barriers to crippling invaders. These can be as simple as financial controls to prevent the theft of church offerings, or as detailed as policies and programs to prevent child sexual abuse in the Christian Education program, or maintaining a strong sense of doctrinal and theological integrity in a culture where it seems to be cool to affirm the theology, even when others may be weakening the theology, so as to attract members.

Small size. Finally, bristlecone pines teach us that small size is one of the greatest of survival strategies. It fact, it is an approach that has allowed certain individual trees to live longer than entire civilizations. When the green part of a tree dies from a lightning strike, for instance, the tree copes by letting an equally significant part of its tissue and bark die as well. This way, the remaining greenery has a smaller total organism to support. Some particularly ancient bristlecones have only a thin strip of living bark left, which sustains a single living branch bearing but a few living twigs and needles.

In a sense, these ancients have gone back to being seedlings. The bristlecone allows most of itself to die, so that a small part of it can live.

Jane and I, and our three little girls had the opportunity to walk through these ancient trees, back in 1979. We noticed that there were no thriving, giant, really healthy trees, but we also realized that there were no totally dead Bristle Cone Pines either. Thus, the point made in the scripture: " ....it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off."

What's the lesson for the church? To allow old and outdated practices and patterns to be eradicated, to die, and be cut from the main trunk, the church, so that new forms of church life can live. To encourage small groups within the church to constantly be in the business of creating additional small groups, so that growth continues and stagnation is averted. To see the success of the church as being measured over the course of millennia, not over days or months or years.

So of the megachurch and the small church, which has the best chance of being around in 100 years? There is evidence that megachurches are suddenly experiencing slower growth rates, due in part to their lack of personal connection and intimacy. Some of them are responding by looking for ways to become more intimate internally -- establishing subgroups, redesigning worship spaces to facilitate conversation and setting up offshoot churches. Small size is one of the bristlecone's greatest secrets, and one of the church's greatest survival strategies. So, even in a larger church, one must create small and intimate groups in order to stay stable and healthy.

In China, the church, though persecuted and oppressed, has survived. When foreign missionaries were expelled, many thought the church would die. But the church, going underground, spread its root system far and wide, went small and remained strong.
If we take these tips from the trees, we'll be an ark of safety in stormy seas and a place of new life in an unfriendly environment. With such a marathon mentality, we'll be able to draw deeply on the gifts of God and join the world of nature in clapping and growing and giving glory to our Creator.

With the same kind of endurance and strength as the bristlecone pine, we'll be able to go out in joy and be led back in peace.