Frankie Mazzapica - A Conversation with a Tree
Thank you for tuning in today. My name is Frankie Mazzapica, the title of today's message is, "A Conversation with a Tree". "A Conversation with a Tree". It's gonna be an allegory that I kinda put together this week. In my head, when we, I was putting this together, I was like, "This is gonna be a good message".
Now, we gotta find out if it was just good... Have you ever said something out loud, and you're like, "In my head, that was funny"? But I really believe that this is going to encourage you. But we'll find out if what in my head was accurate. I heard recently what a cognitive test is, by the way. There was a great debate on whether or not certain leaders should take a cognitive test. And I was sitting there, and they said, you know, "This is what a cognitive test is, for those of you that don't know". And I was like, "I would like to know because I've been hearing a lot about this". And they said, one of the questions is, is that you have to count backwards from 100, and I was like, "I'm acing it", by sevens.
I'm like, "Okay, I'm gonna get fired if I have to take this test to keep my job". Like, it's crazy up here. Some of you guys can do that, and that's awesome. I cannot spell restaurant. Nod at me if you know how to spell restaurant. And, see, I got the 'rest' right, right? I got that down. Rest, and now it's, er, er, whatever. So let's go back to this allegory. Hopefully you understand that it's combobulated up here. Here we go. The conversation with a tree. If we could talk to a tree, I would ask the tree three questions. Number one, "What is it like to live in the winter"? Then I would say, "What is it like to live in the summer"? And then, lastly, we'd have to talk about spring.
So, if I said, "What is it like, Mr. Tree, to live in the winter," he would say, "It is very harsh. Because, during the winters, you have very short days and very long nights. It's dark most of the time. I don't see clearly very much during this season. Everything just seems dark. When I'm trying to make a decision I don't know if I'm supposed to take, right? If I'm supposed to take a left or I'm supposed to go straight, everything just looks the same to me. It's all black. Nothing's clear. It's cold. The worst part is, I can't bear fruit. It's winter time, no fruit". "And I'm born," this is what the tree would say. "I am born to bear fruit, but I can't bear any".
The tree could look at me and say, "I try as hard as I can. I have a desire to produce fruit. I just can't". And then further the tree could say, "I feel like I am disappointing the one who planted me. He planted me with an excitement that I would bear fruit. So, in the entire season, I'm cold; I can't see; I don't have any direction; I can't bear fruit; I feel like I'm losing; I feel like I'm not contributing; I'm not reaching my full expectation. It's horrible".
Now, what's interesting is that this exact tree is described in the Bible. Jesus tells a parable where it says a farmer planted a tree in his garden. He came out again and again. He came out one season and then to the next season, and there was no fruit. "And he was," Bible says this, "he was very disappointed". This is the disappointment a tree feels. Now, you see the obvious parallels. When you're in a winter season, nothing is happening that causes you to feel fulfilled. In fact, you feel the exact opposite. You're just in a dark place, nothing's going on. That's good. And so, if I were to say to the tree, "Well, what do you do"? The tree would just say, "I gotta wait it out. I'm not trash; I'm not horrible; I don't need to be cut down and burned. I'm just in a winter season, and I gotta wait it out".
Sometimes, when nothing is going well, you gotta tell yourself, "I'm not useless. I'm not a failure. I'm not an underachiever. I'm in a winter, and I just gotta wait it out". Are you with me? If you've ever been in a hurricane, what are you gonna do? Gonna wait it out. Sometimes you have to out-wait your enemy. Have you ever had somebody that you just don't like? You can't rent a U-Haul for them and help them move; I've tried it. What are you gonna do? You gotta wait it out. I'm gonna, you're a liar, and I'm gonna wait until you stop lying. I can't make you stop lying. I'm gonna have to wait it out. I got a friend in my life that's making my life incredibly difficult. Well, what are you gonna do about it? I'm gonna have to just wait it out.
God has used me so many times in my life. He's not using me now. I don't feel like he's using me now. What are you gonna do about it? I guess I'm just gonna wait it out. See, some people don't know how to wait it out. They end up dying in the winter. Trees die in the winter. Faith dies in the winter, everything's dark, everything's black. I don't know if you're gonna, I don't, I don't know. I don't know. And the faith dies. Relationships die. No, the relationship is good; you're just in a winter; just hold on. Just wait it out. The season will change. You're grown. You're not in the fourth grade, you're grown. You know that life moves in seasons. Wait it out.
Hey, do you remember Mr. Jones? He used to sit right over there in the church. Yeah, where is he? It's tough; I haven't seen him in a long time. Mr. Jones, learn to wait it out. Don't run; don't run from the church. You know, the Bible says this, it's in Psalms 27, verse 4, David said this, "I love to go to the house of the Lord because it's where his glorious presence dwells". If you read about David, he was depressed and down and running from an enemy most of his life. And what is he saying? "I love to come to the house of the Lord and wait it out".
Devil, I know you're after me, but I'm waiting it out. I don't feel like I'm producing much for you, God, but I'm just gonna wait it out. I feel like a loser, but this is just season. I'm gonna wait it out. Everybody say, "Wait it out". Gotta wait it out. Just say, "Hey, I'm in a winter. I'm waiting it out". You know, winters can last a long time. You don't have to tell me, I can tell you about that. Wait it out. Mr. Tree, "What's it like in the summer"? "Summer, summer is not much better either. Now we got longer days, that's good. The nights are shorter, but the days are so hot".
They say, "Come here, come closer, Frankie. Look at these leaves. There's like a hole, there's holes in my leaves; I'm getting scorched. And look at the bark around me; there's parts of the bark that's just, it's like a white line going up the trunk. And these bugs and worms, they come out, and they bite, and, anytime I try to produce fruit, these bugs and worms start eating the fruit away. Yeah, they try to grab an apple, and they gotta look at it, make sure there's not a worm in there. These, summers are hard, too. It's the worms and bugs, sneak up on me".
You know, if you wanted to be honest, could you look at a friend in your life and say, "Your name, it's not Michael, your name's not Michael. Your name is Mr. Worm. You're a worm, Mr. Worm, Mrs. Worm". Everyone's got a Mr. or Mrs. Worm. All they do is just kinda creep; they're so slow and stealthy. You ever watch a worm move? It's so slow. They kind of just, like, if you blink three times, they'll still be where they were. They're slow. But what do they do? They eat the fruit; they eat the stem; they eat the bark.
I went to, I was in Mexico a couple of years ago, and I noticed that, on their palm trees, there was, they had white paint up about 4 feet up the trunk. And I couldn't take it anymore; I'm like, "Why are they painting all these palm trees"? And they said, "Well, if we put paint on it", it's probably not paint, but it looks like paint. "If we put that paint on it, then the bugs won't come to the trunk; they'll stay away; it won't bite into it". I'm like, "Oh, okay". And I kept that in my head. "That's interesting. Maybe I need to go home and, like, start painting things, my house, everything else". But we gotta be careful of these little bugs and worms.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he goes, "Man, I just screwed up so bad. I just messed up so, so, so bad". I was like, "Well, tell me about it". And he goes, "Well, I got this buddy of mine, and he just kept, like, 'Come on, let's go do this, let's go do this, let's go do this.'" And he goes, "And I haven't done that in years, man. I'm like, I don't mess with, like, I'm, I live for God. I don't mess with that stuff. I live for God". And he goes, "He just kept pulling on me". And he goes, "Finally, I did it and just screwed everything up. I can't believe I did this".
And I said, "Look, that guy is not your friend". I said, "Do not tell me his name because I might know him. But, I'm just telling you, he's not your friend". I got, there's a preacher that I heard about recently, and I listened to him say it from the pulpit; he goes, "I was at a restaurant, and I'm sitting there with my friend, and the waitress comes up, and she starts flirting with me, and she, like, gives me her phone number. Because I got a wedding ring on.
And, so, we close out the check, and I left, and I got to thinking about it. That lady doesn't like me. She's not into me. She hates me. She can't stand me, and she hates me because there's something about me, she's like, 'I'm gonna mess your entire life up. I see that you're married, I'm gonna destroy your marriage. I'm gonna destroy the woman that's waiting for you. Come on, I'm gonna destroy your kids. Come be with me for 24 hours so I can ruin your entire life.' How much does this woman hate me to wanna do that? To destroy my kids's life, my grandkids life? How much does she hate me"? These are the bugs and the worms that come up into our life. They just kind of creep in.
See, there's a living room in your life, okay? There's a living room. This is your safe place; this is where you wait out the storm; this is your safe place. And now you got a porch, wherever you live, you have a porch. When an Amazon person comes, ding, ding, open the door, "Thank you so much". That guy's not coming in the living room. "Thank you so much". You take a picture with the package, now, they don't go to the living room. See, there's some people that's in your living room that, they're worms. They are fun; they're good looking; they're cool; they're pretty, but they're worms. If they weren't cool, awesome, and pretty, you wouldn't like them. If they didn't make you laugh, you wouldn't like them.
The enemy doesn't send worms into your life that look like a worm. "You wanna go jump off a bridge"? No! Are you with me? They send people that, they can just creep. And you gotta say, "You have been in my living room. Now you're on my porch". Now, you don't go up and tell them that. But you ever so slowly begin to build that distance until a new normal begins to set in because you don't let worms in your living room. Are you with me? Say, "Yes". "So, Mr. Tree, you got these winters where you can't bear any fruit. You got these summers where the fruit that you are trying to produce is being eaten up by people or these thoughts".
I don't have time to go into that. "You gotta be discouraged all the time". Tree would look back at me and go, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we can't continue this conversation if we don't start talking about springtime". "You're right; I'm sorry; I almost forgot. Tell me about the springtime". He goes, "Oh, springtime is awesome. It's not too hot, it's not too cold. It's, the breeze is nice, and I get to bear fruit. I'm bearing fruit like crazy. I got watermelons hanging off my branches. I got fruit". I know, I know; watermelons don't come off branches, making sure you're awake out there.
"I bear fruit everywhere. You can hardly see green leaves because it's covered by red apples. It's the best season ever, but it's a sad season". "Why not"? He goes, "'Because most trees never make it to the spring; they never make it. Because they didn't know how to wait, they became spiritual casualties and died. They didn't know how to identify a worm. They thought the worm loved them, and they didn't. And so now, though they've, you can still see them, they're casualties, and they don't have any fruit. And so it's sad". And I would say back, "Tell me about the fruit. Like, what's it like to have fruit"?
The tree would say back to me, he goes, "It's hard to explain because, if you're looking from the outside in, you can't understand it. But, if you're on the inside looking out, you can't explain it". See, you cannot explain fruit unless you've experienced it. How do you describe to somebody what it's like to bite into a watermelon? If you've never bitten into a watermelon, you have no idea how to describe a watermelon. You can't explain it. Well, is it like an apple? No. Is it like an orange? No, it's kind of like an orange and an apple, but it tastes like neither one of them, like... are you with me?
The fruit that you receive as the reward of getting through the winter, getting through the summer, the reward that you get is a spiritual fruit that many of us have heard so many times, we just block it out. It's in Galatians chapter 5, verse 22; it says this, "The fruit of the Spirit..." this is a reward that you receive; watch this, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control". Okay, when we hear that, we're like, "Now, that's the scripture you're supposed to read at weddings," and we just run through it, "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, da da da".
Whoa, slow down. If I'm gonna endure a winter, if I'm gonna start kicking people out of my life, I need you to go a little bit slower on the rewards. I need you to go a little bit slower on the fruits that we're gonna receive. The Bible says this; it's in Leviticus chapter 26, verse 3, I believe; no, 26, verse 4; it says this, "In its proper season, the Lord will send the rain so that the ground will produce crops and the trees its fruit". So, at the proper time, not during the winter, not during the summer, but, at this time, at this moment. It's kind of like, you're just enduring it, and then all of a sudden you realize the weather just changed. It's like, "Wow, this is something. I feel like God's using me. I feel like there's fruit".
Let's talk about the fruit. Love. When you just say love, joy, peace, patience, it just kinda rolls together. But, if you just grab the first one... My son had a high school teacher last year; I guess she, I don't know, she's, English class or something like that. And her name was Julie, and it was so interesting because, after class, no students wanted to leave the classroom. They just wanted to hang out with Miss Julie. Miss Julie is, like, I don't know, mid-50s, maybe. No one wanted to leave because she loved the Lord so much. Every single kid called her mom.
Think about the teenagers today, a classroom of 30 kids from all different backgrounds, all different races, different economic classes, nobody wants to leave. They're all calling her mom. How does that happen, where someone has a group of people that just want to be around them all the time? I just wanna be around you. I don't know what it is. I just feel loved and cared for when you're here. Guess what? I know what church Julie goes to, and I know she's been going to church for a long time, and I know she's learned how to just wait it out, and I know she's kicked people out of her life.
The reward is, people want to be around her because they feel loved. She feels loved. People is coming in and going out, coming in, going out. Oh, my goodness. Thank God Julie was willing to wait it out. That is a gift, that is fruit that not everybody gets. And we're only on the first one on the list. Love, joy, peace, patience, go. We just talked about love. I don't have the time to go through the whole list, but let's just dance around the second one for, just for a second. Love, joy. Oh, my goodness.
I was at a grocery store the other day, and the lady's like, "Hey, hey," bread, milk, beep, beep, beep. And she's like, "How are you"? And I'm like, "Actually, not good because I haven't had electricity, and I can't, I'm freezing, and I'm hot and then I'm cold and I'm sweating. How are you"? "It's so good to see you," beep, beep. I'm like, "Do you know there's a hurricane going on"? Da da da da da da da.
Have you ever been in a bad mood, and someone else is in a good mood? It's like, I'm not a morning person, but, when I get around people who are a morning person, I'm like, "I don't wanna be... go away"! But I'm talking to her, and I'm like, "You are so full of joy. You live in the same area I'm in. You're in the same hurricane I'm in". I actually asked her, "Do you have power"? She said, "No".
There's a whole hurricane going around here; you're acting like you're in the Taj Mahal and everything's going fine, and you got a poodle that's shaved, and they got a little ball on the back of its tail, like everything's perfect. "And you don't have power either"? "No, God bless". I'm a pastor; keep it to yourself. This is a gift. These are gifts that change your life. But you gotta be able to wait out the winter; you gotta be able to clean out the worms; and then here comes spring. And spring may not last as long as you want to, but the fruit lasts as long as you're here. Put your hands together for that. Come on, stand up on your feet. Let's give the Lord another standing ovation. Can they? Come on!