2 Timothy 4:11 – “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”
Our world sees people as “utilities,” something to be used and exploited for the good of others.
The factory worker bolts frames together. He is another machine alongside the metal and motors.
An office worker is useful only as long as they “produce” something. Their productivity defines their usefulness.
But that dehumanizes people, for most cannot see the true worth of all people. That is the point of the story of The Useless Tree.
A carpenter went to a forest to select a tree for lumber.
He saw many.
Many were tall and straight.
But the largest of the forest was old and impressive, though the winds had beaten it through the centuries, leaving its branches gnarled.
He stopped at the tree and pronounced it “a worthless tree.” Instead, he took the young and straight.
That night in a dream, the old tree appeared to him.
“Are you comparing me to those useful trees you selected?” the tree asked.
The tree went on to point out how the fruit trees and timber trees were ravaged.
But the tree knew why he survived.
“If I had been of some use, would I ever have grown this large?”
And the tree draws a hard line between “useful” and worthiness. “What’s the point of this — things condemning things? You are a worthless man, for you will die. How do you know that I am a worthless tree?”
What the man had not seen was that by growing tall and large, with its branches curled and its bark scarred, the animals of the forest found respite from the heat. It provided the shade needed for so many, all of which the carpenter had missed.
I think of all the people in the New Testament who did not seem to have a function.
There were Pauls, Peters, and Johns.
But there was the man who brought the donkey for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem. What was his name? Or Dorcas, who did nothing but sew clothes. Who thought she was important?
But the one I am most fond of is John Mark.
A man who turned tail and went home when the going was tough. He left Paul and Barnabas in the lurch. Paul refused to let him come on another trip again. He, as the carpenter had done, called him worthless.
But Paul softened. Mark was not useless. In the twilight of Paul’s life, he wrote Timothy: “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:11)
No one is useless. The next time you are feeling like you have nothing to give, remember that old tree who gave so much that no one saw.
- Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
