July 1, 2009 - The red apple invites stones

     Every fruit-bearing apple tree that I have ever known has always had one thing in common with all the others. This commonality is in the fact that the biggest, brightest, juiciest, and most cherished apple is always at the very top of the tree, unreachable by boys, a tiny target for a rock, too high up for a stick, and tempting beyond belief. From miles around, you can visit any apple tree that is in season, and the apple you want is always the one at the top.
In reality, the other apples, the low-hanging fruits, are perfectly delectable and juicy. There is nothing wrong with an apple you can reach and nothing wrong with an apple that is available. However, for young boys who have been dutifully damming up a creek or building forts out of corn stalks or rolling down grassy hills or riding bikes all over creation, who stand gazing at the luscious top fruit with sweat-trails streaking down their dirty faces and their bare torsos all the way to their bare feet, that apple up at the top is the prize that must be had. All manner and amount of effort and energy is justified to achieve that one goal that tauntingly hangs just up there where only bird and angel can live.
     Tree-shaking is the first order of business. Boys perched halfway up on strategic and precarious limbs, boys down below with firm grasps of the trunk, and boys out on the edge limbs ready to pull and heave, work together as a team to disengage that booty on high. But, the booty only taunts the failing tree up-rooters and the apple remains barely shaken as the wiry and fibrous tree endures and emerges unscathed. Shaking will not loosen the grip of the stipule and the grand champion apple remains in place and survives.
     Rocks are the next order of business, and with great piles mounded at various stations on one side of the tree, the bombardment begins. Field stones are heaved and lobbed with nary a direct hit. A miniscule few dimple the apple, but none are correctly aimed to dislodge it. When the stone piles are depleted, the boys, resembling ant soldiers on a mission of mercy, gather the once-used stones on the other side of the tree, and the barrage continues. In the end, the bonafide golden fleece resembles the “Old Glory” of Frances Scott Key: battleworn and showing the signs of encounter but proudly perched none-the-less.
     Why is the best apple always on top? Why is our interest targeted on that which is seemingly out of our possible reach? Why do we want that which we cannot reach? Why do we want to bring down the proud and the honorable?
     An old adage reminds us that “The red apple invites stones.” Truly, this is an accurate statement. The high, glistening, unreachable, soaring, and beautiful always attracts us and causes us to desire a great downfall. The pure, lofty, and virtuous will always raise the ire of the lesser world – which will finally use all force to bring down anything possessed of integrity. The noticeably virtuous will always be vulnerable to attackers.
     When stones are being thrown at you from below, it is because your radiance and demeanor have become an implicating witness to the base and counterfeit nature of those who can only find peace when they can have your character as their prize. When stones are being thrown at you, it is because you stand for all that others would aspire to be, if only they had the courage, strength, and stamina required to surrender to the purpose that is only attained by complete and highest allegiance.
     No one will ever long be satisfied with the low-hanging fruit. The low fruit is easily reachable and can be had for a pittance. We, as Christians, only aspire to that which is lofty, and as Christians, can only be had by the grace of Jesus Christ. The result of our high aspiration is often the contempt of those who gaze at our sanctification from below, and who long for the prize but lack the willful surrender and acceptance of the grace of Jesus Christ. Aspire to the redeeming and exalted place of grace, and be ready for all that the world will throw at you.
Rev. Dan Martin is pastor of First UMC, Hendersonville. He can be reached at moose1953@hotmail.com