There in God’s Garden (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 342)
1 There in God’s garden
stands the Tree of Wisdom,
Whose leaves hold forth
the healing of the nations:
Tree of all knowledge,
Tree of all compassion,
Tree of all beauty.
2 Its name is Jesus,
name that says, “Our Savior!”
There on its branches see
the scars of suff’ring
See there the tendrils
of our human selfhood
feed on its lifeblood.
3 Thorns not its own
are tangled in its foliage;
Our greed has starved it,
our despite has choked it.
Yet, look! It lives!
Its grief has not destroyed it
nor fire consumed it.
4 See how its branches
reach to us in welcome;
Hear what the Voice says,
“Come to me, ye weary!
Give me your sickness,
give me all your sorrow,
I will give blessing.”
5 This is my ending,
This my resurrection;
Into your hands,
Lord, I commit my spirit.
This have I searched for;
Now I can possess it.
This ground is holy.
6 All heav’n is singing,
“Thanks to Christ whose
passion offers in mercy
Healing, strength, and pardon.
Peoples and nations,
Take it, take it freely!”
Amen! My Master!
Text: Király Imre von Pécselyi; Music K. Lee Scott.
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
A wealth of metaphor invites our contemplation in the opening verse of our Lenten theme hymn. The “tree in God’s garden” of course leads us back to Genesis, to the story of creation and the sadness unleashed in by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. But quickly that “tree” stands in a different garden, and now has become a tree of Wisdom, healing, knowledge, compassion, and beauty. We wonder, “How can this be?”
The Apostle Paul offers one answer as he writes to the Corinthians about the cross of Jesus as the demonstration of the mystery of God’s wisdom, in which the power of God appears through the appearance of weakness. (1 Corinthians 1-2)
In this opening verse, our hymn invites us to enter into reflection on the mystery of this way of the cross as we follow on our Lenten journey. In its special way, the words and the music invite us to a mode of reflection that moves our heart beyond fear to the insights of faith and trust in the power of God that comes to us in mercy and compassion.
Prayer
God of Wisdom and Compassion, you invite us to ponder the way of salvation as it moves on the way of the cross. May we behold with wonder and trust the beauty of your love in Jesus. Amen.