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
“Its grief has not destroyed it, nor fire consumed it.” When Moses encountered God at Sinai, it was in a burning bush, on fire but the fire did not consume it. Moses fell on his face, not daring even to look at the holiness of God, lest the fire consume him, too. Yet Moses was commanded to rise and hear what God had to say through the burning bush, a message of God’s presence and God’s love. This place was made holy, even as Moses, a mortal and often sinful person, stood in its midst. Sometimes we use the metaphor of fire for those deepest desires that draw us unto God, so that a fire for God is kindled in our hearts. This is a fire that purifies, but does not consume, the fire of God’s love.
Prayer
Kindle in our hearts, O Lord, the longing for your love that will draw us closer to you. Amen.