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
This hymn text comes to us from the Reformation in Hungary, written by Király Imre von Pécselyi in the early 1600s. It captures the essence of the Good Friday liturgy. The cross is the tree of death, but it is also the tree of life. This liturgy is not a “funeral for Jesus” nor a re-enactment of the crucifixion nor a reading and reflection on the seven last words of Jesus, but rather a prayer. Our worship doesn’t take us back two thousand years to relive the crucifixion but rather, the tree and its branches, the cross, directs us to the many places in our neighborhood and world where Christ is being crucified today. The cross always points us to the suffering of Christ in our own society. The tree of wisdom—the tree in the garden (of Eden)—is also the cross, sign of hope.
Prayer
O God, through the cross, you place us once again in the garden. Open our hearts to see you in the suffering neighbor around us. Move us to act. Amen.