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
Valarie Kaur has written, “Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached our limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love.” I think that’s a perfect summation of our Lenten journey on this Passion Sunday, which is also reflected in this hymn. We start with the joy of a procession of palms into Jerusalem. Then comes the grief of the crucifixion. Maybe we are less able to voice our anger? But suffering, particularly suffering of the innocent, rightly provokes our anger and becomes a catalyst for our enacted love. We cannot, we must not, live only in anger. Just as the joy of Palm Sunday turns to the anguish of Good Friday and the profound silent absence of Holy Saturday, we come around again to the wonder of Easter Sunday. All of which are gifts from our God who is Love Incarnate.
Prayer
Gracious God, loving God, creating God, suffering God, spirit God—hear our prayer as we walk alongside Jesus in this profound journey. Open our hearts, augment our hearing, deepen our perception, and draw us into your embodied love, that we might in turn share it into our families, our communities, those we fear, those we hate, and the entire Earth, which shouts for joy at your Creative goodness. Amen.