What is the Tree of Life? It’s mentioned in the creation stories of Genesis, but we don’t really have a clue as to what it is, or how it works, or what it means. This morning we investigate that passage and others as we delve into a beautiful symbol that is at the heart of our life as the Church.
You can join us for worship in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online. Worship is live-streamed; videos are available here or on Youtube following the service. You are invited! You are always welcome.
The Tree of Life
Genesis 2:4b-9; Revelation 22:1-5
Union Presbyterian Church
September 29, 2024
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Joan Kellam Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Welcome
Announcements Joan Kellam
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“Shall We Gather at the River,” James Mansfield
©2020, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
* Call to Worship
Heavenly Triune God and Creator of all,
we gather here, made in the image of the Creator,
who created in love.
We gather in the name of the Redeemer, our Savior Jesus Christ,
who reconciles all of Creation.
We gather in the presence of the Life-Giver, your Holy Spirit,
who inspires new life and instills hope.
You gather us to yourself, loving God.
Gather us in!
* Hymn #522 W & R
“Shall We Gather at the River”
(Public Domain)
Shall we gather at the river, where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever flowing by the throne of God?
Yes, we’ll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.
Ere we reach the shining river, lay we every burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver, and provide a robe and crown.
Yes, we’ll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.
Soon we’ll reach the shining river, soon our pilgrimage will cease;
Soon our happy hearts will quiver with the melody of peace.
Yes, we’ll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the throne of God.
* Call to New Life
Let us give thanksgiving for the earth and for all creation, and ask God to help us to be better stewards of this world that is our home.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace
Eternal God, the whole world is full of your glory. We bear forth the anguish of Creation in this time of climate crisis, and we bring it to you. In your grace, grant us the opportunity to do good, as your created co-creators. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you have walked the Earth and lived in our midst. Make us sensitive to the suffering of humankind and the entire creation. Strengthen us in our endeavors to create a life of dignity, in justice and solidarity with those who live and who will live. Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit, power of courage and self-control, you speak to our consciences. Comfort us when we suffer and are plagued by anxiety. Make us worry when we are numb in the calmness of complacency. Re-create us to become what we are: one humanity under the same sky. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Amen.
[Silent Prayer]
* Words of Assurance
The Lord is kind and merciful.
God overflows with steadfast love.
By the love and mercy of God, we are forgiven and made whole!
Thanks be to God! Amen!
* Sharing of the Peace
Imagine yourself resting in the shade of a beautiful tree on a soft autumn day.
Imagine the peace of God filling you, body and soul.
May the peace of God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.
Scripture Genesis 2:4b-9 (NRSVUE)
A responsive reading from the Book of Genesis, beginning at chapter 2, the second half of verse 4.
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no vegetation of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground, but a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground—then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “Thank You, God, for Water, Soil, and Air,” John Weaver
©1990, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Anthem Choir
“Right by the Water,” Hans Peterson
©2007, Dakota Road Music
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
You are a tree right by the water
With roots that came from a small seed.
Drink deep from the source, sons and daughters.
Bear fruit, reach for who you can be.
Come one and all, lost, lonely, poor.
Blest are you; God’s realm is yours.
All hungry souls you will be fed.
All you who weep will laugh instead.
You are a tree right by the water
With roots that came from a small seed.
Drink deep from the source, sons and daughters.
Bear fruit, reach for who you can be.
Christ stands beside, calls out your name:
“I am with you in your pain.”
May living waters make you whole.
May you find peace for your soul.
You are a tree right by the water
With roots that came from a small seed.
Drink deep from the source, sons and daughters.
Bear fruit, reach for who you can be.
The river brings a prophet’s dream:
“Let justice flow like a stream.”
Love has come so all may live.
Inspired we joyfully give.
You are a tree right by the water
With roots that came from a small seed.
Drink deep from the source, sons and daughters.
Bear fruit, reach for who you can be.
Scripture Revelation 22:1-5 (NRSVUE)
A reading from the Book of Revelation, beginning at chapter 22, verse 1.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “The Tree of Life”
First] I recently finished two short books—novellas—of science fiction, a genre I don’t read too often. But these two books were part of something called the “Monk and Robot” series, so… I was interested. They take place on another planet—a moon, really—where the robots have awakened and become aware, and decide to separate themselves from human society, so they go off to live in the wilderness. For their part, the humans have realized that their way of living was unsustainable, so they have made it sustainable. In some ways this is a Eco-Utopian story, but that does not mean life is uncomplicated. In book one, a nonbinary monk named “Dex” meets a robot named “Mosscap,” who has been commissioned by the other robots to go among humans to ask the question, “What do you need?” Dex agrees to be Mosscap’s guide. In chapter three of book two, they are on the road together, on a hot and humid summer day in the Riverlands, Dex pedaling their combination bike-home-trailer, and Mosscap, the robot, walking along, admiring the trees.
[Dex] pedaled along in mild misery, shirt soaked and neck sticky, as they spat away tiny bugs that had hatched into the world only to cut their already fleeting lifespans short by careening directly into Dex’s mouth. Mosscap, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of its life. Summer in the Riverlands meant the Spiced Plum bloom, and the canopy above was bursting with ruffled, purple blossoms. The scent was crisply fragrant and had attracted no shortage of buzzing pollinators. Mosscap had never seen such trees before and appeared to be doing its best to acknowledge each and every one with equal respect. “I don’t understand how you can keep riding past these,” the robot called down the road. Dex knew what they would see in their mirror before they turned an eye to it: Mosscap standing in the middle of the highway, neck craned with awe at the flowered branches, that were exactly like the thousand other flowered branches they’d already passed by.
In this passage, Dex is us: used to the trees, having seen them many times before. All Dex’s wonder at the beauty of the trees, is long-faded. But now, Mosscap is Dex’s traveling companion, and for the robot, the wonder is new and thrilling; its delight in the trees means it must stop and marvel at every branch. Because of this, Dex is starting to relearn what it is to really see the world in which they are living. Among other things, Dex is starting to relearn what they already know about trees. Which is a little bit what this sermon is about this morning. Re-learning about trees.
Today we have heard two tiny slivers of one big story—one from the beginning, and one from the end. In our passage from Genesis, the first book in the Bible, we have observed two monumental moments in the Creation story. First, we witness the creation of the human being: the human, adam, is created from the earth, adamah. The ancient peoples who told these stories around hearths and campfires and before their altars knew instinctively how closely human beings and the earth were connected, how essential the earth was to humanity. We were created from it, whether you subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Genesis stories or you believe that humans evolved from single-cell microbes. In either case, we are of the earth, and the Genesis story tells us that both poetically and linguistically. Adam, adamah. Human, earth.
The other monumental thing that happens here is the naming of two of the trees that are found in Eden, the garden planted by God. One of these is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—that’s the one the whole Adam, Eve, Serpent, Fruit story revolves around. But another tree is named, and this tree is not described or explained until that other tree’s story unfolds. After the act of disobedience, we listen in on God’s reaction.
Then the Lord God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken. ~Genesis 3:22-23
They were sent out to till the ground from which they were taken. Humans, earth. We are connected.
We are connected to trees, as well, in a way most of us have been taught in school, but which is still somewhat invisible to us in day-to-day life. Through the process of photosynthesis, the leaves of trees pull in carbon dioxide and water, and with the help of the sun, they use these to create the sugars that provide food to the tree. At the same time, a byproduct is released: oxygen. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that one large tree can provide a day’s supply of oxygen for up to four people.[i]
We are connected to trees—they provide something essential to our lives. And the ancient peoples of the world—all the ancient peoples, it seems, not just our own religious ancestors—all peoples noted the connection between trees and life, so much so that nearly every ancient culture reveres or even worships a tree of life. Ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonian religion, Urartu religion central Asia, Ancient Iran and its trees as ancestral beings, the divine tree of Hinduism and Jainism… all these religions in some way incorporate the sacredness of trees into their belief and practice. Ancient Chinese mythology had a tree that produced a peach of immortality. Indigenous religions in the Americas and beyond also had trees whose origins were in the heavens and who connected with earth, as well as ancestral trees.[ii] [1] African practices recognize the Baobab tree as a tree of life, with its bark and fruit offering more than 300 life-sustaining uses. The Baobab is considered essential to the African ecosystem.[iii] Every single ancient culture understood the connection between trees and life.
[2] Modern culture has also connected to the Baobab tree. The Tree of Life at Disney World emphasizes the connection between all living beings, and is carved all over with images of animals. [3] In this image, at the top you can find a lion, and at the lower right, an ape. The idea of the Tree of Life connecting humans with all living beings is also found in indigenous cultures.
Fast forward with me now through every story in the Bible, until we find ourselves at the end of its last book, the Revelation to John. One commentator has noted that a lot of Revelation is John being led around to see things with an angel as his tour guide. That is what’s happening in our passage right now, the angel showing John the end of all things and yet, at the same time, the beginning. One of my seminary professors liked to remind us that the Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. And what a city! The New Jerusalem is enormous—something like 1,500 miles in each direction—and the presence of God is everywhere. God is so present that we cannot help seeing and hearing and feeling and even smelling and tasting God’s presence. There is no more Temple, for God will no longer be locked away in our churches or our books. There is a pearly gate, but no one is in charge of letting people in or keeping people out: the gate is left standing wide open to all who will come.
[Last] And let me tell you about the tree—the Tree of Life. There is a river flowing from God’s throne, and it flows through the city. The tree is on both sides of the river, which, in my imagination, means that it is growing right out of the river. The river has twelve kinds of fruit, and so we have a tree that produces a different fruit each month, when that fruit is in season. There is enough for everybody. The Tree of Life is the source of life, not just in the future, or in heaven, or in some other pie in the sky in the by and by scenario, but in the present, on earth, for the people, now. And the leaves of the tree—those very same leaves that give us the air that we breathe—are for the healing of the nations. Which nations, you might ask? The short answer is, everyone we think is on the outside of this sacred moment, time, and place. Everyone whom we imagine has no right to be there, because they’re bad, or they don’t recognize Jesus, or fall short of glory according to some other judgment we’ve made. The tree is for everyone who has already wandered through those pearly gates, and also for everyone who is still on the road, seeking it. We can’t lock God in, and we can’t shut God’s children out.
The Tree of Life, it turns out, is every tree, because every tree is a part of the ecosystem that gives us life. The Tree of Life is also a part of the great story of God and God’s people, and God’s creating us in love, by love, and for love. The heart of the scene of the New Jerusalem is something that is completely attainable by human beings with God’s help in the world we live in. It is a vision of our connection to one another. It is a vision of God’s presence, which is always with us. And it is a vision of God’s provision for us, in all seasons. We are never alone.
In 2019, the idea of a Tree of Life banner was hatched by creative members of UPC—it was the year of our Bicentennial, and it seemed a good symbol for our community. The meaning of this banner has deepened and grown for me, in the five years since. We are all on this tree, because we have all entered our own wide-open pearly gates and thrown in our lot along with the spiritual descendants of the 14 founders whose names are all there too. Our Tree of Life is about life here and now, in this community, and our life as it has been in the past, as well as about the life ahead of us as, together, we continue to seek to walk the path to which Jesus has invited us.
Today we have heard two tiny slivers of one big story—one from the beginning, and one from the end—the end of the storytelling, that is. This is not the end of the story. By its very nature, the Tree of Life lives on—in our remembering and recounting the ancient stories; in our present-day use of this symbol to represent this community of faith; and in the unknown future, in which we trust God will continue to guide us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Joanna Mounce Stancil, U. S. Forest Service, “The Power of One Tree – The Very Air We Breathe,” USDA Blog, March 17, 2015. https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2015/03/17/power-one-tree-very-air-we-breathe#:~:text=Through%20a%20process%20called%20photosynthesis,and%20released%20by%20the%20tree.
[ii] “Tree of Life,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life.
[iii] Lindsey Jean Schueman, “African baobab tree: how one plant creates an entire habitat,” One Earth, May 30, 2024. https://www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-african-baobab-tree/#:~:text=The%20magnificent%20baobab%20tree%20(Adansonia,%2C%20'The%20Tree%20of%20Life..
* Statement of Faith A New Creed, The United Church of Canada (1968)
We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
* Hymn #40 W & R
“For the Beauty of the Earth”
(Public Domain)
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For thyself, best gift divine,
To the race so freely given;
For that great, great love of thine,
Peace on earth and joy in heaven.
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Prayer Response #489 W & R
“Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” Ken Medema
©1973, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace.
Call for Offering
* Doxology
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” Brian Wren
©1989, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Praise God, in Jesus fully known:
Creator, Word, and Spirit one.
* Prayer of Dedication
* Hymn #710 W & R
“The Trees of the Field,” Stuart Dauermann, Steffi Geiser Rubin
©1975, Lillenas Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
(Sing twice:)
You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth before you;
There’ll be shouts of joy, and all the trees of the field
Will clap, will clap their hands.
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands,
The trees of the field will clap their hands,
The trees of the field will clap their hands
While you go out with joy.
* Benediction
May God bless us. May God keep us in the Spirit’s care,
and lead our lives with love.
May Christ’s warm welcome shine from our hearts,
and Christ’s own peace prevail through this and every day,
till greater life shall call. Amen.
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“Like a River Glorious,” Joel Raney
©1998, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.
“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal
The Call to Worship was adapted from a prayer of the World Council of Churches, Eco-School at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, Greece, November 11-18, 2023. The Prayer for Wholeness and Peace was adapted from Prayer for the Climate from the Bishops’ Letter for the Climate, Church of Sweden. These resources were compiled in the Season of Creation Celebration Guide by the Ecumenical Committee for the Season of Creation, 2024.