A Creation Story like no other...

At St. Paul's, we are spending a few weeks examining the great "forgotten tree" of the Bible, at least as far as Christians are concerned. Genesis chapter one says that when God created the garden, God placed in the center of the garden, "...the Tree of Life, and there was also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." As I said in my introductory sermon two weeks ago, Christianity has been preoccupied with the other tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree is blamed in the great faith fable for the "fall" of humanity, by yielding a forbidden fruit that, when eaten, stripped away human innocence and set in motion a cascade of events that left us out, looking in. In the Christian narrative, Jesus Christ comes to redeem humankind from the sin that separates us from God. Thanks to this central story of the Christian faith, we have mostly forgotten about the other tree in the garden.

The Tree of Life is a nurturing tree! It is a tree under which we can live out our faith and our lives, a tree that provides shelter and shade, and is large enough to beckon all to come thrive under its branches. It is a tree that shows up in the apocalyptic literature in the last chapter of the Bible, where it is said, "...and its leaves are for the healing of the nations." That, my friends, is about as inclusive as it gets--the healing of the nations!

I don't think I am alone in believing that the "fruit" of this tree is not reserved for the end of days. Through the love of God, particularly for us as demonstrated in Jesus Christ, this delectable fruit is available now and for all and forever. If one reads the Gospels with this tree in mind, one can imagine Jesus saying from the cross, "OK, you are forgiven. Now get over it and start living under the Tree of Life!" Jesus' teachings and parables clearly are a primer for what life looks like under this tree--in the goofy parlance of our day, the alternative tree.

Life under the Tree of Life is inclusive, loving, peace-giving, forgiving, transforming, uplifting, edifying, encouraging, motivating, and has an extreme "love thy neighbor as thyself" quality to it. It isn't racist, sexist, or disparaging of other faiths seeking God's truth. No one starves under this tree, for there is no end to the nourishing fruit. This tree is NOT a "zero sum game" whereby if I get what I need or want, you can't have what you need or want. This tree provides shelter for everyone who seeks shelter. And its roots go to the very foundation of the creation.

Genesis begins by saying "God created," moves to "let the earth bring forth," and finally to "let US create," wherein humanity is made in the "image of God." I don't think this means we look like God, but maybe more that we can behave like God (or like Jesus, for the Christian)--loving, accepting, creating, always hopeful, and working for a victorious "allee, allee, in-free" ending.

Is there a catch? Yes. We have to cultivate the ground under the Tree of Life. We have to make sure we don't poison its soil, and assure that it is amply watered, and not with acid rain or suffocated with carbon monoxide. The Genesis text literally says that we are to "master" the earth (not "subdue" it, like some bad translations have it). "Mastering" it is more like what a master gardener does, or a master plumber, or someone who wins "The Masters' Tournament" in golf. Mastering the earth means being the best stewards of it we possibly can, and helping it thrive and grow, co-creating with God and the earth to continue to bring forth life. If the Tree of Life dies, guess who else does?

Why have Christians been so hung up on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Why have we so "missed" or neglected the Tree of Life, which is at the beginning in the Genesis narrative, and which will be at the center of the garden in the "new heavens and new earth" of Revelation? If these are scriptural bookends, might we not be better off living between them, and under God's great Tree of Life? Shalom, Dear Ones...