Introduction
There have been some big changes in our sanctuary since last Sunday. What catches your attention the most? For some it is the glow of the advent wreath candles, or the arrangements in the windows but for me, hands down, it’s the tree. For my money there is nothing like a tree. When I was young, I probably spent as much time climbing trees as I did walking around on the ground beneath them. There are few things on this earth as wonderful as their cooling shade when the sun beats down and threatens to melt us with its heat. I have always been intrigued that just when we need most the cool, the trees generously share their canopy with us and when we need most the sun against the winter cold, the leaves are gone so the sun can warm the ground and those who walk on it
My shelves are filled with books, all of them once alive with bark and leaves now, they have become the tablet of our ideas, filling our Bibles and hymnals, filling coloring books and making marriage license – paper is what we read and it is what guides us when we are willing to consult a map but all of this was once alive and growing.
And so I understand why – but almost makes me ill when I see pulpwood trucks clear cutting land- almost as if I have lost some ancient members of my family – and I don’t need you to explain to me about land management or renewable resources, I am just saying, I prefer to see the trees.
The only time I really want to see a tree meet its end, is if it can be in a fire that I can sit beside- We have a fireplace at the parsonage – and it is one of those wonderful things, where you just turn a dial and a flame appears and heats up the house in a hurry and stays on as long as we pay the gas bill – but really – with all its convenience – it cannot touch a real fire – I know they are messy and can be dangerous and require a lot more work – but the smell and the crackle and pop – you lose something in the translation to a gas fireplace – looks like wood – looks like fire – but it does not touch my soul
Yes, in all the ways in which they touch our lives, there is some mystical, almost magical about trees. We are drawn to them. Perhaps there is something in our spiritual DNA that remembers the tree as significant. How appropriate it is to start Advent with a tree because the tree is exactly where ADVENT begins. (Read all Genesis chapter 3)
When you look at the story of where we came from and how we came to be the people that we are today you are left with at least a couple of observations about the events in the Garden: That either God was taken by surprise by all this, Or He wasn’t. Either he was awakened suddenly by an angel and told of the emergency in the garden, or he completely saw this coming.
Now on the side of being surprised, you can make a good argument. There is a rule and it is serious and God was certainly not winking when he said stay away from the tree. When He shows up and there is an investigation into what happened and there is punishment handed out. So it would be easy to say that He was shocked when this man this woman and this serpent pull one over on him. And I might be willing to take it just that way, except for the tree. Like I said, I love trees, but this one, this one in the garden, I might have thought we could do without. But I think this tree is the primary piece of evidence that God was not the least bit taken by surprise at Adam and Eve’s action.
There are I think, four things about this tree that argue against not only God not being surprised, but in fact, that this tree and the choices made there being a part of the plan the whole time. I think that this tree was always supposed to be a part of the story, here are my four reasons why.
First it is PRESENT. We have no problem saying that God put every other tree in the garden, and if He did, then He also put this tree here too, but why? Why is it here? If the tree was not going to be a part of the story from the start then why even include it at all. If you have young children – or grandkids or teach them you know that you don’t put a cookie in front of them and say – Now Don’t Touch THIS! You are asking for problems Did he not do this on purpose? This tree is placed here by God and it is done on purpose and with purpose. It is part of all that God said was good. I think that God always meant that the tree would be a part of the story, because, He himself, includes it.
But aside from it’s being Present, look at the PLACEMENT. Where is this tree? Well according to the story it is in the middle. Wait, why not put it outside the garden, or in some corner where it would not be noticed. Why did God not place it on a high mountain so it could not be reached without days of effort and time to think about the choice and perhaps abandon the idea all together. I know there have been some things in my life, I wish he had moved out of my way. Some ideas, temptations, choices, that if they had just been further away or out of sight, maybe I would not have surrendered to them.
I do not know how big the garden was – as big as the church or bigger, the town or bigger, the state or bigger – I don’t know what shape it was – I only know one thing – that at the heart, at the VERY CENTER of the garden is a tree – It was a landmark – there were parts of the garden further from each other than they were from the tree – WHY PUT IT IN THE MIDDLE ? It was in a place where they were constantly being confronted by it, IF IT WAS NOT GOING TO BE A PART OF THE STORY, then why is it at the heart of the Garden.
Next think about PROTECTION. The minute all this goes wrong, God has no problem at all keeping them from the other tree, the Tree of Life. Why not keep them from that first one? Why did God not put up a fence or a sign or an angel with a flaming sword? Maybe at least a snake proof barrier to keep the serpent out. A “No Trespassing” sign - “Keep OFF” – signed God. No, there is no protection, there is no barrier, there is nothing to keep them from this tree at all. Why not? Because, He plans for them to be able to get to it, is the only answer. Some would say, well, He gave His word, that was supposed to be enough. I agree, it should have been enough, but it is not enough for us, why would it be enough for them. When God wants people not to get to something, He can arrange it, but this time He does not.
Finally, consider this tree’s RELATIVES. My biggest problem with this tree is that it had more relatives outside the garden than it did inside. The world that God made outside the garden was bigger than the world inside the garden. Who did He make that world for, unless, He always knew that there would be a time when it was needed. I don’t know how big the garden was, I am sure someone has figured that out, but I do know that God made the garden as one tiny spot in a great big world. Clearly, he knew someone would live there eventually.
So am I saying that this was just a set up? Did God mean for them to fail? I don’t think it has to mean that. These two people still had a choice. But really that is my point with all this tree talk, THEY HAD A CHOICE
Because a house with no exits is a prison and God was not making captives but children. People who are chained together are not family, they are slaves. God was not after mindless droids who could not think, or love, or decide for themselves.
If the object was to make people, people who were loved Him because they chose to do so rather than were forced to, they have to have the choice not to. If His family has free will then there has to be an option, some way to say NO. God was not trying to make captives or slaves but children and family. They have to be able to leave, to reject the offer of fellowship with God. The tree is the option to God himself, it is the other choice. They can choose the tree or the God who made it but not both. The Tree, that first advent tree is the door out of the garden.
For A Holy GOD to be able to be with people whose will is both free and weak – then they have to be able to leave and there has to be a door back in too – but that is another tree
He made all there was – but these two people and the snake pulled one over on him??? I don’t think so. I don’t think that God was shocked by what they did and I don’t think he is shocked by what we do. Even if no one else had chosen the tree, I would have, I would have eaten the fruit, and so would you. It is not just a story about The Adam’s Family, it is our story too. For we have chosen imperfectly. We have chosen wrongly, picked the wrong tree.
And so Advent, both then and now begins with a tree. A tree beautiful and a tree that asks us to remember that our spiritual forbearers stood here and chose a tree over the one who made it and so have we. It invites us to remember that God was not surprised by our choice, in fact, it may have been a part of the plan all the while. For when we have gone astray, wandered and taken, and listened to the snake, we have not derailed God’s plan, we have become a part of it. The problem in the garden was not the tree, the problem was what we did with it. The problem in life is not temptation, but what happens next.
God has to offer a doorway out of the garden for love to be authentic. God has to offer a door back in for love to be redemptive, but that is another tree.
