Trees

Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20

As a small child I learned to love trees. My family lived in Borneo until I was five years old and so palm trees were my first love. When we moved to Minneapolis I turned my affections toward red maples, pine trees and poplars. The red maple was planted in the front yard of my grandparents’ home and it had one branch that hung low enough that even a grade school child could hoist themselves up. I spent hours hanging from the limbs of that tree. The pine trees lined the forest paths in Maine, the paths where I would walk with my father during our summer visits. To this day the smell of pine still brings back memories of a slow pace, a carefree life and my father. The poplar tree stood tall behind our apartment complex in Apple Valley, Minnesota. As a teenager when I was stressed out or lonely I would go and lie on the grass under the tree and ask God to make it dance. As the wind would pass through its leaves turning them every which way I was assured that God heard my prayers and that maybe he wasn’t as far off as I had thought.

Today we have the opportunity to come together to worship this God who is not far off. We gather to sing songs of praise for what God has made, to hear a message about God’s creation and our call to care for it and to pray for the wisdom and courage to be stewards of all that we have been given. Brain McLaren, author, speaker, pastor and activist will bring the message to us this morning. Author of 11 books, including A Generous Orthodoxy, A New kind of Christian, Everything Must Change, and most recently, Finding Our Way Again, Time magazine lists Brian as one of American's 25 most influential evangelicals. Money back guarantee you’ll be both blessed and challenged by your time in chapel this morning.

Following chapel today we will join together in a Tree Planting Ceremony to honor God’s creation and our commitment to care for it. This ceremony will take place at 11:30 just east of Old Main and all are welcome to join us. I am including the liturgy and prayer that will be spoken as we gather today and invite you to join us in spirit.

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We have come together as partners in the joyful and sacred work of creation—the planting of trees. In our Bible, the tree is a metaphor for the righteous who trust in God and delight in God’s ways. We rejoice today in this planting, offering thanks that this opportunity is ours.

There is an order to this, God’s universe, that is beyond our comprehension. Intricate, delicate, embracing, exquisite—an organic whole more complex than the computer, more profound than the highest tower, more lasting than the mightiest weapon. Only when we stand inside that order can we connect with it, belong to it.

The world of nature was given to us to join with, not to conquer. We enter that world as its caretakers, not as its owners. It is our privilege to be entrusted with its care, with its safekeeping. And only when we keep it safe, are we kept in safety, for we are part of the plan, a link in the connectedness of all its seamless parts.

When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: Look at my works! See how beautiful they are, how excellent! It is your job to care for the animals and plants and waters and earth. Do not destroy it. Do not permit oil to spill into the rivers and oceans, do not destroy the forests, do not poison the groundwater. And do not wound your neighbors, for they, too, are part of the interdependent whole.

Today we have gathered to plant a tree. Each tree absorbs a bit of our pollution, and then transforms it into oxygen, a source of life. Each tree is truly a “tree of life.” We plant in order to give life. We plant in order to sustain life. We plant for the sake of Shalom, seeking the benefit of God’s order, God’s universe, our city, our home.

Each time we plant a tree, it is a reminder of our responsibility. We did not make this world; we are its product, not its producers. But it is ours to enjoy, to explore, and most of all, to protect. We protect it by planting and by remembering, and by connecting, from generation to generation. We plant in order to remember, in order to remind, in order to keep and connect with God’s Creation, our home.

Prayer

God of all creation,
Source of all that is true and lovely and beautiful,
You created the world and all life,
And you said it was good.
You created us in your image,
And gave us the privilege to care for this world.
Forgive us when we have not stewarded this responsibility:
When we have depleted rather than nurtured,
When we have consumed rather than sustained,
When we have destroyed rather than protected.
May we learn to love and protect your universe and our home.
May we learn to join you in the redemption of all creation.
Remind us, each time we pass this tree on campus,
Of our responsibility as stewards of your creation.

Amen.

May you see God clearly today through all that he has made and may you hear him whisper through the wind in the trees that He is not far off.

Pastor Judy