The Purpose of Trees

Scripture — Genesis 2:8-9 (NRSV)

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.

Devotion

I love trees. I have for as long as I can remember. When I was very young my family and I camped in Yosemite National Park. There I delighted in thousands of lush pine trees, not to mention the towering giant sequoia redwoods. As a boy, I loved it when my family drove our car through the base of the world-famous Wawona Tree, through which a tunnel had been cut in 1881. Unfortunately, such damage to the tree contributed to its fall in 1969, with a heavy load of snow on its crown. Even at that time, I thought it would have been better to have enjoyed the awesome grandeur of that tree without turning it into a tourist attraction.

I realize this may at first sound rather odd, but part of God’s purpose for trees is that they be enjoyed. I say this, not just because I love looking at trees, but also because that’s what we learn from Scripture. In Genesis 2, God “planted” the Garden of Eden and put the first man there. (The woman was added shortly thereafter.) Notice what it says in Genesis about what God did once people were in Eden: “Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (2:9). In this verse, God had a dual purpose for trees. They were to be good for food, something that was already celebrated in Genesis 1:11-12. But, even before this purpose is mentioned we find another. The trees God created were also to be “pleasant to the sight.” God made trees so that people might enjoy looking at them.

I love this verse from Genesis, not only because I am such a fan of trees. I also love it because of what it says about God and God’s purpose. Trees have a pragmatic purpose in that they provide food for the earth’s creatures. (As I write this, I am actually watching a squirrel in my backyard eat something it found growing on one of our trees!) The author of Genesis could have mentioned other ways trees are useful. They are an invaluable source of building materials. They provide fire to warm homes and cook food. They clean the air, absorbing ozone and producing oxygen. They stabilize the soil and lower temperatures. They are a necessary habitat for hundreds of animals, including birds, of course. My younger self would want to add that trees are great for climbing or for places to build treehouses. All of this testifies to the usefulness of trees, and that’s wonderful.

But God also made trees to be “pleasant to the sight.” From the very beginning, God created the world as something beautiful. Moreover, God created human beings as creatures who can perceive and delight in beauty. This shows that beauty, both making it and enjoying it, is essential to God’s purpose for creation, including us. We are to be people who “Add to the Beauty,” to borrow the title of a song by Sara Groves, the chorus of which says,

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside.

For many years, I was more into valuing tangible benefits than beauty. So, though I loved trees, if you’d asked me why God made them, I would have mentioned the benefits I listed above. I would have been less likely to say, “Because they are beautiful and we can enjoy them.” Now, John Calvin would want to remind us that the beauty of trees does have a profound benefit. It reflects the beauty and beauty-making character of God. Trees are, after all, a crucial element of the “glorious theater” of God’s creation.

I say “Amen” to that. But I am also impressed by other ways in which “adding to the beauty” can enrich this world and those who live in it. Several years ago I was driving through a particularly bleak part of a large city in the U.S. The buildings were plain, run-down, and generally unattractive. There was lots of litter on the street. Beauty was lacking here, to be sure.

But then I came upon a church. It obviously had been around for a while, since it was fairly ornate and, I might add, kept up well. But what struck me most about this church was what surrounded it. Gardens full of flowers. In a place in which physical beauty was mostly missing, this church filled its neighborhood with flowers of yellow, red, and orange . . . hundreds of them. Talk about adding to the beauty!

At the time, I wasn’t thinking about purpose in life. But now, reflecting on that experience, I would say, first of all, that that inner-city church was wonderfully reflecting God’s purpose for living things, namely, that they are “pleasant to the sight.” Moreover, it was obvious that the folks in that church planted flowers, not just or even mainly for themselves. They were giving the gift of beauty to their neighbors. They were adding extraordinary beauty to a place that desperately needed it. Though they hadn’t planted flowering trees, their gardens clearly and gloriously demonstrated God’s purpose for trees and other plant life. Yes, they are useful for many things. But they are also to be beautiful. Beauty is a vital element of God’s purpose because, yes, it points to God’s own beauty. But also because it serves and delights humankind.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Provision (Genesis 1:29-30; 2:8-14).