Consider the Plants, Week 1 : The Oaks of Mamre

Post Author: Pastor Courtney R. Young

Introduction

Last spring, I read Debbie Blue’s book Consider the Birds.¹ Each chapter explores one kind of bird – its diet, its habitat, its cultural significance, its vulnerabilities. It also explores what it might have to teach us about God on the move in the world and amidst our humanity. I loved digging into supposedly fleeting details in Scripture with the assumption that they have something to teach me about my relationship to God or the world. 

I thought it would be fun to try my hand at a similar project focusing on plants. Summer, the season after Pentecost also known as Common Time, would be a fitting season for it. In Minnesota where I live, everything is green: the tree leaves and the church paraments. Plus, during the season after Pentecost, the Revised Common Lectionary turns its attention to Jesus’ parables and teachings, which frequently feature plants and agriculture. Over the next eight weeks, join us as we pay particular attention to the plants of Year A.

Prayer of the Day

God of All Creation, we thank you for the companionship of plants throughout our lives. They nourish us. They share their beauty with us. Their presence helps us locate ourselves across seasons and landscapes. In the life that humanity and flora share, help us to see that You sit with us as our guest. We offer our prayers in the promise of life and new life through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.  

Genesis 18:1-15 – Oaks of Mamre

Some Commentary:

Oak trees have long been a symbol of strength, longevity, vitality, fertility, and the divine across many cultures. How did oaks end up being associated with such dignified characteristics? A few aspects of oak trees came together that led to their lofty reputations. 

First, oaks are big, long-lived, hardwood trees. This made them useful landmarks when traveling around the ancient world. On top of that, when an oak tree dies, it has the ability to send out a shoot from its stump and begin growing a new tree in the exact same spot. The shoot from the stump of Jesse in Isaiah was probably describing an oak. So even if an oak tree died, a new one would likely take its place. Given their long life and their ability to regenerate, oak trees were fairly common places for people to bury their dead because it would be easy to find their way back to the grave. With their ability to regenerate, they served as a physical reminder for the hope of new life, whatever form that took, that people held for their deceased loved ones and leaders. 

Second, oak trees in particular have long been associated with different sky or lightning gods because they have a propensity for getting struck by lightning more often than other trees their height. Since oak trees became connected to both ancestors and sky gods, temples have been built around them. Actually, the Hebrew words for oak (and terebinth) and god are related. 

Finally, oak trees drop a lot of acorns, and acorns are in fact food. As a nut, they are a nutrient rich food. People have been eating acorns since before the agricultural revolution. Oak trees marked the intersection between the earth and the sky, the past and the future, the dead and the living, the human and the divine. 

Therefore, when “[t]he Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks…” the oak tree is bringing into proximity all these dichotomies by serving as convener and host to Abraham and the Lord God.

When preaching it could be interesting to note oak trees’ role as burial places and consider how frequently death might have been on Abraham’s mind as he camped here. If he was contemplating how he too might be under the ground sooner rather than later, what a bold place for God to assert that Abraham would have a son! Again, oak trees were designated as burial places while at the same time were known for their ability to regenerate by sending out new shoots and preside over the same spot for hundreds of years. What an interesting place for God to assure old Abraham that he would have a child! The oak tree stood as a physical reminder of God’s promise that Abraham would have a legacy. He would have a child to visit his grave. Abraham’s legacy would be God’s legacy of promises fulfilled as the God of Abraham and, soon, the God of Isaac.

It might also be interesting to explore how oak trees were understood to bring the human and the divine together. The oaks at Mamre serve that function in this story. The Lord appears by an oak tree. There Abraham, Sarah, and God are able to meet each other. One could explore how meeting God in the world is facilitated through creation. God may be more apparent under the shade of an oak tree. There God is able to provide comfort and promise. 

Hymn Suggestion
We Raise Our Hands to You, O Lord (ELW 690); Text by Svein Ellingsen; tr. Hedwig T. Durnbaugh; Music by Trond Kverno

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