What my magnolia teaches me about Christ
I saw an oriel today while riding my bike near Joyces Slough. It surprised me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before, but I saw its distinctive orange and black coloring. I’m not much of a bird watcher, but I have to admit that it was an exciting moment. It was a quick moment of ordinary joy that I think twenty-year-old me would not have noticed or appreciated.
It reminds me that one aspect of joy in a fallen world is that it is fleeting. Just as quick as the bird flew in front of my view it was gone and out of sight. Like a bird, joy is fragile and elusive. And if we are moving too fast we won’t be able to capture it.
It’s like my magnolia tree. Which seems to be a favorite perch for cardinals in my backyard. For most of the year the buds of the magnolia stay closed. It’s almost as if they are holding a tight lipped secret that only the birds know. And then almost overnight, the pedals relax and spread open, exposing their beautifully white and soft purple flowers to the sun and the bees. And also to our eyes. And then just as I’m beginning to enjoy the bloom the petals fall off. It’s like how C.S. Lewis described his experience with joy as a boy; it feels like a betrayal when it leaves.
This magnolia tree is large. It’s probably 20’ high and 15’ wide. And it sits right off my back porch. So it is a highly visible, very familiar piece of landscape in my life. And yet, I did not notice it last year. In one sense I saw it last year. I even commented on its bloom. But I was not struck by its beauty like I was this year. And that got me thinking, what else am I missing? And then it got me thinking, you know what, there’s someone who does not miss this magnolia tree’s bloom. Christ Jesus does not miss it.
Jesus made the magnolia after all. Colossians 1:16 says all things were created “through him and for him.” And in Genesis we discover that He declared all things good. This magnolia is good. And in Genesis it says that he made trees specifically that are “pleasant to the sight” (Gen 2:9). So apparently Jesus has an eye for aesthetic beauty. And so I am convinced that Jesus is both perfectly attentive to the blooming beauty of my magnolia tree in all the ways that I am not. He is like an artist who knows all the brushstrokes and proportions of his work better than anyone, and who is pleased with it.
What this teaches me is that the fragile and fleeting blooms of creation are for Christ. It is for the good pleasure of Christ that the seen and unseen flowers open. Even when I do not notice the lavender blooming behind my garage in the alley, Christ Jesus notices and takes delight.
This helps me understand another facet of worship. It helps me understand that worship is not just found in the big crowds and lofty pulpits. It is not just found at a church gathering. Christ can be praised by simply slowing down and giving our attention to things that please God. I am not worshiping the magnolia by pausing and enjoying its beauty anymore than I am worshiping the oriel that flies by my bike. I am simply agreeing with God that his creation is good, and I am honoring him by enjoying what he enjoys. If Jesus enjoys the soft white bloom of a magnolia, well, so do I.
I’m used to applying this to other things like marriage and church worship services. I know that it is pleasing to God to make a joyful noise with instruments on Sunday, rejoicing in the gospel of Christ crucified. And I know that Christ enjoys it when I lay my preferences aside in my marriage and love my wife well. But I am less aware of how Christ enjoys it when I simply stop and smell the daisies. Which indicates that I don’t really understand how to sabbath well.
So my encouragement to anyone reading this is what I have been encouraged by this Spring. The heavens really do declare the glory of God (Ps 19:1). Let’s join in.
Worship Christ by simply being attentive and appreciative of his creative labor. He made it to share after-all. Take your kids on a walk on the riverfront or the spillway and point out to them what God declares good and is pleased in. It could be a toad or a gnarly looking piece of limestone. Or simply sit in your backyard and praise God for the robin waddling through your dandelions, or the smell of your neighbor Larry’s freshly cut grass.
There is the grace of Christ all around you. Just pause and notice it.