In the beginning, there was a garden. It was a garden filled with good things like fruit of every kind. There were clear waters that fed the garden and springs rose up to water every living plant.
A man and a woman were fashioned from the clay of the earth and they were given the garden to enjoy. They were given the garden of the Lord, and it was all good.
Well, it was all good for a little bit, and we all know that it went downhill from there. It all spiraled down into sin and rebellion, but we are not going to talk about the serpent and the temptation to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil this morning. No, all that I want you to see is that gardens are planted at the beginning of stories.
Consider that your own garden is the beginning of a new story for your summer. As you care for the tender seedlings this time of year, you can already taste the freshness of the tomatoes, and feel the crisp crunch of the carrots in your mouth. The cucumbers are already foretelling their refreshing juice in the mouth, and the tender lettuce that is already starting to pop up in our tiny, plastic greenhouses already tempt us to have a tiny salad. They may only be an inch out of the soul in their tiny plastic trays, but the garden is already writing a new story for a new year.
And, a garden is where Mary finds herself. In John’s gospel, Jesus is not buried in a
typical cemetery with in a newly carved tomb. Rather, he is buried in a garden. He is buried in a place, not where stories
end, but where stories begin.
After hearing her name spoken aloud, Mary recognizes the risen Lord,
and starts a new life with her teacher.
It is not the same as the old life.
She is not allowed to keep clinging onto him and holding onto that last,
bodily vestige of the former life with her savior. Rather, Jesus instructs her to let go so that
he may ascend to the Father, and her new life filled with the Spirit of Jesus
may begin.
Letting go. Letting go of the old in particular is not an easy thing to do. The old is
just so…well…nice, and familiar. And,
though the old may even tell a story with some pain and suffering, at least the
old way of life is well known.
Had it
been her choice, I’m sure Mary would still be clinging onto that last vestige
of Jesus today. But, she was not given the choice to do so.
She was in a garden after-all,
and gardens are not about what grew last year.
Gardens are about what will grow this year and bear goodness for others
to eat. Gardens are found in the
beginning of stories. Mary’s life
of sharing the good news of Jesus is just about to start.
It is Easter, and we have a new garden, and it is the
beginning of a new story for you as well.
Jesus has brought you into a new story.
He has redeemed you and forgiven you, and your old story has faded into
the dust. There is new love, and new
possibilities sprouting out of the ground in the new garden in which Jesus has
placed you. The old has died, and the
new has arrived.
So, what are you waiting for? Run from here! Run from here! Run
bearing the good news of old lives no longer controlling your destiny.
Run, bearing the good news of Jesus Christ
who has put your old life to death and raised you up to a new life of love and
peace.
Run from here with joy in your
heart because gardens are always the beginning of a new story. Start your new story bearing the heart of
Jesus’ grace today. Run along…run along
with the resurrected Jesus in your heart.
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