I want to begin this morning in John 20.
John 20 is text that we most commonly read on Easter Sunday. It is John’s account of Jesus’ resurrection.
In John chapter 20, we have Mary Magdalene going to the tomb where Jesus was buried early in the morning to anoint the dead body of Jesus with burial spices.
But as you know, there was no body to be found that day.
Simon Peter and another disciple were with her and upon seeing no body of Jesus; they took off leaving Mary all by herself outside the tomb crying.
Suddenly two angels appear and ask her, what’s wrong. "Why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," Mary replies, "and I don’t know where they have put him." (v. 13)
Following this statement, Mary turns and sees a man. And the man says, "Woman why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
And John writes,
"Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him and I will get him." (v. 15)
This is where I want to begin this morning. I want us to begin with Mary’s thoughts about this man to whom she said those words. This man whom she thought was the gardener.
v. 15b, "Thinking he was the gardener."
Now the obvious question is, why would Mary think Jesus was a gardener?
John tells us in. 38 that a man named Joseph of Arimathea came and took Jesus dead body and along with Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body for burial and in verse 41 and 42 we read,
"At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."
Joseph and Nicodemus place Jesus’ body in a tomb and this tomb was in a Garden.
So 3 days later when Mary gets up early, while it was still dark, while there was dew on the ground, she makes her way to the Garden where Jesus’ tomb was.
And when in the unexpected events of that resurrection morning, she sees and hears a man with her in the Garden, her first instinct is to think that the man to whom she spoke was the Gardener.
The one who took care of the Garden.
The one who weeded
Planted
And watered the plants in that Garden.
But she was wrong. He wasn’t the Gardener. He was Jesus, her resurrected Lord and Savior.
The question I want to pose is why would John include in these verses about Jesus’ resurrection that phrase about Mary,
"Thinking he was the gardener."
Why would John tell us this?
Who cares who Mary thought the man was?
And why does it matter that John tells us that she thought Jesus was the gardener in the garden where Jesus’ tomb was?
Jewish writers like John did things like this quite frequently in their writings. They would write in details – details with seemingly no meaning- but upon further study, they were meant to help the reader get at the meaning in a text.
Let me give you an example:
The 1st time John writes the word love is in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world . . ." When we dig into this text, we discover that the very first time love is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 22 when God tells Abraham to take, “your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love” and offer him as a sacrifice.
John is doing something intentional. He wants his reading to see a connection between Abraham and his son Isaac and God and his son Jesus.
So back to our text. When John tells us that Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener, John’s initial readers would instinctively, automatically think – That’s weird, why would John write that and then they would pause to think – "is John hinting at something?" "Where do we first have the word Garden in the Bible." And the people would say Genesis 2 – the Garden of Eden.
And what happens there? People choose to disobey God – live outside of his way and they end up losing their place in the garden.
A death comes upon them.
So when John tells us Jesus is buried in a garden tomb (19:41-42). And when John tells us that Mary thought Jesus was a gardener (20:15) John wants us to see a connection between the Garden of Eden and Jesus rising from the dead in a garden.
There is a new Adam on the scene and he is reversing the curse of death by conquering it . . . in a Garden.
And on Easter Sunday all of us nod our heads yes, - Jesus’ resurrection reversed the curse in that first Garden. No longer does death have ultimate victory.
But today I want to push us to consider whether Jesus’ resurrection in a Garden was an act meant to reverse the curse/the sin that was placed upon creation.
Could it be that Jesus’ resurrection not only brings hope to humanity, but also to and for creation itself?
On this Shift Sunday, this is what I want us to consider. Could it be . . . could it be possible . . . is God asking us to see through his words that Jesus’ resurrection is not solely for you and me but also for all of his creation?
A creation he once called good.
(All the above is influenced by Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis, p. 156, 157)
Some of you right now are thinking, "Preach it, Tim let’er rip" Others of you are really pushing back right now thinking Jesus’ resurrection only affects humanity.
Let me throw 3 verses on us - that might cause you to think about this.
Colossians 1:19-20, read p. 1832,
Reconcile all things on earth or things in heaven
Acts 3:21, p. 1695
It is God’s plan for the resurrection. Jesus to remain in heaven until God restores all things.
Matthew 19:28, p. 1529,
Jesus says, "at the renewal of all things."
At the heart of God could it be that our God longs and anticipates his creation all of it being restored?
Let me assure some of you - let me also disappoint some of you. This isn’t a talk to endorse a political party, a particular environmental or cause. This isn’t a talk about evolution nor a 7-day creation.
About global warming
Salmon
Or the Spotted owl
What I intend to do is to get you to think like I have been thinking about God’s desires for you and me as it relates to all that he created which he once called good. Could it be that Jesus’ resurrection was meant to not only give hope to humanity but also to the rest of his creation?
And that is why I asked you to bring a calendar today. If you remembered to bring one can you get it out? If you forgot to bring one or weren’t here last week to get this homework assignment, you’re not off the hook. I want you to think of the calendar you have up at home.
It is my guess
My hypothesis that at least half of us here have calendars that have pictures of nature, creation scenes - stuff God created. Let’s see if I’m right. Everyone hold up your calendar,
If your calendar has creation nature scenes on it keep it raised up.
If it doesn’t, put it down.
True?
Maybe not/maybe?
Instinctively
At a gut level each of us here find value in creation – whether we are a Jesus follower or not.
We are drawn to its beauty,
Its wildness
To mountains
Lakes
Trees
Flowers
Rocks
And so as we talk this Shifts our God is asking to make in relationship to our culture - could it be that Jesus’ resurrection in the garden might mean that you and I should make some shifts relating to caring for creation?
Genesis 1 and 2
In Genesis 1 and 2, we have texts that tells us how the created world began.
Genesis 1:1 begins - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
"In the beginning God . . ."
The God of the Bible is a God who is there prior to any and all creation. Though He can stoop down to converse with his creatures (as he does in Genesis 1 and 2) he is consistently presented as above and beyond any and all of his works.
Paul affirms this in Acts 17:24, "Our god is the one who made the world and everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."
Their fact leads me to a warning - our love of nature must be in the context of it as the handiwork of the Almighty and not as some part of God.
Said another way- Though we treasure and love to be in nature - the Created, we worship the Creator.
This view, this stance at times though has led to humanity viewing and believing that the created, the earth and more specifically its resources is something we can therefore exploit, harvest, mine, log and trample upon.
Because we worship the Creator and not the created - don’t we have the right to use it as a commodity to satisfy ourselves, to bring us pleasure to make us rich? After all doesn’t God say in Genesis 1:26 and 28 that Adam is to rule over it all, a word that literally means exercise dominion. The Bible gives not only permission to us but the command that we are to live this way. That we are to rule over it all.
This morning I want to say - No - this isn’t the view. This isn’t a proper understanding of these texts. This isn’t the witness of the entire Bible.
We are not given permission by God to see the created as a commodity; instead we are given the command to care for it, to be wise stewards of all of it.
In the Creation account of Genesis 1 - on each day - day 1 through day 6 - each natural element brought into being finds its meaning in fulfilling a role, a role that is necessary and related to the systematic ordering of things. There is a connectedness between the days.
On day 1 - light dispels darkness and we have day.
On day 2 - we have the sky created to keep the waters separated.
On day 3 - the dry land provides a place for vegetation.
On day 4 - God creates lights to create a cycle of day and night.
On day 5 and 6 - we have creatures in the seas and on the land.
And finally on day 6 - on the final day of creation, God creates man -humanity - in order to keep all that he had made functioning smoothly.
Each day builds upon the other.
Each day creates a more intricate web.
Each item, plant, and person created creates a system in balance, in harmony, orderly and it is good, all of it good.
Humanities role to rule over it.
To add to it contribute to it keep it all going.
To enjoy it - eat of it.
But also to 2:15 to "work it" and to "take care of it"
To till it and to guard it/keep it.
This is a treasure entrusted to his keeping - its value is not only in preservation but in it also being useful for him.
But its usefulness
Its resources are to be seen more as a gift from the Creator than as a commodity to be consumed.
This type of relationship is hinted at in Psalm 19, 8, 104.
This type of relationship, a relationship of stewardship - being managers of all that we have is the emphasis of all of Jesus’ teachings regarding how we handle money, our children, our jobs, our relationships.
Never does Jesus advocate greed.
Exploitation
And mismanagement.
He does the opposite -
To live at peace with.
To be gentle.
To show restraint.
To go out of your way to look after the undefiled.
The smallest
The weak.
Many seriously doubt that we have the ability and power to reverse the curse upon creation by our own actions. Laboring intensely to make the world as the Garden of Eden once was. That isn’t going to happen.
But what needs to happen is for you and I to not lose sight of the fact nature was to reflect the glory of God with man at the center working to make that happen.
Working towards it restoration.
This is to be our longing.
This is to influence how we live.
Creation itself/nature itself cries out for this.
Romans 8:19-25:
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Because this is creation’s longing because we have been created to oversee it, to work, fill and care for creation, we cannot abandon this our world, because God has not abandoned it.
When we work to free nature from the effects of our sin we are upholding that which is good in God’s sight and expressing a commitment to a program/ that will one day see its consummation.
The day when God’s Kingdom eliminates
Poverty and disease.
Racism and hate.
But also a day when the
Lamb does lie down with the lion.
Little children with wild beasts.
As we await this Kingdom, as we pray "Thy Kingdom come - Thy will be done."
Just as we are learning to love our enemies.
Serve the needy.
Forgive those who have hurt us.
All because this is the Kingdom way.
So also are to take responsibility for how our footprint is affecting the natural world.
When we exploit,
Harvest
Mine
Cut
Catch
And kill for purely economic and power reasons,
We sin - we live not into the stewardship role we’ve been given.
But when we instead chose to think about,
The stores we buy from.
The foods we eat.
The cars we drive.
The trash we produce.
The energy our houses, cars, building consume.
Then we will become participants in living into the restoration of all of creation, the purpose for Jesus’ resurrection.
So this is only the beginning.
A single talk cannot cover it all.
But I pray that a small thought heard by you may have the power to begin a shift in you and me as it relates to creation.
As will be the case with all of our topics this fall - each of us will gravitate and be champions of some specific ones, but this does not allow us to disregard the rest. So let us be moldable and shiftable so that together as a body made up of many parts we can reflect our God’s Kingdom purposes to our community.
And today let us begin to listen more intently with more open ears to how God is asking you and me to make changes that lead us to seeing and preserving his creation for ourselves and all those who come after us until the day when God will make all things new.
For I believe that just as we openly talk about the renewal and restoration of people too do we as God’s people need to talk about and act towards being wise stewards of creation.
Jesus’ resurrection in the garden tells me so.
Jesus’ the Gardener came to heal my broken life but also to heal and restore a broken creation! Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, who created the universe and deemed it good:
We confess that we have misused our dominion and ruled unwisely.
You have given us bounty, and we have horded.
You have given us wholeness, and we have fragmented creation.
You have given us good earth, and we have plundered it.
You have given us each other, and we have used and manipulated our brothers and sisters
for our own profit and gain.
You have given us wisdom, but we have been content with convenience.
You have given us compassion, but we have offered poor imitations in our daily living.
You have given us yourself in covenant to be our God, but we have relied on our own
passions.
You have given us your Son, and we have called ourselves by his name, yet lived as though
we had few responsibilities beyond ourselves.
O Lord, we have conserved the bounty of your love as though it could be exhausted, and
we have wasted the bounty of your universe as though its resources were
imperishable.
Receive us as ones who are broken, unreasoning, and afraid.
Receive us as ones returning again to claim life in the name of your Son, Jesus the Christ.
Renew your covenant with us, and forgive us, O Lord, in the name of your Son. Amen.
