Someone once wrote a poem about their garden:
"Our radishes are puny things;
Our peas and beans are dying;
And as for the potatoes, well, those things aren't even trying
And that's the way our garden grows -
I tell myself, "Who needs it?"
But down inside, it hurts to have it bite the hand... that WEEDS it."
APPLY: I once read that more money is spent on gardening than on any other hobby! People seem to like the idea of growing something with their own bare hands.
I’m not one of them.
I don’t like to garden.
The idea of having to contend with weeds and bugs... and rabbits and deer and coons, is more than I want to mess with.
But.. as much as I am not into gardening, I think I would have enjoyed the Garden of Eden. I believe I could have enjoyed tending that paradise. Because this wasn’t your normal garden.
Before the fall, this garden would have been enjoyable experience. And I know that because - after Adam and Eve sinned – the Bible tells me things changed for them. When they lost the garden they came under a curse, and God told Adam part of the curse was this:
"...cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field." Gen. 3:17-18 ESV
In other words: Before the Fall, gardening was pretty much a piece of cake for Adam and Eve. The ground “cooperated” with them. There were no thorns or thistles... no weeds to mess with. I’m suspecting they didn’t have to worry about things like mosquitos and black bugs and other things that could bite them.
In addition: The word EDEN meant “pleasure” because Eden was literally a garden of pleasure.
I can picture how life was in the Garden of Eden.
· Collecting food for lunch or dinner.
· Putting down their bowls once in a while to pick a strawberry here... or a blueberry there for a treat.
· Pruning a few branches from the branches and trees as they walked along.
· Maybe taking a swim in a lake fed by a small waterfall.
· Perhaps playing hide and go seek with a few of the woodland animals.
· And then as evening came on... walking and talking with God as they made their way thru the garden.
That would have been a pleasurable existence.
But there was work that had to be done.
Genesis 2:15 says
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
In other words, there was more to being in the garden than picking berries and playing with the woodland animals. Adam was placed in the Garden to WORK. To be productive. To do something worthwhile with his life. Adam was called by God to take care of something that was important to God.
With that thought in our minds, I want you to turn to Ephesians 2:10
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Now think about this:
1. God CREATED Adam in His own image
Ephesians 2 says that when we became Christians we became God’s workmanship CREATED in Christ Jesus.
2. God PREPARED a something for Adam to do.
And Ephesians 2 says that God has PREPARED in advance good works for us to do.
When I read Ephesians 2:10 I have this image in my mind. I visualize God preparing a secret garden just for me. It’s a garden filled with all kinds of good things for me to do. And I have the key to the gate.
And I know that when I do those good things my life is productive. It has meaning. And I know I’m doing someting that is important to God.
Just as God prepared the Garden just for Adam and Eve each of us has a garden of good things designed JUST FOR US that gives life meaning! This garden is designed specifically for you. God created these good works with you in mind – for your personality, your character, your particular strengths and weakenesses. And no one else can do those good works quite like you can... because THIS garden was created just for you. And you have the key.
And there are lessons I can learn about MY garden from things I can learned about the Garden of Eden.
The 1st thing I learned was this – God never gives me more to do than I can handle.
Genesis 1:27-28 tell us
“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’"
When God created man He gave him authority over ENTIRE earth. Adam and Even had dominion over all the fish, all the birds – over every living creature that was the earth. It was all given to Adam and Eve.
But all of that would have been way too much responsibility for just two people. So God created a garden that was just the right size for two people to manage.
Now it wasn’t that Adam and Eve couldn’t go outside that garden and do other things. But their principle responsibility was the garden itself.
There’s an old saying, “Take care of the small things ...and the big things will take care of themselves.”
And that’s how God expects us to live our lives as Christians.
He gives us little gardens of responsibility to teach us how to be faithful. God know that if we’re faithful in small things, we’ll be faithful in larger responsibilities.
Jesus once told a parable about a man who had faithfully invested his master’s money. It wasn’t a lot of money by some standards... but it was important to his master. And so, when the master returned he rewarded his servant by saying:
"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21
And lest we think that “little things” aren’t important to God - Jesus teaches us that “... if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42
Obedience even in the smallest of things is important to God, because – if we’re obedient in the small things - we can be trusted with bigger responsibilities.
ILLUS: There’s a book called "Rescuers: Portraits Of Holocaust Survivors" where a researcher interviewed 105 people who had harbored fugitive Jews in their homes despite the danger to they and their families. If caught protecting the Jews, they could face imprisonment or even death.
A Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut found that many of the rescuers had a history of doing good deeds before the war - some visiting people in the hospital, others, collecting books for poor students, still others taking care of stray animals.
The professor said: “They just got into the habit of doing good. If they hadn’t perceived that pattern as natural they might have been paralyzed into inaction (when faced with personal danger).”
In other words they were faithful in the small things of life, and that prepared them to be faithful when the big challenges came.
If you really want to be used in a big way for God, learn to be faithful in the small things.
We need to find something that we can do... and then do it.
(Ask the audience for feedback)
“What small things can we do to serve God?”
(I recieved answers like praying throughout the week for those on the prayer list.
Working with little children in the Children’s Church
Volunteering for the nursery
Giving money to someone who’s needy
Buying food for someone who’s hungry).
ILLUS: I was talking to a man who had recently lost his mother. He received many cards that expressed their sympathy and condolences for his family... but there was one card from a widowed lady in this congregation that he remembers above all the others. She sent along a package of stamps. They didn’t cost much, but she knew that he’d have to send out letters thanking various people for their gifts of flowers and planters and these stamps were now one thing he didn’t have to bother with. It was a small thing, but it touched him deeply.
You don’t have to do EVERYTHING.
Just do something.
And do it faithfully for God.
Someone once observed: (Gil Scot Heron, American poet, author, songwriter)
“Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something,
and if everybody does something, everything will get done.”
2nd lesson we can learn about gardening from Adam is this: God sharecrops with us.
Does anybody know what sharecropping is?
My daddy was a sharecropper.
ILLUS: Sharecropping is where a farmer works a field he doesn’t own. The land owner supplies the land... and sometimes even the seed, fertilizer, and possibly even the machines. When the crops come in, that sharecropper then compensates the owner of that field by sharing a percentage of the crop with the landowner. Thus the term “Share cropping”.
God owned the Garden of Eden.
He even planted that garden for Adam
And then “the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15
God shared this Garden with Adam. He supplied the seeds to be planted. But ultimately God expected Adam to do the work and take care of that Garden.
In the same way – God has given you and I a garden of “good things” to do.
He’s sharing that with us.
But He expects us to invest our resources in that garden (time/talent/treasure)
God will not be pleased if – instead of sowing the seed - all we do is sit in a seat.
ILLUS: Once upon a pew I sat And heard the preacher ask,
"We need someone to teach a class, now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that's for you."
"But, Lord, to stand before a class is one thing I can't do.
Now Bill would be the man to call, there's nothing he won't do.
I'd rather hear the lesson taught from here upon my pew."
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"We need someone to lead the songs, Now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that's for you."
"But Lord, to sing before a crowd is one thing I can't do.
Now Brother King will do the job, there's nothing he won't do.
I'd rather hear the music played from here upon my pew."
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"I need someone to keep the door, Now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there And said, "Son, that's for you."
"But saying things to strangers, Lord, is one thing I can't do.
Now Tom can talk to people, Lord, there's nothing he won't do.
I'd rather someone come to me and greet me on the pew."
As years just seemed to pass me by, I heard that voice no more.
Until one night I closed my eyes And woke on heaven's shore.
'Twas four of us together there to face eternity.
God said, "I need just three of you to do a job for me."
"O Lord, I cried, "I'll do the job, there's nothing I won't do."
But Jesus said, "I'm sorry, friend, in Heaven there's no pew."
God said “you reap what you sow.”
But the question to be asked this morning is this: are you sowing or are you just sitting?
What are you doing for Him and His kingdom?
What are you investing?
Where are you putting your time for Him? Talent? Treasure?
ILLUS: It’s often been said that in a normal church 20% of the people do 80% of the work. In this congregation it’s more like 60 to 70 % of the people doing that work. And I’m so grateful to be part of a church where you take this responsibility seriously.
But what if you’re part of that other 30 to 40%?
What if you’re not investing your time for God? How much time to do you spend serving God outside of just showing up on Sunday morning?
Or what about your talents? Do you use the talents you’ve got to do anything inside this building, or outside of it? I’m not talking about doing nice things that make you feel good? I’m talking about using your talent consciously serving God.
Or what about your treasure? When the plate is passed do you just put in a token $5 or $10? Do you simply put in your pocket change? Do you give God what you have left over?
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 tells us “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food (we’re sharecropping with Him) will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”
If you and I want to have a good harvest from God we’ve got to seriously think about whether we’re sowing our seed, or just sitting on seat.
I want to close with this thought:
Jesus promised us he was going on ahead to prepare a place for us.
He told the thief on the cross He’d meet him in Paradise.
The word “paradise” is a Persian word meaning a walled garden used by a king.
Isn’t that intriguing? Jesus has gone on to prepare a garden for us. A place in paradise. Thus, we not only have a garden here on earth... we have one waiting for us in heaven.
But what we receive in that final walled garden is up to us.
I Corinthians 3:11-15 says “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
ILLUS: A rich man went to heaven and was led on a tour by St. Peter. As he was being led around, he noticed a beautiful mansion on one of the hillsides.
“Whose home is that?” he asked.
“Oh, that home belongs to your gardener,” replied St. Peter.
“Great,” thought the rich man. “If he gets that type of home, I can hardly wait to see what I’ll receive.”
Then they came upon another, more grand home. The rich man looked to St. Peter and asked, “whose home is that?”
“Oh, that’s Mr. Hill’s house. He was a missionary to South America and gave of his life to plant churches amongst several of their tribes.”
“Wow,” he thought, “I can hardly wait to see my mansion.”
In time, they came to an 8*8 shack in the valley – no windows and no front porch, little bit of a door with cloth hanging down over it. In shock the rich man asked: “whose place is that?”
“Well,” replied St. Peter, “that yours”.
“Mine!?” the rich man practically shouted. “What’s going on here? My gardener gets a mansion, a missionary gets a mansion. Why do I end up with this crummy shack?”
“Well,” replied St. Peter, “to be honest with you, we did the best we could with what you sent us.”
