When this building was first constructed, it was called Garden Methodist Church. The name was changed to First United Methodist Church when Garden Church and Redeemer Church merged in 1975. But on this day, when we dedicate our memorial walkway, I want to look back a bit and then look forward.
Why was this building first called Garden Methodist Church? Rev. Wesley Jensen, the first pastor here, wrote in a history of the early days of the church that a woman named, Lenore Mosbaugh suggested the name, ‘Garden Methodist Church,’ with our text for today, Isaiah 61:11, in mind. “For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” And maybe part of the garden image was because there had been a lot of vegetable farms in the area. Part of it was a dream of this being a congregation with a lot of greenery around it. You can see that has happened right here in this sanctuary. But most important, this was to be a place for growing people. They were planting a witness for Christ in Oak Lawn and watching to see what God would grow out of it. We are God’s garden.
Today let’s think about the church as a garden, looking back a bit, and looking forward, too.
Now would you please stand as Maggie comes and reads our scripture for us? She’ll read all 11 verses of the chapter. You might recognize that in the New Testament Jesus quoted the first two verses the day he announced his calling in his home synagogue in Nazareth.
1 The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; 6 but you shall be called priests of the LORD, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. 7 Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs. 8 For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Let me give you some of the context of our passage. It’s written to the people of Israel at one of the lowest points in their history. They had disobeyed God. The superpower of the day, Assyria, invaded Israel and conquered it. And in order to keep the many peoples that they had conquered from ever rising up again, the Assyrians had a nasty policy of fruit basket upset. They took the people they conquered and they moved them all out of their homelands. They scattered them all over the Middle East as exiles from their homelands, in hopes that they would be so disoriented and so disheartened that they would never be able to stand up against the Assyrians. That’s why Esther and Daniel lived far away from their homeland in Israel. Can you imagine having your family uprooted to Germany or Peru or Malaysia, forced to start all over again? How would you feel?
Can you picture how the exiled Israelites would have felt, far from home, thoroughly defeated, helpless, and hopeless? They would feel oppressed, brokenhearted. They were mourning their homeland. They got the worst houses, the worst fields. They had to learn new languages. They had to start from scratch financially. That stirred God’s heart deeply.
So look at the first 2 verses of today’s passage. They are printed for you in your bulletin. God has stirred up the prophet’s heart to speak to these people. You tell me who he has in mind here. ‘The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor; and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. You can understand their feelings. And God understood what they were going through much more perfectly than we can.
Years passed. By God’s grace he brought them back to their homeland. Jesus was born in Israel. And when he was a young man Jesus was asked to speak in his home synagogue. He read from this passage to them and said that it was his calling, too, to bring good news to the oppressed and bind up the brokenhearted. There are people in every time and place who need to hear good news from God, people who are brokenhearted, cast down, mourning, hopeless. In a very real sense this is the message that God gives the church in all times and all places. God has good news for you.
Do you know anybody who is mourning right now? That person is on God’s heart. Do you know anybody who is just plain brokenhearted? That person is on God’s heart. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” God has called us together for people like that.
Do you know anybody who is oppressed? Their circumstances right now are such a weight that they can barely go forward. Maybe they just can’t find a job. Maybe their health has broken down. Maybe their family is being torn apart. Maybe they are carrying emotional scars from their childhood that just cripple them. That person is on God’s heart.
There are an awful lot of weak and hurting people in this world. And do you know what’s ahead for them?
We can know what is on God’s heart for them. The last part of verse 3 says that “They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.” And he isn’t all of a sudden changing the subject and talking about rebuilding Israel with the people who have always had it all together. It’s the same broken people from the beginning of the chapter. God loves to take broken people and do beautiful things in them. “They will be called oaks of righteousness.” I grew up surrounded by oak trees. They are so strong, so majestic. That’s what God wants to do for broken people. That’s what we are here for.
And how does that process work? Verse 11 tells us it’s like a garden. The church is like a garden. It doesn’t happen overnight. But if you work it right, you’ll get a good harvest.
And how does it start? Well, first you need to loosen the soil so that it can receive the seed. Last week Ed talked about repentance. That’s loosening the soil. It’s saying to God, I’m ready for something new. I want to change. I want to be more. Feed me, Lord. Change me. A good garden needs to be tilled up every year. I used to do mine twice a year, before planting and then after harvesting. There’s no use in planting if the ground won’t accept the seed. The seed just dies then, or the birds eat it and it doesn’t take root.
That’s why God has high hopes for broken people. Often they are the ones who are most ready for a change.
Once the soil is ready you plant the seeds. Jesus said in the New Testament that the seed is the Word of God. One of our most important jobs is to plant the seed of the Word of God in our children’s hearts, in our hearts, in every heart we can reach. It’s good seed. It takes a while to grow and produce fruit. But its good seed. The verse that this church was founded on is a promise that the seed will do its job in time, if we care for it. It’s good seed! “For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”
You have to plant wisely. Be sure the seeds have room to grow. The first time we settled in a house where we could have our own vegetable garden, I planted a good large one. I thought it would be good for our kids to have the experience of working with the soil and seeing for themselves the magic of the crop that would come from it. But somehow they didn’t seem to appreciate that much. They had no more taste for weeding than I did.
I remember planting two rows of carrots. I figured we’d have plenty of good table carrots. And when I planted the two rows, following the instructions on the packets, I still had a lot of seed left over, so I poured that over the same two rows. What could it hurt? Well, we got lots of carrots. But they were all tiny, not worth pulling and cleaning.
Once the word is planted in our lives, we need to be sure we don’t try to take on too much. Is there anybody here who sometimes feels like you’ve taken on too much? Well, cut it out. Give God’s word room in your hearts. Don’t let it get crowded out. Make time to read your Bible. Kathy and I spend time studying our Bibles together and praying together most every morning. We try to pray through the lessons we see in the scripture. We pray through the church directory, a few families at a time. We pray for the tasks of the day.
The seed won’t grow well unless we give it room. Give God’s word room in your life so that it can really put down roots, deep in your heart. Let it do its thing.
And then once the plant is growing, many of them need pruning. In the same yard where I planted all those micro carrots we had a wonderful golden delicious apple tree. They were golden and they were delicious! But they got smaller and smaller every year. Then I figured out I needed to prune the tree. I cut back a lot of the smaller branches so that the life-producing sap of the tree didn’t get spread so thin. And the next year we had big, sweet apples again.
Churches need to prune themselves sometimes. You can let the church’s energy get scattered in a hundred directions at once, and there isn’t energy left for the most important things, planting the good seed of God’s word, watering it with love.
I am really pleased that we are working on a mission statement now so that we can think deeply about what our mission is and where we want to direct the most of our energy.
If you aim at nothing you’ll hit it every time. If you aim at everything, you’ll still hit nothing.
Today we celebrate the history of a church that first saw itself as a garden for growing people for God, that started a strong Sunday School and two youth groups right from the start. We celebrate all the faithful gardeners who have worked hard to plant the good seed of God’s word in as many hearts as possible and have watered that word with love. Today I encourage us to renew that commitment, to be faithful students of God’s word. Plant the seeds. “For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” The church is like a garden.
