In the Garden

Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
April 4, 2010

Sunday of the Resurrection: Easter Day
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18

In the Garden
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I’m not sure why, but for some reason last night at the Great Vigil of Easter it felt especially good to finally say and sing “Alleluia!”

Maybe because this weekend the weather has been so beautiful, more than ever it seemed to me that there was a real disconnect between what was going on in church and what was going on in the world.

On Good Friday, while the world was outside enjoying the radiant sunshine and warm breezes, here in church we were remembering the betrayal of Jesus in a garden, we were remembering the cries of the crowd calling for his crucifixion; we were remembering his death on the cross and his burial in brand-new tomb.

And Holy Saturday was a disorienting day, too. Again it was beautiful outside. But the Church was in a strange place, somewhere between death and life. In the beautiful morning a handful of us gathered for the simple Holy Saturday service. There was no communion, of course, highlighting the absence of the executed messiah.
But then there were the first stirrings of life here in church. The altar guild arrived and began the remarkable transformation of the bare church into this dazzling display of life and color.

It’s a wonderful thing to see, but by necessity we were getting ahead of ourselves.

So, as always, the Great Vigil of Easter began with the lights off – the absence of light bringing us right back to Good Friday, bringing us right back to the death of Jesus on the Cross, bringing us right back to the tomb.

Maybe in the gloom of the shadowy church we remembered what had gotten us into this mess. Maybe we remembered how because of sin and selfishness and betrayal, human beings – we – had broken our relationship with God. Maybe in the gloom of the shadowy church we remembered the story of that first garden when man and woman hid from God who right from the start was seeking them out, wanting to walk in love with humanity.

Maybe in the gloom of the shadowy church we remembered Good Friday. Maybe we remembered how in Jesus God had come and lived among us. Maybe we remembered how Jesus taught and healed and reached out to the poor and the oppressed.

Maybe in the gloom we remembered all that bad history between God and humanity.

But then in the midst of the gloom of the shadowy church, the Paschal Candle was lighted - symbolizing the resurrection, symbolizing that God is more powerful than death. The Paschal Candle was lighted, symbolizing that nothing can extinguish the light of Christ.

This is the Good News! And the only correct response to this joyous good news is to praise God. So in the service last night we read once again the stories of God’s saving acts. The prayer book offers nine options but requires only two. And the prayer book requires that the story of Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea must be read. When all hope seemed to be lost, God always manages to turn death into life. We look back at these stories of salvation and give praise to God..

But those great acts of God recorded in the Old Testament are a prologue to God’s greatest act of all – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Genesis tells us that creation began in a garden. Genesis also tells us that the relationship between God and humanity was broken in a garden. The Evangelist John tells us that Jesus was betrayed in a garden. And as we heard just a few minutes ago, the Evangelist John also tells us that the new creation begins in a garden. The healing of the broken relationship between God and humanity begins in a garden.

But, that’s not all. After Mary Magdalene encountered the resurrected Christ – after first mistaking him for a gardener – she went to the disciples and announced, “I have seen the Lord.” Magdalene’s encounter with the Resurrected Christ and her willingness to share this joyous good news marks the beginning of the Christian community. The Christian community began right there in that garden. Later, at the end of the Great Fifty Days of Easter, on Pentecost, the Christian community received the gift of the Holy Spirit and became the Church.

Over time the Church’s understanding of its identity and mission changed and deepened. As we heard in the lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, the Church came to understand that Jesus is the messiah for the whole world. So Peter can say to the gentiles, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

Paul, who never met Jesus during his earthly lifetime, spent his life traveling around the Mediterranean world telling people from many different nations that Jesus is Lord of all and that Jesus is risen. And Paul understood what Christ’s resurrection means for us. Paul saw the connection between that first garden where the relationship between God and humanity was broken and that other garden where Magdalene encountered the Risen Christ. Paul understood the awesomely Good News of what Christ’s resurrection means for all of us. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.”

Recognizing that Jesus has opened the way for all of us, Paul and Peter and so many others were willing – and are willing – to give away their lives sharing this Good News with the world.

And thanks to all of those women and men who gave away their lives sharing the Good News of Christ, here we are today – here we are, the Church remembering this greatest saving act of God, the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead.

But, you know, as much as the Church has changed over the past two thousand years, at our core, we’re still right there with Mary Magdalene in the garden.

At our core, you and I – the Church – we’re still right there with Mary Magdalene in the garden, encountering the Resurrected Christ. In very special ways we encounter the Resurrected Christ in the water of baptism and we encounter the Resurrected Christ in the bread and wine we receive at the Lord’s Table.

At our core, you and I – the Church – we’re still right there with Mary Magdalene in the garden. We encounter the Resurrected Christ in Scripture and, who knows, maybe even in the sermon. We encounter the Resurrected Christ in the hymns and the prayers. We encounter the Resurrected Christ when we receive forgiveness of our sins and exchange a sign of peace with our brothers and sisters.

You and I – the Church – encounter the Resurrected Christ when we become the Body of Christ in the world – raising large sums of money for Haiti, dropping a can of food into the barrel, visiting the sick and lonely, ladling soup into the bowls of hungry people, sharing in one another’s joys and sorrows.

At our core, you and I – the Church – we’re still right there with Mary Magdalene in the garden. We’re in the garden – the place where God gives us all that we need. We’re in the garden, where Christ really is the gardener, caring for us, tending to us, praying alongside of us. We’re in the garden - where God gives us rich soil and fertile plants. We’re in the garden – where God gives us abundant rainfall and plentiful sunshine. We’re in the garden – the place where God gives us all that we need and gives us the freedom and the skill to feed and bless one another.

At our core, you and I – the Church – we’re still right there with Mary Magdalene in the garden. We’re in the garden – the place where God searches for us, wanting to be in relationship with us. We’re in the garden – the place where we discover that nothing – nothing - not even death – can extinguish the light of Christ.

We’re still right there with Mary Magdalene in the garden – surprised, tearful, and overjoyed. We’re in the garden – encountering the Resurrected Christ.

Alleluia!