St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
June 26, 2016
The Funeral of Eden
Rahming
Proverbs 3:1-9
Matthew 26:6-13
Like the Garden
I
remember very well the second time I
met her.
It
was a Sunday morning, early in my time as pastor here, back when I was
struggling to remember lots of faces and learn lots of names.
I
knew we had met. I couldn’t forget her face and certainly couldn’t forget her
voice, but I couldn’t come up with her name.
It
was right here, as I was greeting everyone after the service, and I said, “I’m
sorry, could you tell me your name again.”
And,
patiently and softly, and with that big beautiful smile, she said what I think
she said to at least some of you, too:
“Eden.
Like the garden.”
And,
I never forgot her name again.
Like
the garden.
Pretty
much everyone knows the story of the garden, right?
It’s
one of my favorite bible stories because it captures the human experience, the
human predicament.
God
loves us so much that God gives us all this goodness – all of this beauty – to appreciate,
to enjoy, to love, and to take care of.
But…because
we’re often selfish and disobedient and unfaithful, because we give into
temptation, we mess it all up.
We
human beings mess it all up in big ways – poisoning the good creation with our
toxins of fear and hatred and violence.
For
me, the most poignant part of the garden story is when the first man and woman
eat the forbidden fruit and they are ashamed – ashamed of their nakedness and
ashamed that they had disobeyed God.
They’re
so ashamed that they hide from God.
And,
God, who loves them, who loves us so much, comes through the garden, looking
for his people, calling out, “Where are you?”
“Where
are you?”
If
you know the story, you know that at the end the first man and woman are cast
out of the garden, sent out into the world where they need to work for their
food and will know suffering and death.
If
you didn’t know better, you’d think that’s the end of the story of God and us.
God
made us. We messed up. And, God’s done with us.
But,
of course, that’s not the end of the story of God and us - but simply just the
beginning.
Throughout
the centuries God has continued, through prophets and teachers, through the
glory of nature and the beauty of art, God has continued to call out to us, asking,
“Where are you?”
God
has continued to invite us to work with God to transform the world back to the
way it was always meant to be, to make the world once again like the garden.
For
us Christians, God’s clearest invitation is Jesus.
In
and through Jesus, in and through his life of perfect love and sacrifice, we
see life like the garden.
In
and through Jesus, in and through his resurrection (which, no accident, took
place in a garden) we see life like the garden.
Now,
just a quick look at the news tells us that we have a long way to go until we transform the world back to the way it was
always meant to be, until we get back to life like the garden.
But,
if we’re fortunate, in our lives we meet people who do answer God’s call, who
do their part, maybe more than their
part, to make life like the garden.
Our
most aptly-named sister did just that, didn’t she?
“Eden
like the garden” made life for us a liitle bit more like paradise, more like
the way things were always meant to be, more like the garden.
Like
the woman in today’s gospel story, Eden gave away what she had in loving
service to God and us, her sisters and brothers.
Often
when Eden arrived here in church she wouldn’t even say hi to me. Instead, she’d
stretch out her arms wide and simply say, “Fr. Tom. Hug.”
I
used to think she asked because she needed a hug but now I’m not so sure. Maybe
she sensed that I needed a hug – or that
we both did. I do know for sure
that they were some of the best hugs I ever got in my life.
Like
the garden.
Eden
shared her gorgeous voice so generously here and at Incarnation and NJCU and so
many other places, lifting our hearts, bringing tears to our eyes, with such
incredible beauty.
Like
the garden.
Eden
was wonderful with children, she loved them and they loved her – and, you know,
kids can tell who’s the real deal and who isn’t. I remember her working so
wonderfully with our camp kids and remaining a calm center during the chaos of
the Christmas pageant, helping to create something wonderful for everyone
present.
Like
the garden.
And,
I’ve been so moved these past couple of so sad weeks by the outpouring of love,
grief, and generosity from the family that she created here in Jersey City, so
many classmates and sorority sisters and parishioners who love her so much, who
know just how good it is to be her friend, to love her and be loved by her.
Like
the garden.
Now,
for Eden, it’s not “like the garden”
anymore.
No,
right now, our sweet sister is experiencing the real thing. She’s in the garden
with God where all her disappointments and fears and hurts are healed forever.
God
no longer calls out, “Where are you?” to Eden and Eden no longer needs to
search for God.
You
and I, though, we aren’t there yet.
No,
we’re still feeling that same shock of loss like when the first man and woman
seemed to have lost Eden forever.
But,
this isn’t the end.
It’s
just the beginning.
God
is still calling us, calling us right now, calling out to us, “Where are you?”
Right
here and now, God is calling us to follow Eden’s example, to continue her work,
to pour out our ointment, to give
away our lives lovingly and
beautifully, to do our part, maybe
even more than our part, to transform this broken world into what it was always
meant to be.
Eden.
Like the garden.
Amen.
Posts
