April 17, 2022 Easter
First Lesson: 1 Corinthian 15:19-26
19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Second Lesson: John 20:1-18
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Last Sunday Pam was gracious enough to give me an extension ladder. She has been cleaning out her home anticipating her move and she had a 10 ft. light weight ladder. I asked Al if I could borrow his truck and I headed up to Boulder Creek. She has a beautiful home and as we walked around the luscious and vast gardens, we paused on the deck where there were several volunteer Japanese maple trees in pots. I admired one and soon it was making its way to the truck. I got a lesson on the right soil to use from Julie the master gardener. She shared that I needed to fill the pot with rich soil and to thoroughly wet it, soak it really, before planting the tree for the best result. This helps the tree roots to expand. The boys helped me get them out of the truck just in time for the rain to bless the tree the next day. I laughed out loud when I realized that life had just offered me a synopsis for our sermon series. A ladder and a living tree. We have spent Lent talking about being good enough and not climbing the ladder of success but instead nurturing the living and vital parts of our good enough faith and the abundance of God’s love. A ladder and a tree.
Lauren Daigle a Christian singer who sounds like Adele, has a song that sums up what we have been talking about throughout Lent. I thought it was call “I believe” because she sings that so often. But the song is entitled “You Say” and she is singing to God.
“I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low
Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know
You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe.”
We believe! He is Risen, He is risen Indeed! And it is our faith, our belief, that brings us here this Easter morning, the morning of hope, the morning of promise, the morning of resurrection. But Mary who bravely arrives at the tomb first, deep in grief, does not yet believe, rather calls Jesus not lord but gardener. This is not mistaken identity, but rather the story of salvation coming full circle, from God in the garden at creation to now Jesus resurrected from the tomb. This got me thinking about gardens and how they speak to our understanding of resurrection. Arguing for the resurrection, Paul calls Jesus the “first fruits.” As you know first fruits are the first of a harvest that is given to God as a thank offering. Here Paul asserts the fact “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died” (v. 20). So, Christ’s resurrection is not a singular event, but the first of many to follow, meaning we too will share in God’s destruction of death (v. 26). You and I will share in the resurrection to new life! Jesus is the first fruit, and we are part of the resurrection harvest! A harvest that starts today with our new life in Christ and continues after this life is through. God’s promise of new life in Christ.
Artist Claude Monet wrote, “My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” Now that is saying something. Another person wrote, “Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.” And in keeping with our good enough theme Janet Phillips wrote, “There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.” You might have noticed that you were given a seed packet in the bulletin to encourage you to try your hand at gardening, at growing and tending to a small seed and see what miracle grows from faith, nurture and hope.
Kate Bowler writes in a chapter entitled A Good Gardener, “Gardening requires a certain kind of hope, envisioning new life in the midst of despair and death. Gardeners toil and trowel, pluck and prune, all for a single bloom. (A gardener knows the kind of hope it takes to sow a seed in the ground, to cover it with manure, to bury it in the cold winter dirt surrounded by naked trees, 228) The very act of gardening is one of hope. And it’s the exact kind of hope that a woman was hunting for that first Easter morning” (Good Enough, p. 226).
Mary arrives while it is still dark, discovers the empty tomb, and runs to tell the disciples. When the other disciple looks in the tomb, “he saw and believed.” Yet after they leave, Mary remains alone in the garden. Bowler continues, “(Mary) peers inside the tomb again. This time, it isn’t empty. But she doesn’t see who she is looking for. Two people dressed in white sit where Jesus once lay…. “Heaving through sobs, (Mary) tells them what’s wrong. ‘They’ve…taken… him.’ Then turning to leave, Mary nearly bumps into a man with dirt under his fingernails. He too asks her, ‘Why are you crying?’ Through tear-blurred eyes, she mistakes him for the gardener and begs him to tell her where Jesus’ body lies. What a strange detail: the resurrected Christ is mistaken for a gardener. Maybe it’s because he stole the gardener’s clothes since his were stripped and gambled over. Maybe because where Jesus was crucified was a garden. A tiny, beautiful detail that reminds us that death is never too far from new life. Maybe because Jesus looks like his dad, the first gardener, who tended Eden barefoot… Maybe he looks ready to cultivate new life, to pull us toward resurrection with his fingers digging in among the worms. Or maybe this gardener looks like he knows something about hope- hope that Mary desperately needs” (Good Enough, p. 228).
We need hope too, especially when life gets hard. Easter is God’s quintessential provision of hope. Craig Barnes, the President of Princeton Seminary writes, “Earlier this week, an old couple received a phone call from their son who lives far away. The son said he was sorry, but he wouldn’t be able to come for a visit over the holidays after all. “The grandkids say hello.” They assured him that they understood, but when they hung up the phone, they didn’t dare look at each other….
Earlier this week, someone received terrible news from a physician. Someone else heard the words, “I don’t love you anymore.” Earlier this week, someone’s hope was crucified. And the darkness is overwhelming. No one is ever ready to encounter Easter until he or she has spent time in the dark place where hope cannot be seen. Easter is the last thing we are expecting…This day is not about bunnies, springtime and girls in cute new dresses. It’s about more hope than we can handle (Savior at Large, The Christian Century, March 13-20, 2002 p. 16).
“The resurrection of hope itself” (Kate Bowler, 223).
Bowler writes, “Mary doesn’t recognize that the gardener is Jesus- not until he calls her by name. Like a gardener who can name every variation of plant… What is it about this voice that feels so recognizable? What is it about your name on a familiar tongue that feels so comforting? Finally, Mary knows. “Rabbouni” she exhales the weight of despair.” (And She believes!) Maybe that is what it means to be an Easter person- to see Christ and think, Gardener, not as a mistaken identity but a prophetic one. The seed in the ground, the body in the tomb- this is a picture of defiant hope. All of the labor and sweat and love and precious time for a single bloom. Delicate and bold. (Good Enough, Kate Bowler, p. 230-31).
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. I Believe!
Alleluia Amen.
