United Methodist Church Westlake Village

Finding Jesus in the Garden: How Easter Invites Us Back to Eden

• United Methodist Church Westlake Village

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What does a gardener have to do with Easter? Everything, as it turns out. Moving beyond the familiar imagery of empty tombs and stone rolled away, we explore how John's gospel subtly portrays the risen Christ as a gardener – a profound theological statement inviting us back into Eden, but this time with Jesus tending the garden alongside us.

Having journeyed through Lent using the Grace of Les Miserables as our guide, we reflect on the powerful garden imagery throughout scripture. From Eden's initial divine-human partnership, to Gethsemane's night of agonizing prayer, to Revelation's vision of restored paradise, gardens mark pivotal moments in our relationship with God. The Easter garden where Mary encounters the risen Christ completes this narrative arc, suggesting that resurrection isn't just about conquering death but about restoring us to our original purpose – co-creating with God.

Easter begins a fifty-day season of feasting that follows Lent's period of fasting. This isn't just about returning to chocolate or social media, but about intentionally nourishing ourselves on God's loving presence in the world. How often do we get lost in fear and frustration about our world rather than looking for where divine love is already powerfully at work? The Easter challenge is recognizing Christ in our midst, accepting his invitation to tend the garden together, and sharing its abundant harvest of love, peace, and justice with everyone we meet. Christ has conquered even the worst humanity could do, transforming death into life and inviting us to live in resurrection joy – not just today, but every day.

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Pastor Darren:

Well, you've got to love Easter. Amen In my mind. I really enjoy the journey of Lent, of taking this time to focus on myself, my faith, my spirit, and just really trying to dig in on it. And I tell you what it can be a tough journey, and so I feel like, when I hit Easter and I'm feeling that relief and that hope and that joy, I did Lent okay, I did it all right, and I'm feeling it today and I hope many of you are as well. Our journey this week or this Lent, we used Les Miserables curriculum, or this Lent, we used Les Miserables curriculum.

Pastor Darren:

A pastor out in Louisiana, named Pastor Matt Rall, wrote the Grace of Les Miserables, and for six weeks we've been reading about how God's love, god's grace, god's hope was lived out in this story that many of us have known already. How many of you have seen the Broadway show? Right? I mean a good amount of us, so there's a few of you who need to get to see that Broadway show, though One of the better ones. As it ends, the story lands us in this chapter about gardens, this chapter talking about gardens. In our scriptures, many of you will know about the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were initially started out in life God trying to work with humanity to make a beautiful world, to build God's kingdom. Unfortunately, we weren't quite ready, evidently, or maybe we were and it was a journey we had to take. Then there's another garden, kind of a darker, more somber garden, the one Jesus in Gethsemane, the night before he'd give his life. And then there's a third garden he mentions in Revelation. Revelation is our passage that looks into a future with God and in this particular vision, this particular future with God, we were understanding, maybe a reflection back to that Eden, back to that place where God had blessed us and was living with us and was looking to live life's journey with us. But he forgets one particular garden. It's the one in our passage today, the one where Mary, who has seen the empty tomb, goes and sits and weeping because she's wondering where Jesus has gone, not only with his death but also in his absence at this point, only to find this gardener, this gardener who she doesn't quite recognize, until she finally realizes it's Christ, it's Jesus. You know, to me I wonder if that story, if John's gospel, is trying to get us to understand that we are invited back into Eden. Only now it's with Jesus as the gardener, jesus as the one who will be with us, tending this garden, bringing it to its fruition, bringing it to its fruition, bringing it to its love, to its peace, to its joy, to its justice. We're back in Eden, but this time with Christ and able to live it out in more meaningful ways.

Pastor Darren:

Do you guys know that a lot of times we think of Lent as a season of fasting, self-denial? Did anybody give something up? Not a one of you. Okay, okay. Oh, maria, you gave something up. Are you willing to tell us? Did it work? Oh, good for you. What did you give up? I didn't really give up anything, but I limited my TikTok to an hour. Oh, a limitation on TikTok. All right, you got applause back there for my sister, so she's right with you. She's right with you. A limitation, yeah, it's that idea of oh, is there something I can work on? Is there something I can eliminate and fill it with God? Is there something I can add to my life? Right, that is kind of the journey we're invited to take over Lent.

Pastor Darren:

Easter is not just a day, but it's a season, a season of 50 days, landing us on Pentecost, and they call that the season of feasting Pentecost and they call that the season of feasting.

Pastor Darren:

We go from fasting to feasting.

Pastor Darren:

I think there's an invitation on Easter for us to embrace that idea of feasting, that we are now in the garden with Christ, where God wants us and God is inviting us to feast on the love that we know that we have seen existing in this world.

Pastor Darren:

It's so often we get lost in our fear, we get lost in our hopelessness, our frustrations about the world, and how often do we actually pivot the other way and look to where God is present, where God's love is strong, where we're being nourished, where we're being motivated and inspired to do the right thing, to do the loving thing? I think Easter should be a season where we feast on the presence of God amongst us. But it begs the question will we recognize it? Mary's in that garden and there's the gardener, but she doesn't know it's Jesus yet. She doesn't know that love is there in her midst. Will we be able to find that love? Will we be intentional enough to look for it and then maybe even take the next step to embrace it and to share it?

Pastor Darren:

I think that is our Easter invitation, not just for today but for this whole season. And who knows what, if we do it for 50 days and it becomes a habit, it becomes part of who we are, these people who recognize God's loving presence in the world and not only own it and embrace it, get nourished by it, but share it with the world. And not only own it and embrace it, get nourished by it, but share it with the world, building the kingdom God always wanted us to build. And why should we do it? Because he has risen. God has conquered the darkness that our world can bring, even the worst that our world can do. God sending God's only son to be in this world and our killing him is something God has turned into an embodiment of love, has turned into a nourishment of life, life as a bounty. I invite you to walk that journey this Easter season, and let's walk it because we know that Jesus has risen and love is real. Amen.