This Sunday, July 22nd, at our 8:30
am service, we continue our reflections on favorite hymns. During this series, we have explored some of
my congregation’s favorite hymns and the scripture which undergirds them.
This Sunday we will examine the
hymn, In the Garden. The first verse and refrain go like this:
“I come to the garden alone
while
the dew is still on the roses
and
the voice I hear falling on my ear,
the
Son of God discloses
(Refrain)
“And
he walks with me,
and
he talks with me,
and
he tells me I am his own;
and
the joy we share as we tarry there,
none
other has ever known.”
This hymn
was written by C. Austin Miles in 1913.
Miles was an American song writer, credited with writing 398 songs, as
well as the music for 8 more.
For most of my life, I have imagined
that the garden reference in this hymn was to a beautiful and well cared for
residential garden—or, perhaps to a beautiful municipal garden. Afterall, many people feel especially close
to the Divine in peaceful garden settings.
A garden can offer an intersection point, where the sacred and profane
meet in natural awesome beauty and quiet tranquility. Some of my most profound spiritual
experiences have occurred in the awesome splendor of nature, generally – and of
gardens, in particular.
However, as I researched this hymn
in preparation for the series, I was surprised to discover that the attributed
scriptural foundation for this hymn is the story of the empty tomb and Christ’s
Resurrection on Easter morning; specifically, John 20: 11-18:
“But Mary
stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the
tomb; 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. 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.” When she had said this, she
turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was
Jesus. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 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.’” 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.”
Of all scriptural stories about Jesus’ resurrection, I believe that
this resurrection story is the most poignant and personal. In their exchange, we see a special intimacy
between Mary Magdalene and Jesus; it is the close, affirming relationship of
student and teacher. Mary turns and see
Jesus, but she does not recognize him at first.
It is only when Jesus speaks here name, “Mary!” that suddenly Mary
recognizes Jesus. And, she responds with
a Hebrew term of endearment for a beloved rabbi or teacher: “Rabbouni!”
Gail O’Day has noted that, in the Gospel of John, an important theme is
Jesus’ glorification, or exaltation. This glorification consists of his death,
resurrection, and ascension. In the
fourth gospel, the metaphor for Jesus’ glorification is to be “lifted up.” In all three moments, Jesus is “lifted up.”[1]
1.
Jesus is
lifted up on the cross. Unlike the other gospels, which see Jesus’
crucifixion as a shameful defeat in need of explanation, for the Gospel of John
the crucifixion begins his glorification.
2.
Three
days later, on Easter morning, Jesus is again lifted up through the Resurrection.
3.
Finally,
after 40 days, Jesus is lifted up
at the Ascension, when he ascends into Heaven.
Although
the exchange where Mary Magdalene recognizes the resurrected Christ is a
beautiful, intimate, poignant moment, the pivotal verse comes just after that,
when Jesus tells Mary to go and proclaim the good news of his resurrection and
ascension to his disciples and other followers.
Jesus instructs her to go and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father
and your Father, to my God and your God.”
This “double-identification” formulation (“my Father and your Father, my
God and your God”) confers a new relationship upon Christ’s disciples and
followers.
Gail O’Day nicely underscores the
crucial importance of this call:
“Through Jesus’ ascension, the believing community receives a new
identity. His ascension is the
confirmation that the believing community now knows God as Jesus knows God,
that Jesus has opened up the possibility of new and full relationship with
God. The intimacy of Jesus’ relationship
with God the Father…now marks the believing community’s relationship with God.”[2]
I observed earlier that a garden can
offer an intersection point, where the sacred and profane meet in natural,
awesome beauty and quiet tranquility.
For me, then, it is not surprising that this pivotal moment in Mary
Magdalene’s relationship with Jesus occurs in a garden. Similarly, it is in this same garden that
Jesus proclaims his great victory—his glorification – and how this includes the
believing community. Because of Christ’s
three-step glorification, his disciples enter into a new relationship with
God—a relationship of love, joy, and intimacy—and therefore we gain a new
identity as beloved by God.
If you live in the Lincoln,
Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to come and
join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, July 22nd. During our 8:30 am service, I will reflect on
the hymn, In the Garden, and its
message that we have entered into a new relationship with God and have been
given a new identity as God’s beloved.
However, I will not be preaching at our second service at 11:00 am. That service will be a celebration of our
church’s Vacation Bible School (VBS), which was just completed. At the 11 am service, the proclamation will
be provided by the VBS kids. Come and
join us at either service at Christ United Methodist Church, located at 4530 A
Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Everyone is welcome and accepted because
God loves us all.
[1]
Gail R. O’Day, Commentary on the Gospel of John in the New Interpreter’s Bible, vol 9, (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2002),
CD-ROM Edition.
[2]
Ibid.
No comments:
Post a Comment