The Gardener and Easter

In simple humility, let our gardener God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

(James 1:21)

Christianity is not turning over a new leaf, its starting a new life. The goodness of the gospel at Easter and every other day of our life, is not what we can do for Jesus but what Jesus has already done for us. What is the greater threat to the Gospel? The self righteousness of good people? Or the unrighteousness of bad people?

When this writer was younger and more energetic, I would walk the five blocks from my townhouse in the city where I lived to the church where I was a member. One beautiful Sunday morning on my walk down Front Street, a girl was sitting on a stoop across from the notorious bar called The Barbary Coast. Now there was no doubt that I was on my way to church, suited, carrying my bible. It is unusual for anyone to ask a blind man about anything, but this girl asked me if I could give her a dollar. I said: "Of course I can, here is a dollar for you and I want God to bless you." Of course I knew she was planning to go across the street and spend the money at the bar.

Later, at lunch with some members of the First Baptist Church, I relayed the incident. They felt that I should not have given her money for a drink. Perhaps not, but as I said to them, "This girl knew her condition, today in the church house we had people sitting all around us who I honestly believe, are deceived about theirs." We simply have no idea how much baggage most people carry around, both inside the church and out.

It is at Easter that we share our blessed Lord's agony, the wrath of his father-- sin of the world, which he carried to the cross. Easter is a time of new beginnings. Hidden foliage, coming forth in full bloom. In my city, we have beautiful azaleas, lilacs, dogwood.

The thrill of springtime, Easter; always brings the memory of my grandmother working in her garden, An old lady, Miss.Ida, working in her garden. Like my mother, grandmothers and most of the worlds population, people love the beauty of flowers as well as vegetables growing. How better could God show his love for beauty to us?

There are two Gardens mentioned in the bible. Of course, this world traveler has seen beautiful gardens all over the world; but just think of the beauty of the Garden of Eden: everything perfect there... Every thorn-less flower, beautiful in color and smell. I imagine just miles of God tending to flawless landscaped beauty. You know that when he looked over it and called it good, it was beautiful. (Gen 1:31)

The problem that still exists: God showed us that he is boss, that he has certain parameters. There was just one tree in that beautiful garden, "don't touch that tree." In the garden of Eden, Adam failed, chose the spirit of death instead of the spirit of life. In that other garden, Garden of Gethsemane, ugly-nasty-flies-stray dogs, Christ was crushed. The first man Adam failed, the second man Jesus triumphed; both in a garden... God the gardener.

The Romans crucified thousands of human beings every year. At the time of Jesus, a large percentage of the worlds population were slaves. He delivered us from our slavery and took on all of our rotten sins. The second Adam gave humanity the spirit of life... a free gift.

The best memory I have of my maternal grandmother, returning from her garden carrying a hoe... always with her large apron carrying vegetables which she had picked from her garden. In God's marvelous grace and mercy, he created on this earth every chemical we would ever need for anything. There is no excuse for the multiplicity of sicknesses which afflict our population. There is no excuse for the epidemics involving food intake such as diabetes. When I was in school, cancer and diabetes were rare diseases. It is all a matter of treatment from the Supreme Gardener... The great position. What better time than Easter to center our thoughts on self control? God has supplied our every need, Jesus has supplied our every escape.

Just as 16.4% of our population between the ages 16-64 has sexually transmitted diseases, life is a matter of liberty in Christ, but recognizing that we "wrestle" against the power of evil.(Ephisians 6:12)

The two greatest events in the Gospel message, have been so distorted... Christmas with its spending, spreeing, tinsel and decorated trees. Easter with its rabbits laying colored eggs. The greatest sound in the history of the world was a baby's cry in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. The greatest event in the history of the world was the resurrected grown body, having been crucified for the sins of the world on that first Easter. All history-beauty-intelligence revolves around this one solitary life, God putting on a tent of flesh and dwelling among us. Jesus must have enjoyed, although God, living on this earth with his friends (It give this writer joy to think that Jesus enjoyed good food with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, fishing with his disciples). After suffering cruelty beyond belief, he was still willing to ask his Father to forgive them, for they didn't know what they were doing. (Luke 23:34)

On this Easter and everyday, those of us who bear his name, who have a personal relationship with him, should rejoice in our knowledge of what happened in these two gardens supervised by the gardener who created the world and everything in it.

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Pentecost Sunday

This Sunday, June 12th is Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church. 50 days after the Resurrection, ten days after Ascension Thursday, the blessed day when the Holy Spirit of God descended upon the disciples and followers of Christ.

Pentecost is given in the second chapter of the Book of Acts: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4) The apostle Peter proclaimed the Gospel in his greatest sermon, declaring the prophecy of Joel and there was added to the church at that one time, 3000 members.

Tradition tells us that King Arthur and his knights celebrated Pentecost. Poets throughout the centuries have enthralled us with Pentecost because of springtime, the renewal of life, new beginnings, flowers, and new growth on trees. Shakespeare mentions Pentecost in his play Romeo and Juliet: “What, man? 'Tis not so much, 'tis not so much! 'Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio, Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, Some five-and-twenty years, and then we mask'd.”

Greenery is used for the decoration of churches for this special celebration, along with the singing of Pentecost hymns. Brass instruments are used to signify the gushing winds in the descent of the Holy Spirit. I was in a great ornate Cathedral in Taormina, Sicily on Pentecost Sunday, flower petals were thrown from the upper gallery, symbolic of the falling of the Holy Spirit.

However you celebrate this great event in the life of the Christian church, the descent of the Holy Spirit into the lives of believers, the greatest power/gift the human mind can imagine, the very power of Creator/God alive in the mortal being...we have the comfort of knowing this power is available continuously. That which is promised in light is always available in darkness.

We have this power in times of economic problems: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (Matthew 6:25-32) I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. (Psalm 37:25) When God says something, He means it. He will be standing at the corner when you get there. He does not promise you riches but the needs of the day. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew 6:34-35).

We have this power in times of disease and sickness. If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. (Exodus 15:26) When you go to the Lord's table in remembrance of Calvary, in remembrance of what He did for you, remember 700 years before the cross, Isaiah told us that He would take all the infirmities, all our diseases to the cross: But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) If only for the remission of our sin, we just need the wine at the Communion table, but with the bread, His stripes, we are healed. Do not forget in the darkness of disease/sickness/surgery, that what He promised us in darkness, we can believe in the light, and what He promised us in light, we can believe in darkness.

We have this power in times of anxiety, stress, nervous breakdown. He has promised us peace: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27) 365 times in God's Word He tells us not to fear.

We have this power in times of guilt. Forgiven, He does not remember our sins anymore. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12) What a sweet relief to know that you do not spend your life in regret. Perhaps, if we had been sitting with Peter and the other disciples on the day of Pentecost and Peter had risen to speak, we might have said to him, "having denied your Lord three times, Him giving you the chance, three times, for your telling that you love Him. If I were you, Peter, I would stay quiet." But Peter, remembering the enemy's fire from which he warmed himself, remembering the fire on the shore of Galilee where Christ prepared food, knew forgiveness, knew the descent of the Holy Spirit. He preached such a sermon that 3000 were saved on that day, people who could not look back at the Cross, people who knew nothing of ancient manuscripts/prophets/promises, people who saw the eclismic experiences of disciples and heard the words of a true believer. This is the vitality-victory of Pentecost.