Gardening

Sermon for 18 March 2001, 11.15am Matins, St Mary Magdalen, Sheet, published on www.trikeshed.com

Bible reading: Luke 13:1-9

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth

Mrs Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858-1932)

I’ve always regarded this as rather sentimental Victorian stuff. Yes, you can be near God’s heart in a garden, but surely also in a prison cell, in a drug-ridden inner-city estate, in a hospital. But she does have a point – gardens are special. They certainly play a big part in the Bible. Let me read a few verses.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. Gen 2:8

I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. John 15:1-2

Luke 13:7-9 (today’s reading)

So Dorothy Gurney may be right, gardening is near to God’s heart. But even those three verses cover a huge range of activities and feelings. Just think about what gardening involves:

It is interesting to think of God as the gardener, as Jesus called his Father. God planting his garden – the first thing he did with his creation having created it. Preparing the soil, by carefully nurturing the special tribe of people, sending prophets when they went astray.

But then, the destructive side of gardening. Purging, pruning, getting rid of unfruitful branches, burning withered ones. We only have to think of gardening’s brother activity, agriculture, to see that sometimes great destruction is necessary, for the ultimate good of the animals [the foot-and-mouth disease crisis had just taken hold in the UK]. You cannot have a garden without that harsh element, rooting out what is bad. One of my childhood memories of my Dad is of him pruning the roses. They looked so sorry for themselves after he had dealt with them, but they grew back, more beautiful each time. The picture of the garden and the gardener is a rich one. We don’t have to think rigidly of God as gardener – it could also be Jesus, or us, or sometimes we are the garden.

In our reading today, Jesus gives a warning. This is Jesus the prophet. Unless you repent, unless you turn from your selfish ways, you will perish. In the big picture our actions will find us out, even though Jesus is at pains to point out that the suffering of individuals is not a personal judgment from God. But what has this to do with gardening? When you enjoy a garden, think not just of the big activities but all the little elements that come together. The gentle trimming of edges, sheets to protect magnolia from frost, jars with beer to catch slugs, handling delicate seedlings, hacking down unwanted conifers, sharpening lawnmower blades. All these sometimes bizarre actions come together to make something beautiful. This is God’s way.

The message that in the end you will reap what you have sown is a hard one, but just go back to our reading. Look at what happens. The correct thing to do with a fig tree with no fruit is to cut it down. You have to look at the bottom line. What you sow you will reap. Look at the signs. You’ve planted a useless fig tree, get rid of it! But listen! The gardener is suddenly at the centre of our story, and surprising us all – he is in control, and he is showing great patience and compassion. Leave it one more year. I’ll look after it. Let’s go beyond all that reason tells us, let’s give it another chance. Completely barmy idea – but if there is one picture of Jesus as gardener for us to take away then perhaps it should be this one. Because he really does go to ridiculous lengths to give us a chance to turn back to him. He is desperate in his love and mercy. He pleads on our behalf, for our forgiveness. Is it surprising? Remember the ultimate aim of the gardener, to make a beautiful, restful place to please and sustain us. He will act out of love.

There’s one more verse I’d like to share – special to us because it concerns our Mary Magdalene. It is Lent, but we are still allowed to peer through the gap in the hedge and beyond the cross, and eavesdrop on the risen Jesus speaking to Mary.

"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, "Mary." John 20:15-16a

She thought he was the gardener, and she was mistaken. But was she? What a wonderful irony that here was the Gardener. So, as we too stand and talk to him, as we share his

Maybe we really are nearer to God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth!

© Mike Knee, 2001

Home