In The Garden

IN THE GARDEN

Luke 22; Matthew 26

Its that crippling kind of pain that leaves you curled in a ball unable to move.   It leaves you dehydrated from crying for days on end.  It finds you sitting staring at the wall for an hour unable to fathom the why because you don't have the energy or motivation to move.   Many people know what I’m talking about.  Not pain of the body, (though that can certainly be bad too with disease and injury) but pain of a broken soul and a broken heart.

A friend is in the garden right now.  His relationship fell like apart like mist.  Appears that his partner lost faith in him and doesn't want him around anymore.  He is heartbroken, soul broken.  His voice cracks.  His faith in God remains but his faith in life and the world, in someone he trusted,  right now that’s a different story.  His faith in himself…that too is sorely wounded.

I am reminded of Jesus.  On the wall in my home office is an embroidered picture of Jesus kneeling in prayer in the Garden of Gethsamane.  It was a gift from my wife on my ordination day March 24^th 24 years ago.  (Its ironic that I fell and hurt myself having to be off work on the 25^th of March.  My last day in the office was the 24^th of March 24 years after my ordination.  But I digress.  ) 

Life is not without irony.  It was a Thursday night when my friend found out his life was changing forever.  It was a Thursday night when Jesus found Himself also in the garden.    The Garden of Gethsamane:  it was there on that holy ground that the tears of Jesus fell like blood from His eyes.  “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:43)

Jesus knew what was coming.  I don’t believe that made it easier.  I believe it made it harder.  Jesus had just that night had a meal with his disciples. He was desperate to be with them.  “And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.”  He had gave them not just counsel and friendship and love, in the years He had been with them,  but He gave them Himself body and soul.  He had taken a loaf and a cup and through these had given them everything He was and had.   These were His friends.  He loved being with them.  Twelve men gathered around Him in common purpose.  But not all.

Judas.  One had already decided something was wrong, that he knew better; that Jesus was the problem. There are so many theories about why Judas did what He did.  Some think that he was trying to motivate Jesus to change course, to fix the world as Judas believed it needed fixed.  Others go along the lines that he gave up on Jesus, that he thought Jesus was a fraud.    Maybe Judas even came to believe Jesus was dangerous for his people.  Whatever it was Judas didn’t arrive there by himself and likely not overnight.  Judas sat around talking and listening not just to Jesus but to the other disciples.  And they listened to him.  And what did that talk about.  What was said that  could make Judas so convinced he was right, so self-assured that he knew the right course was to get rid of Jesus.  I don’t know but with how Judas was impacted in guilt after Jesus died, it only makes sense to me that Judas thought in his heart of hearts that he was doing the right thing and somehow was locked into a train of thought that he became blind..  Somehow he had become convinced that it was  better even necessary that Jesus had to be handed over into hands of his known enemies.  Even if it means his destruction and the end of His ministry.

Every now and then we hear a bit of conversation recorded in the Gospels.  We get a piece of it that night.  “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.”  Judas must have thought he was "better" than Jesus.  Smarter.  More right.  More...fill in the blank.  More whatever needed to be to justify his betrayal.  .  Judas wasn't just focused on being the greatest of the disciples, he though he was greater than Jesus Himself.   

Jesus had said “ye shall not be so…”  He who seeks to be the greatest should be the servant of all.  Servant of the people.  Just as Jesus was doing.  For Jesus knew this was His last supper with them.  He’d never sit down with them again.  He would never share the bread or the cup with them again, not in this life.  “And behold the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.” 

Jesus understands that crippling kind of pain when the one you loved and who you were convinced loved you has a turn of heart and decides life is better without you in it.  Jesus knew what was coming.  In the dark of the morning hours while the rest slept, in the dark so  the people couldn’t  do anything to stop it,  in the garden Judas in his self-righteousness, gave Jesus over with one last kiss on his cheek pretending to be noble but in truth a scoundrel.

My friend is grieving all the “lasts”.  The last suppers.  The last kiss.  The last sitting around the fire with his family.  The last of so many things.  And he is broken.  And Jesus knows.   Jesus understands because He was there before us.

Jesus had had enemies who wanted to remove Him.  Matthew 21:46 tell us they sought to arrest him but were afraid of the people.  In a way the people Jesus ministered to kept his enemies in check.  And it is not lost on us that Jesus' enemies were those who were supposed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. But in their arrogance and self-assurance, they had become blind to the truth of God while convinced they were upholding the truth of God.  In the light of the day in public they were afraid of the people, and so they kept up the pretense of being noble and holy. 

But gardens are messy.  Beautiful in the light of day but in the dark they are messy sometimes dangerous places.  All the Pharisees needed was just one disciple to see it their way.  The devil moves in the night doing his best work behind the scenes.      Betrayals are often negotiated behind closed doors (Matthew 26:15) in the private places in the dark away from seeing eyes only known when the deed is done. Jesus was put to trial in the darkness of night, behind closed doors away from the eyes of the community after being betrayed by the disciple who convinced himself he was doing the right thing.

Gardens are not always what they look like.  We can forget taken in by their beauty but we forget that a time long ago there was a snake in the garden that whispered into ears “you can’t trust God”.  You just can’t.  Eve… you didn’t just misunderstand, says Satan, God lies to you. Satan is always trying to take apart what God has put together.  Sometimes he succeeds.  Jesus says, “the thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy;”(John 10:10)  Eve didn’t buy in right away but she did buy in eventually.  And she brought her husband and partner along.  She was created and given vocation by God to be his helper and she would help him fall.  And He would join her.  He would claim it is all her fault, I had nothing to do with it.  It is human nature to think we are right and everyone else wrong; the other, not I the one at fault.  It is human nature to deny the truth of our own sin.    At least now it is for together Adam and Eve would bring their whole world into brokenness and sin and grief.   That is not to diminish that people do hurt others, but sometimes we hurt ourselves too. We forget it takes two to dance the dance.  Not until we are alone and the music fades may it dawn on us.  My friend is facing the truth of this too.  Sometimes we want to jump out of the dance but we find we can't.  The sad truth is my friend was willing to face the music, to work out the issues, but... well the other half was unwillingly.  It is hard for him to understand how someone he was once close isn't even willing to try.

Judas must have been close to Jesus for some time.  He was one of the twelve.  But by Thursday night, Judas had his mind made up.  There was no backing down.  Jesus had to go.

Jesus was in the garden to repair it.  Not to erase it by removing the thorns.  Not to use His divine power like a magic wand to simply make it better or make it all go away.  Jesus was in the garden because we put him there.  He suffered our transgressions.  He was bruised for our iniquities.  It was on us.  It was our fault.  But someone has to the price because when it all goes south we can’t fix it on our own.  So Jesus is in the garden with us. 

But that night Jesus was alone.  Crying out in His misery, His brokenness, alone in the dark hours of the night crying out to the only one there in the moment, His Father.  He was betrayed.  He was betrayed by people closest to him, people who should have known better, people who should have been trustworthy but were not.  He was rejected.  He was denied by two of his closest friends.   Judas and Simon.  And the rest would scatter.   Only one along with some women would watch with compassion from a distance powerless to change anything.  I pray that everyone has a "one" when they are in the garden because without a one it would be a very lonely place indeed.

Adam and Eve didn’t have a one.  They had helped each other into the darkest place possible.  And when God came walking all they knew was fear.   To run.  To hide.  To escape.  God would be their one.  Yes there was judgment but there was compassion.  And God acknowledged they were not alone in this, they had been betrayed.  God had compassion and promised one day a redeemer.  They wouldn’t live to see it.  Their life as they knew it was destroyed. Their memories would haunt them.   Life would be a pale shadow of what it was just yesterday.  But one day in a heavenly kingdom there would be healing because God promised Jesus would enter the garden and suffer there with us. 

My friend is in the garden.   He is passing through the late hours of Maundy Thursday into Friday.  He is now waiting for that final pronouncement that it is finished.  Your union is now dissolved.   I pray that rest comes for him on Saturday and an Easter with something new.  Its hard for him to see it right now.   The world is not a friendly garden all the time.  And people are people.  They are broken and they break one another.  And it’s a fairy tale that humpty dumpty gets put back together the same way after a great fall.  

Its like a fire.  You sense something is off.  You can smell the smoke but its a low smolder.  It can wait, it can be tolerated.  Then suddenly it bursts into flame and too late you find out someone was in the darkness throwing gasoline on it with impure motive.  Now it can happen that we burn down our lives by ourselves, but it can also happen that others commit a metaphorical arson and set our lives on fire to clear out room for what they want.  (Get someone's spouse, someone's job, someone's inheritance, just name your poison).  People say something good will come out of it.  Perhaps.  Sometimes something new and wonderful does rise out of the ashes: some new learning, some new opportunity, a new direction, a new path.  But sometimes to be honest it doesn't.  Sometimes what follows is as for Adam and Eve a pale shadow of what was.  People can do damage to the lives of others.   Life is interdependent and people have a great deal of impact on one another, more than we may be willing to admit.    The family grieving the loss of a loved one because a stranger chose to drink and drive, the affair that destroys a marriage and leaves wounds in the children, breaking into a widows home during the funeral and taking treasured keepsakes, someone works behind the scenes to destroy your reputation and career and you never work in the field of your passion again (again, name your poison).  Life is better if we think before we act.  God put those commandments in there about coveting other people's spouses, jobs, and other stuff because he knows how much hurt is caused when we cross boundaries and destroy other people's lives.  But it still happens.  Sometimes things change and there is no returning to Eden.  Sometimes Gethsemane is all that is left.  Sometimes reality is, well... real.  But Easter still comes.

Easter is real.  Heaven is real.  This world may not have answers.  This life for some may hold that crippling kind of pain that lingers and leaves scars even after it heals.  I think most people have some kind of scar.   But God has entered the garden with us.  Twice.   When humanity fell and when He came to save us. And He does save us.  Not the way our broken heart wants by  bringing it all back the way it was.  But rather through forgiveness and a promise that one day what we shall know will make all this fade in comparison. 

Even as Jesus prepared himself that night, the night of Maundy Thursday, the night of the Last Supper, the night of Holy Communion and unholy dissolution,  for that which was coming, (For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. Luke 22:37) He still loved them.  He still loved them all.  Even as they grew so weary of it all and slept and left Jesus to deal with it alone, He loved them.  He suffered alone.  It hurt him, but He loved them. 

My friend feels very alone right now.  He knows his life is forever changed.  His partner chose a different path.  And he knows that it is what it is.  Jesus is with you my friend.  Jesus was there before you.  Jesus hasn’t abandoned you.  All the world may abandon.  Your family might abandon you.  Your spouse, your lover, your partner, your best friends all may abandon you for all kinds of reasons they know are right.  But Jesus will never ever abandon you.  Why?  Because it happened to Him first.

 

Fixins: If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

If you google the phrase, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" you will find the following definition.

If something is reasonably successful or effective,

there is no need to change or replace it.

Can I get an amen?

Ironically how this old axiom is seen somewhat differently today in many circles. You will find people criticizing this saying and approach as obsolete saying in maintaining the status quo you stymie change. Take the quote from Bill Gates in the photo to the right.  Our culture has moved to embracing the idea that change for the sake of change is somehow necessarily better and that heritage is most likely obsolete, ineffective, likely even oppressive.  This author thinks this viewpoint is full of stuffing.


We could write a book about all the influences that are informing the drive for change. And this author is not arguing that change cannot lead to improvement.  But there is too often this rush to judgment of the heritage (what people will label the status quo) and a rush into change with the assumption it must lead to something better.

There is even a leadership model that is designed around deliberately shaking up the system to create change.  In this model the leader or leadership team deliberately introduce conflict, anxiety, or instability into the system to shake it up.   The assumption here is that the weak and ineffective aspects of the system will then either drop away or be destroyed allowing its stronger parts to flourish and bring in change and greater function.

The roots of this methodology are planted all the way in the middle 1800s with the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Charles Darwin.  Nietzsche was a philosopher of culture examining how people live and make their lives together.  One of his most famous expressions is "will to power".  Now Nietzsche didn't have much appreciation for absolutes or outside authorities imposed on humanity and hence didn't have a great deal of appreciation for the Christian concept of God and our human relations to God.  In fact his statement "God is dead" is one of his most well known claims in which he sought to communicate the value of the concept of God for humanity had been gutted and was hence dead to the human race.  He believed all human behavior came down to one thing:  survival.  Hence the "will to power".   All human dynamics in his eyes were about people trying to come to power over the other.  He was critical of the herd instincts that he saw as people with power using to keep other people in their powerless and servant state.  It is a good thing according to him when people break free of the herd.   This uber mensch or "over man" will have his own independent and free values and he is free from all the influences that dominate most people (the herd) and creates independent thinking over against the herd instinct.   One can read in Nietzsche a justification that some are superior and not all are capable of breaking free of the herd so it is a good thing when the right "over man" is in charge.  We know from history that the fascists and Nazi party took his philosophy to heart and used it as a justification to build the theory of a master race.

Nietzsche came after Darwin who was a product of the earlier 1800s.  Darwin influenced Nietzsche in that Nietzsche was deeply shaped by Darwin's teaching that no species is unchanging, that the world is not built on eternal fixity but rather in pervasive change.  Out of Darwin we find the theory of evolution and the premise of the "survival of the fittest" as being in the best interest of life.  Hence again the seeds of the "over man."

Now we jump over many links in the chain of history to today.  There are many influences in today's culture that suggest change is superior to heritage.   New is better than old.  And unfortunately the idea "if it ain't broke, break it" is becoming more operative.  One influential philosopher of what has come to be known as the postmodern era is Jacques Derrida whose advocated for an approach to culture and society called deconstruction.  Now what follows is a simplistic explanation but in general Derrida and his proponents following the idea of "social evolution" and believing that humanity has fallen into locked and stagnant systems of doing things, call for the general deconstruction of social rules, norms and institutions.  It is not enough to destroy but to deconstruct.  They need to be taken apart down to their very base components so they leave a vacuum.  Only in this vacuum can something new and truly progressive be given birth.  What that would look like no one knows it is so radically new.  But in this postmodern revolt against absolutes, authorities, foundations, even truth itself for in their eyes nothing exists for how humans live their lives but what we have fabricated for ourselves, nothing is sacred. 


 Of course as Christians we see the lie and the danger in these ideas.  All of them.  For God is.  Truth is.  Foundations do exist.  Humanity is a created being and we live our lives within boundaries and parameters created and defined by God.  It is true that God gives us a great deal of wiggle room between the boundaries for how we build our lives together.  But only a person blind to the greater whole and to God Himself would think all things human are all things fabricated by humanity alone.


So we return to the idea of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".  I think back to my seminary days.  I didn't hear this phrase in seminary but it did inform my theological education.  Lutheran theology (at least in the LCMS) finds great value in its heritage and finds ultimate and unquestionable value in the given foundation of the truths of Holy Scripture.  You could sum up four years of seminary education with "this is the truth of God, it isn't broken so don't go trying to fix it!".   But unfortunately the seminary doesn't always do such a great job of teaching how this applies to coming into a congregation and shepherding a group of people.  That most pastors have to learn in the trenches.

Most pastors learn pretty quickly when they come into a new pastorate that its been there a lot longer than they have.  I started out with two small churches (a dual parish) of farming folk for the most part.  And they had their way of doing church.  They had their way of doing worship, fellowship, serving their community, even paying the bills.  We call this "congregational culture".  When a new pastor starts out with his shiny black clerical (its new) and his pristine white collar (hasn't gotten dirty yet) he comes in by virtue of his call and his being new with so many pastor points.  A smart pastor will invest those points in gaining more points (think influence points) through listening, learning, relationship building and respecting congregational culture.

Now I can hear the criticism almost immediately "but what if they are doing something wrong, shouldn't I correct it?"  There is a lot to this question. First, is it really wrong?  It is plain flat out wrong against Biblical teaching?  Or is it just not the way you the pastor are used to or have become convinced it must be done.  Now it is true Scripture lays out some clear do's and don'ts for human life even how we do church.  But sometimes we can confuse what we think is wrong with what is really our belief that this is better than that when in truth God has left the church a degree of freedom in that regard.  For example in one church I was a bit uncomfortable because for communion all they had were trays of singles, there was not even a chalice.  Now I could have made a big deal about it and soon but it would have required me to spend "pastor points" and started me off as being one critical of their culture.  Instead I recognizing that God doesn't really care as its not in His book, I adjusted my preferences and respected the culture and they never knew it was even a challenge for me.

When a pastor respects the culture of the congregation it shows respect for the people.  It was their church long before it was his.

When I came into my most recent congregation they were grieving a huge loss.  Their beloved pastor of thirty years had died suddenly.  But the congregation was healthy and stable and passed through this time of grief and loss well continuing to grow.  In my first years at the congregation I confirmed more adults than in twenty years of previous ministry.  The congregation had its act together.  I came to realize the culture was built around three main pillars that worked for people:   traditional liturgical worship without being too formal or high church, a strong emphasis on Christian education (lots of offerings and lots and lots of participation, more than I've ever seen in other churches), and a deep care and concern for one another.  Now of course they were a Biblical church thoroughly grounded in Scripture and Gospel.  But what made people stay and return when they visited was these three things creating a healthy and stable system.

When I first arrived I was newly retired from the military and serving as their vacancy pastor (it is a God story about how I became their Senior Pastor).  Now vacancy pastors almost by instinct knowit is not their place to create change.  They are to maintain stability and ministry until the new person is in place.   But even when I accepted the call I intentionally did not institute change. For instance they were in the process of changing the altar paraments when their pastor had died.  I asked them to wait for awhile to finish this to avoid a big change in a very visible cultural element so early in my pastorate.  Why?  To maintain stability and demonstrate respect.    I deliberately learned the congregational culture.  How do they worship?  What is said and when?  How is it said?  How does the pastor stand?  Where does he stand?  ?  (We had an associate who was trained by the former Senior so I took ques from him.)  What hymns do they sing?   How do they do the holy seasons of Lent and Advent, Easter and Christmas.  When are Bible classes offered?   And so forth.  Now of course I couldn't be the previous guy.  For one thing I didn't know him well enough and for another every pastor is their own person.  But you can learn the culture and your can respect it and by respecting it you respect the people and show you love them.

Now there is a big difference between a church and a business.  Bill Gates may have made a fortune and built a massive company by not listening to "if it ain't broke don't fix it".  As I understand it Google is intentional on not slipping into heritage and legacy ways of doing things.  Most leadership theory is geared around the creation of change.  But the church is built on something not built by human hands.  It is built on the Gospel.  It is not a business or a company.  It is not a social organization like a club.  The church is a family.  It is the family of God in a place and time.

The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. 

And we really are his children. 

1 John 1:3

If we are God's children that means like it or not we are family and our fellow Christian believers are our very real brothers and sisters.  Family by blood, the blood of Christ.  Healthy families are ones that have a degree of stability.  They can certainly adjust to change when it comes but they are very careful and intentional about change asking if that change brings value.  For families need something in common, some stable ground.  When a family system becomes to unstable it falls or even flies apart.

Many new pastors make the mistake of coming in and saying I know a better way.  Maybe you do.  Maybe you don't.  But the reality is the church you come into has a way of doing things.  Maybe it functions well and is healthy.  Maybe it functions but it isn't so healthy.  But the key is this:  knowing what should be changed and why, knowing when, and knowing what should be left alone because it works.  And a wise pastor will listen when the folks communicate they don't like a change or they would like a change. (in the area of adiaphora) There is a very big difference between changing the way a church does worship for example because you are convinced from your personal values, beliefs, or even training that their way isn't quite good enough to realizing the way the church does something excludes others and saying that might need to change.  But even when change is necessary, the wise pastor gets buy in from his flock.  Seeking to understand congregational culture, adapt oneself to it as a pastor, and respecting it and the people doesn't mean having to sign off on unhealthy dysfunction.  But it does mean going slow.  Gaining respect.  Gaining their love and letting them know you love them before you ask them to let go of things that maybe they need let go of and adopting some new ways of doing things.  But when they have learned you love them with a deep abiding and respectful love they will more like to hear and follow.  When you go to fast and push from a position of "I'm the pastor, you the parishioner" too often the wheels fall off and people get hurt.   A church is a family system.  Too much instability and it can fall apart at least to a degree.

And there is a flip side too.  It also means recognizing the difference in oneself as a pastor between personal preferences and God given necessities.  Too often we pastors fall into the trap of thinking our personal way has to be the best way.  It is understandable because our personal values have all sorts of reinforcing layers in our brains from experience and learning telling us this is the way the world (and the church) is supposed to be.

Yes change comes.  It is the nature of reality.  There are things that certainly don't change.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The Gospel does not change.  God's grace is ours through Word, Baptism and Communion.  But there is so very much about "how we do church" that falls into the area of not commanded nor forbidden (what theologians call adiaphora).  This author believes God left flexibility to the church on many matters so that we can build congregational cultures of ministry that communicate God's love to people.  Now this author has some strong opinions about what kinds of cultures are effective versus those that may be less effective born from years of theological study and ministry experience.  But this author recognizes none the less that in many things God has not says "thus says the Lord".  Congregations have their way of doing things and often they do indeed work well in that place.  Introducing new practices, eliminating old practices, creating anxiety and instability with the intent of creating change for this author sounds too much like the ungodly philosophies of postmodernism and less like the Godly philosophy of love of neighbor and the Godly revelation that indeed truth exists.  If its broke then indeed fix it.  But if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Can I get an amen?

So about change I really like a fellow Lutheran's prayer here with a modification.

God,

grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change

or should not be changed; 

Courage to change the things I can

and should be changed

and

WISDOM

to know the difference.

Amen.

(based off Reinhold Niebur's Serenity Prayer)