[Sing:]

And he walks with me 

and he talks with me, 

and he tells me I am his own.

If you didn’t know any better,

you might think those are the lyrics from 

a slightly old-fashioned pop song.

You know it’s old-fashioned 

because the boyfriend takes the time to walk and talk 

before telling the girl she is his own.

But many of you might recognize what I sung was from the chorus from the Hymn “in the Garden”, which we’ll be singing a little later, 

and the person referred to in the song is Jesus, not a boyfriend.

I got this hymn as a request from a parishioner a while back, 

and I thought for today:

How does Jesus walk with me and talk with me? 

and does that tie in to today, Pentecost, 

where we celebrate the Holy Spirit?

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In our gospel reading from John 14, 

Jesus is holding his farewell speech to his disciples, 

and preparing them for the reality that he soon 

will not be with them physically any longer.

Do not let your hearts be troubled!

I go and prepare a place for you - a mansion, a large dwelling place,

Maybe with a garden?

A garden where we can walk and talk?

V10 /V16

For I am in the Father and the Father is in me 

And the Father, he will give you another Helper, 

a Comforter to be with you forever:

The Spirit of Truth:

You know him because he abides with you 

and he will be in you and he is among you.

The Spirit will be able to talk to you and teach you and be my presence for you in my absence.

In the garden?

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The song “in the garden,” also known by the first line 

“I come to the garden alone”

Is one of the most popular gospel songs ever written;

More than a million copies sold, recordings and printed copies,

This tender ballad (with a lilting melody) was used frequently 

by Billy Graham at his crusades,

And is still widespread at funerals as a song of comfort 

that speaks to many people.

At face value, if we imagine this song as a personal prayer:

V1 

I come to the garden alone,

Perhaps after the death of loved one, or a trying time in my life,

(In this archetypical, example reminding us of the Garden of Eden (before the Fall when humans and God were in perfect harmony and talked naturally with one another)

With the dew still on the roses 

So it’s early in morning

The voice I hear the Son of God discloses

(there isn’t silence—a divine voice breaks the absolute loneliness

We are not alone…that is a profound realization.

This is the story of call: the divine parent is there as a friend, 

and calls out to us.

REF.

And the refrain continues describing this wonderful relationship:

It’s pure divine communion, 

reminding me of that earlier gospel classic: 

“what a fellowship what a joy divine leaning on the everlasting arms. 

What blessedness, what peace, what ecstasy of feeling 

there is to be had when we’re communing with God!

In a close relationship with Jesus, what have I to fear?

-

But Jesus is gone, he has ascended into heaven!

How can he walk with me and talk with me?

How can we have this personal friendship with the Saviour 

and share wonderful joy

Just like those other prophets of long ago like Moses and Elijah?

But how is that possible for little old me?

Well it is.

Thanks to the Holy Spirit it is possible!

Because God the Father sent the Comforter, the Advocate, 

the Helper, the Holy Spirit can communicate with us, 

and serve as a translator and surrogate, 

a placeholder for Jesus’ very own presence.

The Holy Spirit is there with us, so Jesus can walk with us, and Jesus can talk with us.

V3 

You know,

I’d stay in the garden with him 

Though the night around me be falling 

(am I dying?) 

prayer time is over but why can’t I stay? 

It’s been a long nice time for a chat,

my, time has flown by, and all good things must come to an end, 

it is sad a bit.

But he bids me go / 

I’m sent on my way.

Now this is how many people, and myself included, approached this hymn,

Where the Garden is a metaphor, an image for prayer,

And nature an appropriate place to commune with the Divine.

But where is this mysterious garden?

>>

Let’s be honest, this song is often cherished by many,

But others deride it as egocentric, meaningless sentimentality,

An erotic “Jesus my boyfriend” shlock.

Is the song really just a pleasant childhood favourite 

about gardens and birds?Actually, I’ve discovered that it is an

“Imaginative rendering of one of the most beautiful narratives

 in the New Testament,”

And most people who sing it (myself included) don’t know this.

>

“In the Garden” was written in 1912 by C. Austin Miles, 

who was a pharmacist and then a music editor.

It was “written in a cold and dreary basement in Pitman NJ 

that didn’t even have a window in it, let alone a view of a garden.”

Miles was in his darkroom where he kept his photography equipment 

and his organ,

while waiting for film to develop 

He was reading the Bible, Gospel of John Chapter 20.

He imagined the scene with a woman, 

Mary Magdalene choking back sobs

 as she walked slowly to the shadows.

John 20:

Mary had gone while still dark to Jesus’ tomb, 

and finding it empty stood weeping outside.

Jesus appeared: “why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?

Supposing him to be the gardener, Mary asked: 

“where have you laid him?”

But Jesus called out “Mary!” 

Jesus recognized her, calling her by name

And comforted her.

But then he commanded her: “do not touch me but go to my brothers and say I am ascending to my Father.”

So in fact,

the song describes, with some poetic licence, that 1st Easter morning and the encounter of Mary Magdalene and Jesus in the garden, outside the empty tomb. 

Some of the references, like the roses, are not in Scripture 

but they could have been.

One of the lines of the song that baffles people:“the joys we share as we tarry there none other has ever known” all of a sudden makes sense 

when we realize it is referring to Mary and Jesus. 

We must admit:

“No one else knew the joy of Mary or of Jesus in the experience. 

She was the first to meet the risen Lord.” 

This is not only a once in a lifetime experience. 

This is a once in an _eternity experience!

And what about the line “he bids me go”?

That too is right from the Bible:

Mary was the first witness and needed to go tell the apostles;

There was work to be done.

The good news of Jesus’ resurrection needed to be passed on. 

Mary couldn’t just stay there and keep the news to herself!

She was dismissed from Jesus’ presence 

into active ministry and witness, 

telling the disciples that Jesus had risen 

and that she had seen him.

The last line that confused me, and many others is the line:

Through the voice of woe - his voice to me is calling

Whose voice are we talking about 

in both parts of that sentence?

In fact, it is the summary of the entire poem.

The key to understanding that sentence 

is that the voice of woe

Is Mary’s woe, 

that is, the sorrow that Mary was experiencing in mourning the death of her beloved Rabbi.

The woe she was experiencing permeated her soul that morning.

It was a woeful voice that she first heard.

But in the midst of her sadness, Jesus’ voice cuts through like a trumpet, announcing good news.

The first voice was silenced by the second. Jesus’ voice banished the woe for Mary.

“When Jesus spoke her name, Mary Magdalene’s worst moment turned into her best moment.”

Church musician and scholar Donald P. Hustad (1918–2013) was an advocate for the song while also recognizing its potential misuse. He was a member of Billy Graham’s evangelistic music team: and he wrote: Mary’s experience is relived by every person who confronts the risen Christ and realizes His presence in the routine of daily life. We too can “walk and talk” with Christ and be assured that we belong to Him. This experience is very real to a believer and brings a joy that is beyond any other satisfaction. Indeed, it may sometimes seem that no one else has ever known as much delight as we experience, walking each day with Christ.

The garden conversation of Mary and Jesus was not just an experience that happened 2000 years ago, it’s not even just some made up imaginary vision of prayer, 

but it is grounded in Scripture that reminds us that, in Miles’ words, 

it is the “daily companionship with the Lord that makes up the Christian’s life.”

Just as Jesus banished the woe of Mary Magdalene that first Easter morning, so Jesus, by calling us by name, can cut through our sorrow as well. What Jesus wanted for Mary, he wants for you and for me

—

In our darkest hour Jesus wants to walk with us and talk with us and tell us we are his own.

And he does that through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who can be with us at any time when we open up our garden to let her in.

*Hymn of the Day (see page 5) “In the Garden”

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Sources:

karenwingate.com

Dene Ward’s Blog: Do you know what you are singing?

St. Augustine Record: The story behind the song “in the garden”

Wikipedia: In the garden

Westminster Study Bible