Easter Sunday 2016 – Year C-RCL
Note: This sermon was preached in both English and Spanish.
Early on the first day of the week,
while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone
had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the
other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have
taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid
him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.
The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached
the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying
there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went
into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had
been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a
place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went
in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture,
that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
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.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Today we heard
one of my favorite passages from the Gospel of John. There is a lot going on here. First Mary – upon finding the empty tomb runs
back to get the disciples – all of those men locked in a room for fear that
they might be the next ones to find themselves on a cross. All of those locked in despair that the one
they thought would truly overthrow empire and bring the reign of God into their
lives was dead.
So upon
hearing that the tomb was empty – and forgetting that Christ told them that the
Love that was hung on the cross would not die went to see for themselves. They ran and found the tomb as Mary has
said. Empty. The linen death shroud left
behind. And then all but Mary return to
their homes.
Mary
stays. Why? Why does she not go back to her locked
room? Perhaps she stays because she is
so overcome with grief that she cannot move.
Perhaps she cannot imagine leaving the last place she saw the body of
her savior and friend. The reason doesn’t
matter – she stays. In her grief she
stays and wonders. Wonders what it all
means. Perhaps she is wondering how it
could have gotten to the point where Christ was crucified.
We too are
often in that place with Mary. When we
experience loss or despair we may end up hanging out in the garden and
wonder. Our grief may be so deep that we
have nothing. Not even enough energy to
make it back to safety.
Perhaps with
all of the news of man’s inhumanity to man you are in that place now. The terror attacks around the world. The bombing in Brussels and bombings in other
places. The lack of housing for people
here in Sacramento. Perhaps you have
lost a loved one or a job – or someone you know has. Where do we go? The despair can be so real that is can
paralyze.
Every night
this week we have been hosting people from winter sanctuary in our
sanctuary. And is has, at times, been
messy. We have had to scramble to make
the church ready for services – especially on Good Friday. And I am sure we sometimes wonder if we are
doing the right thing. Letting people
sleep in the church.
On Thursday -
while I was doing the last minute things before the dinner – being the good
acolyte and lighting the candles I ran across a young gentleman just standing
in the back of the church.
When I stopped to talk to him he said to me “You
know. For some reason that I cannot explain I cried the first time I came into
this space.” I mentioned that I found
various places to be thin places – where the earth we inhabit and the place of
God are close together. And for me that often happens in churches where prayer
has soaked into the walls for many years.
He nodded and with tear-filled eyes continued there in prayer until he
joined us in our agape meal.
That young man
finds himself in a place of grief. Where
the presence of God is enough to bring him to tears. And he doesn’t know why. Just that it happens. That is where we find Mary – in a grief so
deep she cannot see.
And Mary – blind
in her grief –
sees a man – sees Jesus but does not recognize him. Her grief is so strong that she is still
looking for a dead body – not a living man.
So she asks where the body is so she can prepare it for a proper
burial. She too has forgotten the
promise Jesus made to them while he was still teaching them – that he would die
and that he would – on the third day – be raised from the dead.
She can’t
imagine anything else. Grief has closed
out every possibility. And Jesus does
something so tender. He calls her by
name. Mary. Not like your mother calling you to come into
dinner – for the third time – the time when you know she means it – complete
with first and middle names – but tenderly.
The calling of the name that in infused with love and comfort. Mary.
And at the
moment Jesus called her name Mary’s eyes are open – the grief falls from her
eyes like scales – or at least enough of the grief that she suddenly sees
Jesus.
I can just see
her go from tears of grief to tears of joy.
I can see the smile slowly form.
And Jesus tells her to go tell the others that he has kept his promise
and has risen from the dead.
And Mary – her
grief turned to Joy runs to the locked room.
She runs to them and as the first Christian preacher declares “I have
seen the Lord.”
That is the
promise of Easter. That in our deepest
despair. Even at our death God is
calling our names. Each and every
one. God is calling. Softly.
Lovingly. Rik. Anne.
CeeCee. Manuel. Lisa. Miguel. Christine. Ruth.
God is calling your name. All of
our names. Not with a voice that says
you have done something wrong but with that love filled, comfort filled voice.
The Love that
has hung of the Cross cannot be killed.
It continually calls our names.
Lovingly. That Love calls us to
open our hearts and to show that love to the loveless. It is that love that calls us to open our
doors to those who have no place. It
calls us to go say “I have seen the Lord”.
Indeed I have
seen the Lord. I have seen the Lord of
Love in the faces of those who rejoice in a safe place to sleep. I have seen the Lord in the hands that
lovingly clean the church. I have seen
the lord in the many ways that the people of God act to show God’s Love to all
of his creation.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
No comments:
Post a Comment