Dorothy Churn LaPenta
Hope Presbyterian Church
Mitchellville, MD
Easter Sunday
March 23, 2008
John 20:1-18
LONG LIVE LIFE
Mary Magdalene’s primary role in the Gospel of John is that of witness to the resurrection. Being outside the tomb this morning with Jesus and Mary Magdalene gives us the opportunity to clear up, what Francis Taylor Gench calls, the interpretive litter that has surrounded Mary Magdalene for many years. For centuries, artists, poets, authors, preachers and Hollywood producers have depicted Mary Magdalene as a woman of considerable beauty with loose hair, loose morals and loose cleavage. (Paraphrased from Gench’s book, “Encounters with Jesus”)
The actual Gospel accounts offer no such depiction. She is one of Jesus’ followers throughout his ministry. She is present at the crucifixion and witness to the risen Lord. The Gospels of Matthew and John tell us that Mary Magdalene is the first commissioned with the ministry of proclaiming that Jesus lives.
According to John, Mary goes to the tomb in the darkness of the early morning and finds the stone rolled away. She runs to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” Could it have been grave robbers? Why would they bother to leave behind the grave clothes; seemingly neatly folded? Jesus’ body had been unbound from the grave clothes. Simon Peter and the other disciple see that Jesus is not in the tomb. The disciples return home.
We could go home! Right now…..we could go home,
Or we could encounter Jesus. We could stay at this empty tomb and encounter Jesus, the risen Lord. The experience of the risen Lord which was given to Mary Magdalene that first Easter morning can be our experience as well. We can encounter in our lives the risen Lord.
Mary is outside the tomb weeping. You know this kind of weeping, the kind of weeping that happens when someone you love dearly has died. You go through the funeral and all the ritual, and then the day comes when the raw reality of death’s finality hits you. Your loved one is gone. That’s the kind of weeping, Mary was doing outside the tomb in the early hours of the morning. Usually in the Bible story, visions of angels evoke fear to the extent that an angel’s first words are, “Be not afraid.” But, Mary is so distraught, that the appearance of the angels do not seem to phase her. She demands only one thing; to know where they have taken her Lord.
JESUS COMES TO MARY! She doesn’t know it, at first, thinks it’s the gardener standing before her until he calls her name. Jesus has come to Mary in her time of weeping. Jesus knows the grief she feels, hears her weeping and comes to Mary.
There are churches today who call themselves seeker churches. The worship is designed specifically for those looking for more spiritual depth in their lives, designed for those who are looking for an encounter with Jesus. William Willimon challenges that line of thinking. The Bible doesn’t depict it that way. In our world of the 21st century, we think we are the consumers, and we’ll go get Jesus when we need him. BUT Jesus comes to get us. Just as Jesus came that day in the Garden to Mary, Jesus also comes to us.
The risen Lord, the Lord of life comes and fulfills the promise that he gave earlier in John’s Gospel when he said “Your pain will turn into joy…… When a woman is in labor, she has pain. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the pain because of the joy that life has been brought into the world. So, I say to you…. You have pain now, but I will come to you and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take this joy from you.” (John 16:20-22)
William Willmon tells of visiting a man who was spending his last days of life in the care of hospice’s nurses and doctors. When Willimon had a few minutes alone, he asked the man, “Are you afraid?” “No,” the man answered quickly, “I am not afraid because of my faith in Jesus.” “Yes,” agreed Willimon, “The future is in God’s hands.” “What are you talking about?” said the man. “I’m not hopeful because of what I believe about the future. I am hopeful because of what I have experienced in the past. I have had many blessings in life. But let me tell you there were times that I messed up- real bad! I made so many mistakes, lied, denied, exploited the people who love me most, thought the world was made just for me. I screwed up, no other way to put it. But Jesus always found a way to come to me. Time and time again, Jesus showed up. Even when I wasn’t looking for him, Jesus came looking for me. So, at my dying??.....at my dying…..Oh, I’m not afraid…..Jesus will come” This is a person who really understands Easter!
At hearing her name spoken, how could Mary have helped herself from wanting to cling to Jesus, to hold onto him, keep him right in front of her eyes? Almost as if Jesus knew what she was thinking, before Mary could say a word, Jesus instructs her, “ DO NOT HOLD ON TO ME.”
That had to be very difficult. It’s hard not to cling. It’s hard to let go. I really understand what Mary must have been thinking. I am actually a recovering clinger. It is so difficult not to want to hold on to the way things were. We all do it….we hold on… with families and friends… with our churches…. with our rituals…. the way things were….. the way things were. How much energy do we expend holding on, clinging ever so tightly?
Jesus says, “Do not hold onto me…” Things are different with the resurrection. There is a mystery here that is beyond our ability to comprehend, but not beyond our ability to believe. Jesus is not alive on our terms. Jesus is not just a warm, cozy memory and things will not be the same. Jesus comes to us, is alive and now ahead of us asking us to trust, obey and follow.
For God has sent a message, a message that is to be proclaimed to all the world. Easter is God’s adamant “NO” to the powers of death and darkness. Easter is God’s “YES” to God’s resounding exclamation, “LONG LIVE LIFE.”
Walter Brueggeman tells us that the cries of this world have often been Long Live Death, but the Resurrection gives us a different message: LONG LIVE LIFE…….. (Journal of Preachers, Easter, 2008)
LONG LIVE LIFE,
Life lived in the God of life where all things become possible!
Life lived through mystery that the Holy Spirit will go where it will and expect us to come along.
Life lived with the power of Jesus’ love, compassion and justice ruling our hearts and minds.
Life lived in the community of the Church, where we are propelled towards our neighbor with the message in word and deed of God’s light to the world..
Life lived joyously, abundantly, generously and eternally.
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed!
And all God’s people said, “Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Amen!