Seen
This is the text for my Easter sermon, my final sermon at the ONE in Christ Lutheran Parish.
The text is John 20.
The text is John 20.
One Thursday morning a month, I have led a communion
service at the Clark County Health Care Center. A couple of months ago, as I
was preparing to lead the service, one of the patients asked where the regular
pastor was.
Since I had been leading that service for the almost
2 ½ years since I added Nazareth to my pastoral responsibilities, I assumed I
WAS the regular pastor.
One of the staff members said I WAS the regular
pastor. He said, “No. The other guy wears orange shoes.” I had taken to wearing
these orange crocs for one reason. They are comfortable. Yes, they stand out a
bit. I thought I had other characteristics that were more memorable and
distinctive, but for this person, it was all about the shoes.
So I made sure that I wore
these shoes every time I went out there, so I could be seen and known.
Mary Magdalene is my favorite Apostle.
Now, if you are thinking, Pastor, she isn’t one of
the Twelve Apostles, you are correct. Which is one of the things that makes her
my favorite. But we will get to that towards the end of my message.
Now each Gospel tells about the discovery of the
empty tomb and the resurrection with slightly different details, and we tend to
blend them all together. For the next few minutes, just focus on how John’s
Gospel tells this tale.
She gets up early on the pre-dark hours of Sunday
morning (a woman after my own heart) and goes to the tomb of her teacher, her
rabbi who has been crucified. When she gets to the tomb, she sees the stone has
been rolled away, and she runs to get some of Jesus’ disciples.
Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple, believed to be
the author of this Gospel, run to the tomb. They see it is empty. Jesus’ body
is not there. They see that the linens used to wrap Jesus’ body remain, but he
is nowhere to be found.
And
they went home.
The body of their master, their teacher, their rabbi who
was just crucified is missing from the tomb in which he was laid.
And
they went home.
Mary Magdalene stays. She stays in the garden where her rabbi
was laid. He was more than her rabbi. Jesus was already her savior. Mary
Magdalene was possessed by several demons, and was healed by Jesus. In
response, she, along with other women, financially supported Jesus, his
disciples and his ministry. They travelled with Jesus and the Twelve, and
picked up the bills. While the male disciples fled after Jesus was arrested, it
was Mary Magdalene, along with the Beloved Disciple, who took Jesus’ mother,
Mary, to the very foot of the cross, to be with him as he suffered and died.
Mary
Magdalene followed Christ to the cross. Mary Magdalene discovered the empty
tomb. Mary Magdalene stayed in the garden.
After
the two disciples went home, Mary Magdalene looks into the empty tomb for
herself. Through her tears, she sees two angels, who ask her why she cries. She
tells them she does not know where someone has taken the body of her lord, her
rabbi.
Then
she sees someone else. Through her tears, she assumes it is the gardener, and
so she goes to him. She is asked again why is she crying, and who is she
looking for?
John
writes that Mary Magdalene “says” her next statement, but I believe she
shouted, she screamed, she poured her broken heart into demanding, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid
him, and I will take him away.”
“Mary.”
As the sheep know the voice of
the Good Shepherd, with simply saying her name, Mary Magdalene SEES her Risen
Rabbi, her Living Lord.
The Gospels record Risen Jesus
appearing seven times. In three of them, here in the garden, on the Road to
Emmaus, and on the Galilean lakeshore, Jesus is not immediately
recognized. Was it that his appearance
had changed, or just that you are not expecting to see one who was dead now
among the living?
Maybe that is why it is hard
for us to see the Risen and Living Christ at work in the world. Mary Magdalene
did not expect to see Jesus in that garden, and mistook him for the gardener.
We don’t expect to see Jesus at work in our daily lives.
We need to
look for him, and listen for him to call our name.
We need to
look for the widow who gets up every morning, who reads from the Bible and
prays before breakfast.
We need to look for the parent
who works two jobs, and still finds time to help at their kid’s school.
We need to look for the person
who gives of their talents and goes into the areas that others are fleeing
from.
We need to look for the person
who is struggling to make ends meet, but can always be counted on to help out.
We need to look for the people
who stand up and speak out because they feel they must change the things they
can no longer accept in this world.
We need to look not only at the
people who are feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, fighting for peace
and working for justice, but for those who are performing everyday acts of
simple human kindness.
We need to look for love, for
to love someone is to see the face of God.[1]
By
his death and resurrection, Jesus has removed our sin and defeated death. As
his apostles, he sends us out – that is the meaning of apostles, ones who are
sent out – to share his story and love.
Mary
Magdalene is sent out by Christ to those who will be sent out to tell them
Jesus is Risen. Mary Magdalene is the Apostle to the Apostles.
Because she has seen the Risen Christ, she brings the
Good News to those who will share the Good News with the world.
May
we go out into the world, in thanks of the gifts of grace given by God through
the Risen Christ, to see and be seen, and to share the love of God with the
world. AMEN!
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