Easter
Sunday
“You make every
day a special day just by being you. And
I like you just the way you are.” Anyone
here who’s familiar with the TV show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, likely recognizes
those words. It was the way that Mr.
Rogers signed off every program. And on
many occasions
Francois
Clemmons, who played the role of the neighborhood police officer, was on the
set standing behind the camera as the show wrapped up. Each time he would watch Fred Rogers do the
same routine in the final scene. Sit on
his bench and take off his sneakers.
Seamlessly slide on his loafers.
Stand up, take off his cardigan and hang it up in the closet. And then turn to the camera and say, “You
make every day a special day just by being you.
And I like you just the way you are.”
Those words were so familiar to Francois he could probably say them in
his sleep. But on one particular day he
heard them differently. It was as if
Fred was saying those words directly to him.
Francois was so struck by this that once the cameras were off he walked
over to Fred and asked him, “Were you talking to me?” To which Fred answered, “Yes, I have been
talking to you for years. But you heard
me today.”
Isn’t it funny
how we can hear the same thing over and over again but it’s only when we are ready
that we will actually be able to hear it?
I mean really hear it. Hear it in
a way that sinks in and transforms us.
Today on this
Easter Sunday we see that dynamic at play in the Gospel of John as Jesus’
followers struggle to hear and know what is really going on. Our story begins in the wee hours of the
morning, while it was still dark.
Somehow, in that darkness, Mary Magdalene finds enough light to pick out
her way to Jesus’ tomb. It’s not clear
what she intends to do once she gets there, but we can imagine that it is along
the lines of wanting to mourn, to weep, to pay her respects. But when she arrives she sees that the grave
has been disturbed. The stone that sealed
the tomb has been moved. So she runs in
distress to tell the disciples, Peter and John, who, in turn, run back to check
things out for themselves. And there
they find Jesus’ tomb empty save for some burial cloths.
With seemly
nothing else to do there Peter and John go back to their homes leaving Mary
Magdalene to weep alone. Alone, that is,
until she bends over to look into the tomb herself and sees two angels in
white. In her sorrow, it’s not clear
whether she gets that these are supernatural beings or not. They speak to her but nothing is sinking
in. Her sole concern is finding the
location of Jesus’ dead body. Then as
she turns she encounters someone else - this time it’s not an angel. It’s Jesus.
And he speaks to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
looking for?" Assuming he’s the
gardener, Mary again presses the issue about finding Jesus’ body - she can’t
let it go. Up until this point she isn’t
ready to take in the news that there is no dead body to be found. She isn’t ready until Jesus speaks again. This time it’s only one word, her name, “Mary.” And with that she hears - not just the sound
of her name in her ears - but hears with understanding, with a deep knowing
that this person in front of her no gardener, no stranger. That this is Jesus. Jesus who was dead and is now alive. And as that truth begins to sink in she is
sent back to the disciples to share the good news. And she does just that, proclaiming, “I have
seen the Lord.”
Our reading ends
there, but the story doesn’t. Mary tells
the disciples all that she had seen and heard from Jesus, but they can’t
comprehend it, they aren’t ready to hear it yet. But over the next few Sunday we will see how
Jesus doesn’t give up. How Jesus keeps
coming back, revealing himself to the disciples in ways that they will
eventually hear and know the good news for themselves.
But that news,
the news that Jesus is alive, is not something that they, or any of us, can
take in, in one hearing. It is such big
and transforming news that it needs to be heard over and over again so that the
truth of it can go deep. Because it’s
more than just a news report about an event that happened long ago. What we celebrate is that Jesus Christ is
risen TODAY. And he is inviting each one
of us to live with him in resurrected life - not just in the life hereafter,
but in the life here and now. Jesus
Christ is risen TODAY in your life which means that the power that raised Jesus
from the dead, the force of God’s life and God’s love, is alive and at work in
your life too. Right now. Yet we all know that that doesn’t mean that
from here on out life will only be full of things that are happy and bright. The truth is that just like in our reading
this morning God’s resurrection power often begins “while it [is] still
dark.” When we are in sorrow or despair,
when dreams have been dashed, when life is not turning out the way we had
hoped, it is then that God’s resurrection life is at work even while it is
still dark - bringing wholeness from brokenness, freedom from bondage, life
from death. Here’s the bottom line:
because Jesus Christ is risen today there is nothing in this world that is
greater than God’s life and God’s love.
And it is into that life and that love that we are invited to live.
My guess is that
this isn’t the first time you’ve heard God’s good news. Whether you come to church every Sunday or
rarely come at all I have no doubt that God has been speaking to you, in
various ways, over many years. Because
God is like that - never giving up on us.
Likely there’ve been times when you’ve been able to hear what God is
saying while at other times the message has fallen on deaf hears. Either way, God is speaking to you today
telling you that you are loved, loved so much that not even death has the final
word. That life is stronger than death
and love is stronger than any grave. God
is saying that in Christ and through Christ there is life and there is
love. And that life and that love is for
you, now and always.
God has been
speaking this to you for years. God is
speaking this to you now. Hear it. Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Amen!
Kathleen Stoddart! A new chimera.
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