Easter
Sunday Text, Cycle A, St John the Evangelist Cathedral Chapel, April 23, 2014
I have been
keenly aware over the past week of the presence of my mother in my
thoughts. The question that runs through
my mind is one of vocation. All of us
are called to witness to the gospel, to live out that gospel of the
resurrection in our lives. That is what
the pastor was getting at when he asked our family at her death about her and yet, we had
little to offer. Imagine this, we, her children who had
been born, baptized, confirmed and communed in the church, in the shock of our
grief, were unable to come up with only very little for an answer. Maybe it was put in such a way that we did
not understand what he was getting at or maybe we just hadn’t thought about it
that much---perhaps we should have. Perhaps
we should have paid more attention. The moment of our mother’s death had come,
and we had no answers. Somewhere along
the line, we lost sight of what the church was trying to teach us. Was the failure our church or our own seeming
inability to understand? Even though he
spoke to us in plain, simple English, we did not comprehend his meaning. The question remains for all of us. What is your vocation and how do you proclaim
the gospel in that vocation? Our
vocation encompasses more than just the occupation that we are paid to do or
volunteer to do as the case may be.
Throughout the Gospel of John, we see
contrasts in what people say and do as being the difference between dark and
light, night and day. In this story,
Mary of Magdalene runs to the tomb while it is still dark, while it is still
difficult to see to make ones way. She
is looking for Jesus’ body because she believes that Jesus is probably dead in
the tomb, just like any other man, despite what he said about coming back in
three days. She is clearly in deep
grief. She truly loved the Lord with all
her heart. The other disciples come and see the burial wrappings, but then go
home. We are not told what they thought or felt. But Mary stays back; weeping
outside the tomb. Two angels have asked
her, “Why are you weeping?” Then she is
asked the same question by Jesus, “Why are you weeping?” In this resurrection account, it is Mary who
sees and has conversation with Jesus.
She is a true eye witness to Jesus’ resurrection. If we take the interpretation that some have
purported, John separates the believers from the non-believers. In John, the people who sit in darkness are
not believers. We are told that “the
other disciple” saw and believed, but Peter saw and went back home. Mary, in
fact, has a special encounter with the risen Christ in the garden. In her grief and probably still unbelief, she
thinks maybe he is the gardener. Even
though her words betray her still inability to understand what has happened,
she is still seeking understanding.
Faith is not static. It is not a
noun, but a verb which calls us to action and is ever evolving over time. We also continue to grow and learn in our
faith, even in the midst of sorrow. As I
saw it in my mother, I continue to believe that the death of many of her
friends led her into grieving because of her loss of their active
friendship. I think the primary focus of
this text is Mary and has little to do with the other disciples. Mary is truly a model of discipleship. She sees Jesus and she proclaims to the other
disciples that she has seen the Lord.
Who is this Jesus? Think about the setting in the garden and
that Mary thought him to be the gardener. This passage is reminiscent of the
Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 3, where God is in the garden. This is one of those passages where
Christians got the idea that Jesus is the second Adam. The first Adam disobeyed God whereas Jesus
was fully obedient, even to death on a cross.
Mary is confronted by Jesus in the garden, “Why are you weeping?” and
“Who are you looking for?”
It is
difficult to see things clearly when we are grieving or in pain. Things are distorted. Our world gets darkened and sometimes
depressing. We may have a feeling of
being lost and alone. We may feel that
there is a cloud hanging over us that we are not able to dispel. It is
difficult for us to see beyond our present moments, our thoughts and desires,
our inmost wishes. Our hearts and our
lives are broken and we weep just like Mary.
Just as my mother, we can become preoccupied with the loss of our
friends. The first thing many of us look
for in the paper is the obituary column to see who died. We want to know who
died and yet, it creates sadness when we find out. Some try to avoid that
sadness by not reading the paper or not going to the memorial service. People do the same with Jesus and do not
attend the Good Friday service. Some want to skip to the resurrection and not
think about death which awaits all of us. None of us are immune to death, not
even Jesus. Death is inevitable.
Why are we
weeping? We weep because death comes to
all of us. It is a fact of living as a
human on earth. The trees we love die. The dogs and cats we love die. The people we love the most also die. Even
though through the study of science, we may be able to extend the life span of
some and eradicate certain illnesses, death remains. In the movie, The Green Mile, the warden was
blessed with the power of one of his prisoners who gave him an extended
life. He grew to be very old, but he was
also keenly aware that death would also come to him.
Note the
details of the gospel of John. Nowhere
in the entire gospel does Jesus actually address anyone by his or her
name. He speaks almost equally to both
men and women, but only at this moment of resurrection does he address anyone
by name. In no other place before, but
here he does that when he says, “Mary!” It
is in the middle of our grieving that Jesus comes to us and calls us by our
names. Jesus is no
longer with a crowd, but going to people individually and two walking alone,
and to his eleven disciples. Jesus is no
longer the sought after, but goes seeking his disciples, those he loved here. But that is not enough and that is not the
end of the story. Our grief and our
sorrow over the losses in our lives are not the end, but a new beginning. We
need to go beyond this story and see that he seeks us out as well because we
now take on that role as his disciples.
Jesus
seeking others to be his disciples is now our role. Remember what he said to us in this
gospel. Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. These words are not just for the faithful,
but apply to everyone. In Jesus, God has
flung open the doors to the kingdom. All
are invited to the celebration of the one who rose to live forevermore and
calls us, too to live in that resurrected life.
Can you hear him call you? He is calling your name now. Listen. You are
a new person in Christ. He calls you by
name. Those who have sat in darkness
have seen a great light. Let that light shine; let everyone know that Jesus is
alive.
