Here are a few thoughts from the sermon I gave, in the name of Jesus Christ, in thanksgiving for the life and witness of Mary Magdalene.
I love this Holy Day in our calendar. I like jokingly
calling it “Easter in July.” We get to hear the Easter readings; one can sense
in the readings the fear, the total confusion of people running here and
running there, the shock of the body not being in the tomb, the mystery and the
total euphoria of being able to boldly proclaim – He is risen.
As I have mentioned to you before, I enjoy celebrating the
witness of the greats in our tradition. It is sort of an opportunity to have a
testimony; a testimony from a notable person in the past whose life was defined
by their relationship with our Redeemer. These witnesses did not point to
themselves, the pointed far beyond themselves, they pointed to God. They
pointed to the Son who pointed to the Father, sustained by the Holy Spirit.
Mary Magdalene pointed directly to the pivotal claim of
Christianity; the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And in our readings this morning we find ourselves at the
tomb with Mary Magdalene, a woman who had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus
was the first to say, “I have seen the Lord.” Some Christian traditions refer
to her as the apostle to the apostles. The first to spread the Good News of the
resurrection.
What can we learn from her witness today? Why are we here
today, talking about Mary Magdalene.
I want to centre my brief sermon on two points:
1. “Come and See”
2. Boldness
a. 20:1 “While it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the
tomb and saw that the stone had be removed.” Come and See…this language, ‘come
and see’ is used often in the Gospel of John. Here is John 1:39, “They said to
Jesus, “Where are you staying.” He said to
them, “Come and See.” They came and saw where he was staying and they
remained with him.”
Likewise, in 1:46, Nathanial asks Philip, “Can anything good
come out of Nazareth ?
Philip says, “Come and see.” Just moments later Nathanial says, “Rabbi, you are
the Son of God.”
In John 4:29 the woman in Samaria says to her family, “Come and see a
man who told me everything I have done.”
The resurrection, turns on its head all expectations. Thing
are not what they simply seem to be…come and see.
Like Mary invited the disciples to come and see, so must we,
who are also invited, to come and see.
Come and see our resurrected Lord.
Come and see new life.
Come and see the Kingdom
of God
Come and see that the followers of Jesus live differently in
this world. Look at how differently people who came to Jesus lived their lives
afterwards. Mary Magdalene, Peter, the other disciples, Paul, who gave their
lives in telling others, “He is risen.”
Come and see…take and eat.
I find it very interesting that in verse 5, the beloved
disciple, who ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb earlier, “he bent
down to look in and saw the linen rappings lying there but he did not go in.”
The evidence was there, but the beloved disciple did not go in. It took the
boldness of Peter, at times the blundering one, to approach and comprehend the
truth.
Like Peter, to be witness to the risen Lord today takes
boldness. It takes boldness to take that leap of faith. It takes boldness to say,
“My Lord is risen.” It takes boldness to not give into the seemingly omnipresent
and provocative forces of materialism and more, more, more for me, me and me.
It takes boldness to step out of your comfort zone…to trust God. To let go and
let God.
I am working closely with a few of you who are struggling
with sense of call to particular ministries. It takes boldness to send that
email or to make that call to the Acadia School of Divinity to being the process of applying for
the MDiv program. It takes boldness, to move your family in hope of a better
life for your family. It takes boldness to call AST to being the process of
enrolling in the Youth Ministry Program. It takes boldness to take on an active
lay role for our worship services. It takes boldness to give up your time to
help with our coffee house, or to join a committee, or to be a warden. It takes
boldness to give your testimony at one of our prayer groups or our book club.
It takes boldness to say, I can’t do it all by myself.
It takes boldness to respond to exactly what Jesus told
Mary, “Go and tell the others.”
Let us, like Mary, respond to the invitation.
Come and see.
Let us, like Mary, boldly go and tell others the Good News.
Jesus is alive; he is alive indeed.
Come and see…
Take and eat…
Feed on this, in your heart, with thanksgiving.
