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Sermon April 12, 2020
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Easter, Year A
http://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Easter/AEasterPrin_RCL.html#ot1
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:18
We are grieving, aren’t we? How we lived our lives a mere month ago is gone. We are hunkering down, physically isolating ourselves. Sometimes we tell ourselves this is similar to what we do when we have a big snow storm. We wait it out and eventually the snow melts or the roads get plowed and our life returns to normal.
But this is much longer than any snow storm and somewhere deep inside we know our lives will never be the same. We’re not sure what the new life will look like, but we know that things will definitely shift and change.
So we are grieving. Our grief is especially present today isn’t it? Yes, there are lilies on the altar, but not the usual decorations for Easter. We are not able to gather in the sanctuary together on this important and joyous feast day. We aren’t at the altar sharing our Eucharistic meal. There’s no coffee hour with scrumptious goodies and lively conversation.
There are no family and friend gatherings for Easter dinner. We’ll eat dinner in our homes with those with whom we live. For some of us, that means eating alone, which may be a new experience on this holiday.
That first Easter morning, the disciples were grieving. Most of us can identify, can’t we? When we’re grieving, we are often tired, because getting used to a new way of living is very tiring. Things that once were important, don’t seem so important now. We aren’t sure how to live without the physical presence of our loved one or we remember how our lives used to be and realize that life is no longer possible. We need to think about every aspect of our lives in a new way. We get tired.
Don’t you feel that way now about grocery shopping, for instance? When’s the best time to go to the store? Will they have the things you like and need? Is there a way to order things and have them delivered? If our favorite item isn’t available, is there something else we could substitute?
We may also feel depressed and not have much energy. We may be in a fog, not really remembering what we did or what we need to do next. We may cry easily. We may get angry. We may feel afraid. We may have scary or strange dreams.
In the midst of this grief, Mary Magdalene does what many of us do when a loved one has died; we go to the grave. It’s a little odd when you think about it, isn’t it? Going to a piece of ground or a cave in this case, when you know the person has died. But for many of us, there is comfort in going to a grave; maybe a way to tap into our memories and relationship with the person.
Now imagine going to the grave for some comfort and the body isn’t there! What a shock to the system. We certainly identify with Mary’s panic and distress.
Unbeknownst to Mary at first, is the truth that Jesus has risen! Jesus shows Mary that she and all of the disciples and all of us can still have a relationship with Jesus. It’s just different from the one that they had when Jesus was physically with them.
In other words, there is a new normal. Mary announces this new normal to the rest of the disciples. At that moment, I don’t think they fully understood what this new way of relationship would look like. I imagine they were trying to make it fit the old relationship.
Yet, one thing they knew for sure: Jesus would be with them. Yes, in a different way, but still with them.
That’s our hope today. We are living into a new normal. We don’t even fully understand what that will mean or what it will all look like. Yet, we know, with full assurance, that Jesus is with us. We, like Mary, can say, “I have seen the Lord!”
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia.
