Easter sermons are traditionally, what? A chance for the pastor to gently chastise the folks who only show up in church then and on Christmas Eve? An opportunity for the pastor to preach a bit longer and show off his or her more abstractly academic theological leanings to a captive audience?
Not today, folks! First of all, I have no idea who might have been sitting in these hard wooden pews this morning were it not for COVID 19 forcing us to not only be socially distant from one another but, in compliance with Gov. Mills most recent executive order, to shelter in place. However, I am not the chastising type of pastor anyway.
Second, I do not have a captive audience because you can turn off this youtube video whenever you want – and we all know that is a lot more convenient and less guilt-invoking than closing our eyes and possibly falling asleep in church. However, I don’t intend to preach a longer than usual sermon today anyway: Brevity above all this morning.
I simply want to point out two things about the version of the Easter story that you just heard.
First, in contrast to the other Gospel accounts, Mary Magdalene did not discover the empty tomb at dawn, at sunrise, at that “in between” time of first light. In John’s account, Mary made her way to the rock tomb in the garden when it was still dark. There was no warm sun. There was no sparkling dew on the grass. There was only night. There was only darkness. There was only hopelessness. There was only despair.
And that is an important observation for us today – when our world too is dark, when our lives are like night, when we feel hopelessness begin to close in around us, and despair to envelope us as COVID19 continues to spread, and ventilators and hospital beds become more scarce, and death tolls rise.
Yet, as Mary discovered, God continues to work in the dark. In some ways, God does God’s best work in the dark. God brought the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt in the dark. God walks with us in the valley of the shadow (or darkness) of death. And, of course, on today of all days, God orchestrated the resurrection. God achieved in the dark the essence of a holy dream for the world – where life wins, where hope wins, where love wins. Remember that in the days to come.
Second, I think it is so ironic that Jesus tells Mary not to touch him. It is the original social distancing! And yet, in the end, touch is not what matters most. Jesus calls her name: “Mary”. She recognizes him, and the love between them explodes across all the social distance that separates them.
And so for us today, remember that handshakes are friendly, to be sure. Hugs are nice. However, saying one another’s name, recognizing each other as individuals with our own unique fears and needs, saying one another’s name using words of love acted upon in new ways will connect and interconnect us until a strong and sacred web is formed. Remember that too in the days to come.
And so this year, as we shelter in place and wonder if we are doing all we can to protect ourselves and our families from this virus, maybe our Easter message is simply this:
First, watch for God in the darkness because Jesus who embodies God’s dream has been set loose in the world and will break through any darkness in which we find ourselves. The Risen One will light our way, particularly now, particularly this year. COVID19 will not win because we are not alone.
And second, even though we cannot touch, all is not lost. We remain connected the world over because we continue – in great high hope - to say each other’s names in the darkness and to act with love.
Maybe that is what resurrection really means this particularly crazy Easter morning. I certainly hope so.
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