"The Women of the Resurrection"
"Early on the first day of the week, while it was
still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. . ."
On Easter we pay attention to the saga and the trauma of one,
two, or three
women coming to the tomb alone. John's account mentions only
Mary Magdalene;
Matthew includes the "other Mary" (thought to be Mary
the mother of James),
Mark includes both Marys and (Sal-o-may) Salome; Luke simply
says: "the women
went to the grave." Whether one, two, three or more---the
women came to the
tomb as grieving caregivers, prepared to tend to a dead body;
they leave in a
state of shock, having witnessed an empty grave!
If you have seen women in cemeteries, as I have, you know their
look and
their walk. They move reverently but deliberately. They move as
if they know
what they are doing. There is sadness to their walk, but it is
not a defeated
sadness. Women know graves! Graves are something they, more so
then men, have
come to expect.
Before 20th century advancements in health care, graves were
considered an
almost routine part of life, especially for women---for the
wives and sisters
of men who died young---of heart attacks or accidental deaths,
in forests and
mines, on farms or, as soldiers at war. Graves were accepted as
an
inevitable, unavoidable part of life for the mothers of infants
who died
prematurely because of poor prenatal care or difficult
deliveries. And,
graves were accepted as an inevitable, unavoidable part of life
for the
mothers of little ones who died all too young because of
terrible childhood
diseases.
The Mary's of each and every generation are strong, emotionally
and
physically, but not so strong that they would not wonder:
"Who will roll away the stone for us?". . .
actually and, in terms of the heavy burdens they carry,
figuratively.
When Mary Magdalene first came upon the open, empty tomb, she
was both sad
and afraid, but instead of running away and saying nothing she
ran and told
Simon Peter and another disciple:
"They have taken the Lord and we do not know where
they have laid him."
Later, outside the tomb, encountering two angels and then Jesus
himself, Mary
Magdalene is both shocked and confused. But, instead of running
away and
saying nothing she went and announced to all the disciples,
"I have seen the
Lord."
Likewise, the women in the other Gospel accounts---encountering
what might
have been perceived as white clad figments of their
imaginations, they too
must have been tempted to run away and say nothing. They didn't.
But, imagine
if they had! The Story of the Empty Tomb, which they alone could
tell, would
have been lost to history. The empty tomb would have become a
miracle the
world had missed by minutes---simply because human fear and
sadness, shock
and confusion had chased Mary Magdalene and the others away.
Thankfully, that is not the way women behave. "The Women of
the Resurrection"
ran from the tomb but toward others who would return with them
to witness the
truth of the resurrection and who would help them spread the
Good News.
Women were the first witnesses of the Resurrection because women
know graves!
Women were the first witnesses because women move more assuredly
from the
ordinary to the extraordinary---from being ordinary
"caregivers of the dead,"
to extraordinary "proclaimers of the Resurrection,"
able to say, not
fearfully but confidently:
"A heavy grave stone has been mysteriously rolled
away!"
"The impossible has become real!"
"He who was dead is alive!"
In more primitive tribal societies, there is a universal saying
about the
movement of women through life; first as wives moving into the
homes of their
husbands and then, as wives and mothers, moving together with
their husbands
and children, to other places. The saying is this:
"She comes with her own things."
The meaning of this saying is that women not only bring their
own pots and
pans, dishes and cups. . . they bring their
strengths---physical, emotional
and spiritual---born out of experience and God given intuition.
The "Women of the Resurrection" came to the tomb
"with their own things". . .
their own disappointments and fears. They left the tomb
"with their own
things" . . . their own hopes and dreams, their own
expectations about life
and death.
They came simply to tend a grave and the body within it, without
even so much
as a hunch that the tomb would be empty. They left having
witnessed the
miracle of the Resurrection; having seen the stone rolled away,
having seen
the empty tomb and then, the risen Christ! They left with their
own story
about that which they had not only seen but also
experienced---as only women
truly can!
More often than not, men need proof in order to believe.
Women need only to
experience "truth" as they have come to know and
understand it. The "Women of
the Resurrection" leave and return in a hurry because
experience (some would
say intuition) tells them that there is more to the Story; that
it could very
well be that he who was dead is alive!
The Good News that was proclaimed on that first Easter Day and
since, could
be told, even by those who did not at first believe the Story,
because "The
Women of the Resurrection" were not afraid of MIRACLES!
Furthermore, because of their womanly courage, the same Story
that was told in history's
yesterdays, will be told today and in our tomorrows.
We too, male and female, young and old, can experience "the
miracle of the
resurrected Christ" and " the miracles of our own
rolled away stones," if we
are but willing to set fears aside and be inspired by true
"resurrection
proclamations"---when-ever and how-ever "resurrection
proclamations" may come
to us.
We have in fact seen "the miracle of the resurrection"
in the way people
triumph even as they are dying from cancer.
We have in fact seen the way hope is not lost on the
forsaken---on the poor,
the hungry and the homeless---even when most people have given
up on them.
We have in fact seen the depth of insight with which the
mentally and
physically challenged approach faith. This morning's
"Children's Sermon" was
just such a story of faith. I didn't tell the children the whole
story. Now I
will tell everyone:
A Sunday school teacher gave each child in her class a plastic
egg and told
them to go outside and to find something to put inside the egg
that would
symbolize Easter. When the children returned, one little girl
showed that she
had put a budding flower petal inside her egg to stand for new
life. Another
child put a small stone inside his egg to symbolize the stone
that was rolled
away from the tomb. When a "mentally challenged" child
opened his egg, there
was nothing inside it. At first the teacher felt embarrassed for
him,
thinking that he had not understood the assignment. But then the
child
explained:
"My egg is empty, because on Easter, Jesus' tomb was
empty."
By the grace of God, the least fortunate among us,---the sick
and dying, the
hungry and homeless, the physically and mentally
challenged,---are more
likely than the most fortunate among us to recognize
"resurrection miracles,"
more likely to believe that Christ lives, and more likely to
trust in God's
eternal goodness and mercy.
Resurrection experiences will differ, person-to-person,
adult-to-adult, and
child-to-child. It may very well be true that men are less
likely than women
to have clear, powerful "resurrection experiences." It
is most certainly true
that the "resurrection experiences" of children, the
youngest and simplest of
children, are more in tune with "resurrection truth"
than are those of grown
men or even of women.
Be that as it may, we have all experienced "resurrection
miracles," whether
we realize it or not. At the very moment that losses---suffered
through death
and divorce, unemployment and other uncertainties---render us
dead to life,
we suddenly feel our own hearts beating and our own arms and
legs moving,
until, with the passing of time, we discover that we are
gradually coming
back to life. Even though we have been hurt, we can learn to
love and live
again. The proof is not in the deeds or perceptions of others,
but always in
our own experiencing of God's goodness and grace.
Like Mary Magdalene and the others, we return again and again to
our "tombs"
of dead dreams, lost hope, ruined reputations, and devastated
faith. And,
right there, just when we are ready to give-in to death, loss,
ruination, and
devastation---give-up on life itself---there appears an angel, a
family
member, a friend, or even a stranger who cares enough to
proclaim
"resurrection truth" in a way that makes sense. We
realize, then and there,
that God has found us and will lift us up today, tomorrow and on
into
eternity.
Any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas, but if you
don't believe in
the Resurrection you will feel more the fool than a Christian at
Easter.
Fully and rightly understood, this morning's Easter Service of
Holy Communion
will let the light of Christ shine in the darkest corners of our
lives---will
let the bells of proclamation ring in the haunting silence of
our worse
memories--- will let the "Alleluias of Joy" resound to
the Glory of God!
Do I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and of all
"believers?" "I
do! Skeptics may ask, "Well then, how does it
happen?" I confess that,
concerning the Resurrection, I have no good answer to the
"how question." No
one does. For that matter, who on earth can adequately explain
the miracle of
birth, the changes in earthly seasons, or the joy of falling in
love.
It has been said that the only pattern sunlight can make is the
shadows it
throws. When we find ourselves in the shadows, we can be
sure the sun is
still shining. God can make right what is wrong, sins are
forgiven, "the
stones are rolled away," and God brings life out of death.
Let us never live another day as if Jesus Christ were
dead!
AMEN!
Children's Sermon
1. Fill several dozen plastic Easter eggs with one jelly
bean. Leave one
egg empty and place it near the top of the basket of "jelly
bean eggs.".
2. Ask the children to each take an egg, shake it or open
it carefully.
"Is there anything in your egg? What is it?
3. The children who have eggs with jelly beans will be
thrilled; the child
whose egg is empty will be very disappointed.
4. Can anyone tell me why ___________________ is lucky to
have the empty egg
on Easter Day? (Discuss the joy and glory of the empty
tomb. How happy we
should be that the tomb was empty rather than holding the dead
body of Jesus.)
5. Give the child with the empty egg three jelly beans,
symbolizing the
three persons of God---Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
