We have
spent the last week dwelling at the cross
Listening
to Jesus’ last remarkable words.
We heard –
pre-emptive forgiveness – ‘father forgive’ –
We heard
of the paradise of relationship with God – available on the mountaintop but
also when a criminal hanging on a cross.
We saw
the new church created – a place for grieving heartbroken mothers, and despondent
young disciples.
We heard
Jesus cry out in pain – ‘why have you abandoned me God’? Allowing us to follow – to be honest – real –
authentic.
We have
learnt about God’s thirst for us – as he pursues us with love and mercy
And we
have seen ‘It is finished’…
God’s
heart revealed – the reason he came done – us – won!
Into your
hands, I commit my spirit.
And Jesus
died.
They were
not Jesus last words!
Today we
swap the cross for the empty tomb and we hear incredible words for you and for
me…
Let us listen…
Mary of Magdala
has swapped the cross for the tomb.
But… the
mood is the same… she is weeping.
Weeping
for days as she watched her saviour brutally killed.
Now, this
very morning, she has the added distress of Jesus body having been taken.
They have
abused him, whipped him, tortured him and killed him – why could they let him
now rest in peace?
Mary is
weeping.
What is it
we are weeping about this morning? /
What
things lay heavy? Testing our sensitivities?
Getting us down?
What
things keep us awake at night?
And who
are we weeping with this morning?
Who do we
know who is grieving? Struggling? Suffering? Distraught?
Friend? Someone
on the news?
Who is
crying bitterly this day?
This morning
we begin by being invited to stands with Mary as she weeps…
Let us just
have one last look inside the tomb – we might be surprised what we see!
As we
look in – we see Angels – both in white – one at the head of where Jesus should
be laid – and one at the feet…
Where had
they come from?
They were
not there a minute ago when Peter and John were inside the tomb?
Or maybe
they were
Maybe
sometimes you can only see angels through tears.
When
people are afraid, angels say ‘do not be scared’
When
people cry, angels ask why?
Why are
you weeping?
And its
here we can name it – we can say the things on our heart.
My
dignity has gone, my marriage has no love, my children do not talk to me, I
have a parent with dementia, a partner with depression – I have little hope –
little to live for – I am completely alone.
All out
tears and pain summed up with Mary’s tears.
Mary is
asked once again, this time by a man,
‘why are
you crying’?
Who is
this man? What is it got to do with him? Who is he? Wait a minute – maybe he knows…
Through
tears it is hard to see – Mary guesses it is the gardener…
Of
course, she is wrong… but in another beautiful way she is right…
For this
is the new creation of easter Sunday
Jesus is
the beginning of it.
The new
Adam, the gardener, charged with bringing chaos of God’s creation into new
order, into flower, into fruitfulness.
He has
come to uproot the thorns and thistles and replace them with blossoms and
harvests.
And as we
come with Mary to this mysterious man with all our pain and suffering- he can
make something beautiful with us too –
The
gardener is here – transformation is here – new life is here – hope is here –
healing is here – beauty from ashes is here – tears to joy is here
This gardener
is Jesus – the risen Christ – and he is here.
‘What are
you looking for’, Jesus second word…
A question
he asks each one of us this morning
What are
we looking for?
Security? Protection? Survival? Achievement?
Success? Love? Happiness?
The Bible
is clear that we are looking for God – desperate to be a in a right relationship
with Him…
And Mary
gets it right! ‘I am looking for my
Jesus’.
Mary is hungering
and thirsting for Jesus and she finds him
And if we
thirst and hunger – we will find him too –
Then his
presence will be ours – and that presence makes everything else on the planet redundant
– incomparable to the peace we have in Jesus
So, let
us be looking for Jesus with Mary.
Not just
this special morning… but when we are shopping, watching TV, listening to
radio, driving, at work, because the good news that paradise relationship is in
all those places too.
We just
need to be looking!
The 3rd
word ‘Mary’.
Hear him
say that name ‘Mary’
Now hear
him say yours…
Because of
the cross, wherever you go, whatever you face he is with you.
Every trial,
every storm, every doubt – he is with you.
In that
name ‘Mary’, he says yours, and it means ‘here I am with you – here we are
together’
Hear him
say your name – here the personal relationship
He knows
you – created you – knows what is best and is creating a masterpiece out of
your life
Here him
say your name
The third
word ‘Mary’
‘Rabbouni’
or ‘teacher’ – Mary recognises him at last – her rabbi
But she is
wrong.
That was
the relationship before the cross – now everything is different!
Maybe you
had someone you called ‘Sir’ or ‘Uncle’ or MR and Mr’s growing up – and one day
they say call me by my first name… a relationship change…
OR the
day I was able to call myself a husband and a father. A significant relationship change…
Well
listen to the next word from Jesus…
In the
gospel of John God is referred to as ‘my father, the father who sent me’
The
disciples are referred to as ‘disciples, servants and friends’…
But now
hear the amazing 4th word
‘go to my
brothers (YES BROTHERS – FAMILY) and say to them, I am going up to my father
and your father (YOUR FATHER) to my God and your God (YOUR GOD)
Incredible
words – now because of the cross – we are now brothers and siters with Jesus
and his father is now our father – because of the cross – everything has
changed.
Something
has altered
A new
relationship has been ushered in.
Those looking
for the master – are welcomed into a new world – where we can know the
untameable, unfathomable, all powerful God as our daddy.
We are
now his intimate children.
Finally. The 5th word.
Do not cling
to me Mary, go and tell my brothers’
No more watching
and learning from me – I am now sending you to tell everyone about me.
Go and
tell Mary.
And she
does – she runs and declares the beautiful testimony
‘I have
seen the Lord’
And for
who search and find – for `all who have had tears wiped away – we shout with Mary
‘I have seen the Lord’.
Easter Sunday
– amazing words.
Why are
you crying – an invitation to offload and bring who you are and how you are
What are
you looking for? A challenge – and if we
get it right
We hear
our name – intimate relationship – paradise – every moment – every day.
We hear brother,
sister and father – a new relationship
And we
can only but respond to ‘go and tell’.
It has
been an utter privilege journeying with you all this past week…
May you know this morning the risen Christ – the power of God almighty, father son and holy spirit – and may he with us all for evermore… Amen.
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