Easter Sunday — Sermon by the Very Rev. Dr. Craig Stephans

Let us pray.

Lord, as your word encouraged us from

Paul's letter to the Colossians to seek

the things that are above where Christ

is seated at your right hand and where

we are seated in him in the heavenly

places. So Lord, we seek the things that

are above and we seek and ask you that

you would bring them those things that

are above and fill our hearts right now

and fill this place right now with what

comes from your kingdom.

And Lord, grant us your Holy Spirit and

wisdom and revelation to know you

better, to live as your children and

citizens of your kingdom through Jesus

Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Please be seated.

I want to welcome all of you and wish

you happy Easter. Again, this is the

culmination and the celebration of a

long 40 days of Lent as we have prepared

ourselves following the way of the cross

and then Holy Week. Holy Week being

especially on our Monday Thursday

service where we remembered the betrayal

of Jesus, the arrest of Jesus from the

garden of Gethsemane and then Good

Friday, the torture and crucifixion of

Jesus on the cross and Holy Saturday

emphasizing the darkness of the tomb,

the silence of the tomb

and the no apparent hope during that day

of darkness.

When I think of the darkness of the

tomb, I think of a couple experiences

I've had of being in a deep cavern. One

time in Missouri and Bat Cave and one

time in North Carolina, being deep

within a cave and just having the

flashlights and with a guide who, you

know, at certain points instructs us to

turn off all of the lights and it's

completely dark. And it's not like, you

know, dark in the morning or dusk when

your eyes can adjust and begin to see

things. It is complete darkness without

any light, without any glimpse of a

faint glare. There's no hope of light

being in those dark places. And that's

what the tomb of Jesus was. A dark place

with no light and no hope of light. A

place of death. place of decay where it

seemed all hope was lost. But as we

celebrated last night in our Easter

vigil and as we celebrate today, into

that darkness of the tomb and death came

the light of life and demonstrated its

greatness

and its power to overcome darkness and

death and to bring newness of life, to

bring glorious life, to bring eternal

life, what the author of Hebrews calls

the power of an indestructible life that

Jesus demonstrated as the creator of all

life and it is a message for us that he

gives us that same life that overcomes

darkness and death.

And as I was sharing or someone was

sharing with me this morning how you

every time we read scripture, God

reveals more and more to us. And I'd

shared about how when I read the

resurrection stories, I have a hard time

not focusing on Mary Magdalene and her

presence and her role and all that she

demonstrates in these stories,

especially the gospel of John that was

read. Mary's life was full of darkness.

The kind of darkness that has no light

and no hope of light. Nowhere to look to

find light.

The gospels tell us in Luke 8:1 that she

Luke 8:1

was one of the women that followed Jesus

along with his 12 apostles. She was one

from whom seven demons had been cast

out. That's almost beyond what we can

imagine. Seven demons being cast out of

a woman.

Imagine though

seven of the most horrible people that

you can imagine on the earth coming to

live in your bedroom.

and being there all the time and going

with you when you went to the restroom,

to the kitchen, into your car, with you

all the time, being destructive,

harassing you, oppressing you, accusing

you, condemning you, torturing you

all the time with you. You can't get

away from them. It's like they own you

and possess you. That's what Mary

Magdalene's life was. possessed by seven

demons more destructive than I think

even in our nightmares we imagine.

We don't know

what happened or why. She was probably

the victim of trauma, probably abused

and oppressed herself by humans.

But Jesus came into the darkness in Mary

Magdalene's life and brought light. He

came into the oppression of her life and

brought freedom. He came into the

despair of her life and brought hope.

He came into hatred of self, hatred by

others and brought a love that is

unconditional, that is unfailing, that

is deeper and broader than anything she

had ever experienced.

What Jesus brought into Mary Magdalene's

life was what Peter describes in the

portion of Acts that we read in chapter

10 beginning in verse 34 when Peter is

preaching soon after Pentecost.

And it says that Jesus came preaching

good news of peace.

And that's what Mary Magdalene

experienced from Jesus. He came to her

preaching peace into her anxiety and

fear into the storm of her life. And it

wasn't just a message of peace. It was

an effective, powerful presence of peace

that obeyed his words of peace. He came

into her life doing what Peter described

being filled with the Holy Spirit and

power and going about doing good and

healing all who are oppressed by the

devil. This is what Jesus brought into

her life. He brought good. He brought

healing. He brought freedom from that

oppression by the devil.

I don't know if Jesus said directly to

Mary, follow me. I don't think he had to

cuz I don't think there was any way Mary

Magdalene was not going to follow Jesus

wherever he went. And I imagine that she

was never far away from him, never

wanting to lose sight of this one who

brought newness of life into her

experience of being human.

We find Mary Magdalene at the foot of

the cross.

John tells us that standing by the cross

of Jesus were his mother, his mother's

sister, Mary, the wife of Clus, and Mary

Magdalene. She was there watching this

one who brought such hope and peace and

love and freedom into her life, being

tortured and shredded as a man, being

put to death in the most cruel way. and

she stood there and bore that experience

of seeing her Lord and Savior, the lover

of her soul, her friend being killed and

tortured. She saw him put to death on

this horrible, cruel instrument of the

cross. And she didn't turn away. She

didn't run away. In fact, she followed

his body as it was taken down from the

cross to where it was laid in that tomb

with the stone rolled over it. And she

and some of the other women spent the

next day, the Sabbath, being obedient to

the Sabbath day's command of rest. And

they made spices with the intent to go

and to minister to his body the next

day, the first day of the week, what we

call Sunday.

And John tells us in this gospel message

that on the first day of the week, Mary

Magdalene came to the tomb early while

it was still dark.

You could not keep this woman away from

Jesus, not even when he's dead. and she

saw him die and buried in a tomb. She is

there while it's dark

and she sees that the stone is rolled

away and it says she ran and got Simon

and John who then came back to the tomb

and they look in and they see that he's

gone. And John tells us that when they

look in and they see that he's gone,

they go back home.

But Mary stayed and she stood weeping

outside the tomb. And as she wept, she

stooped to look in again. She is seeking

her Lord and her Savior more than

anything, more than concern for her

safety. Any self-consciousness is gone.

She wants Jesus. And when she stoops and

looks in, she sees the angels who say to

her woman, "Why are you weeping?"

What a question. Why are you weeping?

They've put her Lord to death. They've

laid him in a tomb and he's gone. She

can't even minister to his body. But the

angels, of course, know there's no

reason to weep anymore. There's reason

to rejoice, but she doesn't know that.

And she says, "They've taken away my

Lord, and I don't know where they've

laid him." And then she turned,

continuing to look for him. She's not

even distracted by the presence of

angels. She turns from them cuz they

don't have the body of her Lord. She

turns and she sees someone else who she

thinks is the gardener who ask her

again,"Woman, why are you weeping? And

whom are you seeking?"

That's the question. Whom are you

seeking? Of course, the answer is the

only one who can give her life. The only

one who can restore hope again to her.

And she doesn't know that this is Jesus.

And so she says to him, "Tell me where

you have laid him and I will take him

away." Can you believe the audacity of

her? Tell me where he is and I will go

and get him and take him away. And I

wonder

why.

Why would she take him away? Why is she

so concerned? He's dead.

And I know that she wanted to care for

his body and minister to it. But

something dawned on me that I wonder if

unlike the twel apostles

who heard Jesus say so many times that

he would die and on the third day raise

rise again but didn't believe him. I

wonder if Mary being so close to Jesus

all of those times that he said the son

of man will be arrested. He'll be turned

over. He will be tortured. He will be

crucified and put to death. But on the

third day he will rise again. I wonder

if she heard that so many times that she

believed it. And she knew that she had

to be where his body was because she

wanted to be there when she saw her Lord

who brought new life to her enter into

new life himself. She wants his body

because she knows that this is not the

end. That's speculation. But I wonder

her being so faithful. There had to be

something more than just grief. Where is

he?

And then she hears the answer to all of

her weeping. The answer to all of her

seeking, to all of her hopes that she's

probably wondering, "Are these still

worthwhile?" She hears Jesus speak her

name, Mary, and she turns and says,

"Rebon," which means teacher, but more

than that, she clings to him.

She has found him again, and she clings

to him, and she does not want to let him

go. And he has to say, "Whoa, don't

cling to me. I'm not going away yet. I'm

going to be around for a little while.

And she get Jesus gives to her this

privilege,

this honor of being the first to go and

proclaim the resurrection even to the 12

or now 11 that he had chosen to be his

apostles. She is honored to go and tell

them that he is alive. And that's

exactly what she does. John just tells

us that Mary Mary Magdalene went and

announced to the disciples. I imagine

that she flew to tell the disciples, "I

have seen the Lord and he is alive.

I have seen the Lord.

He's alive."

What a testimony. What a miraculous

story of someone in such darkness,

despair, and destruction in this world.

And I know and you know that such

darkness and destruction and despair

still exists in this world all over the

place. Some of us are struggling with

that kind of darkness and despair that

Mary Magdalene dealt with. We may not be

possessed by demons. We may be oppressed

and harassed though by spiritual forces

of evil. We may have so many thoughts of

self- condemnation and self-hatred and

despair. We may be so torn by anxiety

and fear,

busyiness and stress of life that we

think this is our destiny. This is what

we are doomed to experience. And maybe

we have faith in Jesus and we think,

well, one day I'll experience the

newness of life that Jesus came to bring

me. But for now, I just got to suffer

through all of this anxiety and fear and

harassment and darkness.

Well, if Jesus can do what he did to

Mary Magdalene,

he can come into our lives and bring

light that overcomes the darkness. He

can come and bring that peace that

overcomes our anxiety. He can bring the

perfect love that casts out all fear.

And more than any of that, because all

of those come from this, he brings his

presence because he's alive and he's

living and he has sent forth his holy

spirit to come and be his presence in

each one of our lives. So that

everything that we see that he did for

people in scripture, he is present and

able and willing and loving enough to do

for us today.

He has come to bring us newness of life.

He has come to bring us victory over our

enemies, peace, and he has come to bring

us the experience of his unfailing and

perfect love.

Jesus is alive.

And while he went to the right hand of

the father, as he promised, he has not

left us as orphans. He has given

another, the spirit of the father and

son to come and dwell with us. So while

we could imagine having seven horrible

people living in our lives and harassing

us, there is something more powerful

than that. The one who created all

things promises being alive that he will

come and dwell with us and make his home

with us and fill us with the spirit of

life, the spirit of love and light and

goodness and grace, the spirit of hope

and joy and peace and all good things.

Peter went on in his sermon to conclude

by saying that this Jesus is the one

appointed by God to be the judge of the

living and the dead. To him all prophets

bear witness that everyone who believes

in him receives forgiveness of sins

through his name.

Can you believe like Mary believed that

maybe things don't look like they're

working out for you? Can you believe

beyond that to seek him from whom all

good things come and to believe in him

and to receive forgiveness of sins

through his name? It's for everyone. His

salvation, his newness of life is for

everyone.

And he is the one appointed by God to be

the judge of the living and the dead.

And there is going to come that day when

he exercises that responsibility to

judge the living and the dead. So you

don't want to put off Jesus. He is

everything for us. So invite him to come

into your life and take up his space and

his place everywhere in your life.

I want to close by praying a prayer from

a sixth century Irish monk named

Colonis. He was a monk and missionary a

generation beyond St. Patrick. And as I

pray, I want to pray slowly so you can

pray along with me in your minds and

pray this prayer to God for yourself,

knowing that he will hear and he will

answer. Let us pray.

God, you are yourself the fountain to be

desired forever and ever and consumed

forever.

Lord Christ, I ask you for your great

benefits.

You king of glory

know how to give great gifts

and you have promised to give them.

There is nothing greater than you

and you bestowed yourself upon us.

You gave yourself for us.

So we ask that we might know you better

and more fully

and that you give us nothing but

yourself.

For you are all, our all,

our life, our light, our salvation,

our food, and our drink, our God.

Inspire our hearts with the breath of

your spirit. Amen.