Sermon: "Called by Name – Sent on a Task” That’s right – grave robbers. Kind of shocking really. Mary went early to the tomb – to the cemetery – for the same reasons you and I go to the cemetery: to weep, to cry, to grieve, to plant some flowers - to remember our loved one. And when Mary got there - to remember this person she loved - the only person who gave her a chance, when so many others didn’t - when she got there, the stone had been removed from the tomb. “Grave robbers.” Now I surmise Mary must have thought this - because as John tells the story, she does not look inside the tomb to check for a body. There is no mention here of an earthquake – like in the other gospels - which might have caused the stone to roll away. And at this point in John’s version of the story, there are no angelic visitors to tell the good news - ‘he is not here, he has risen.’ No – the first thing Mary does when she sees the stone rolled away is to run. She runs to find Peter and this other disciple – the “one who Jesus loves” - to tell them about the grave robbers: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Just imagine it - driving up to the Resthaven Cemetery, just north up Bardstown Road – to plant some flowers at the gravesite of someone you love. You open your car door, get your trowel and flower, walk over to the grave – and you see the stone marker set over on its side, a pike of dirt and an open pit – and an empty casket with both lids open. And no body. How would you feel? Must be grave robbers. They’ve been around for a long time – thankfully not so much in our part of the world. For centuries graves have been robbed for clothing or jewelry – and sometimes they rob graves for bodies. Two summers ago Judy and I traveled to Scotland – and in Edinburgh we heard about some grave robbers who stole bodies from graves – bringing them, at night, to the back door of the medical school, so that students there could study human anatomy. It was all part of a quiet kick back scheme that went on for years. When Peter and the beloved disciple heard about this possibility from Mary, they run to the tomb. Braver than Mary was, Peter goes right on in. He sees the linen wrapping and head cloth. “Wonder why the grave robbers didn’t take those too?” The other disciple – the beloved one – also goes in. John writes that he sees what Peter saw, “and believed.” Some scholars think this means he believed Jesus had been raised from the dead. But in the context of this story, up to this point, I side with those few scholars who think that this disciple believed what Mary had said – Must be grave robbers. "They took the Master from the tomb. We don't know where they've put him." Then the disciples go home. If grave robbers are to blame, they are probably long gone by now. Might as well go home – and grieve there. Why stay here in this place of death? But Mary – she stays, and she weeps more and more – sitting, her body rocking back and forth in grief – maybe you know what that’s like. And while she’s rocking she looks into the tomb. She sees two people - who were not there before – who just showed up. Two angelic visitors – “Woman, why are you weeping?” Somehow Mary misses that these two are angels – it seems she is still stuck on the grave robber theory – for she tells these two angels - almost word for word - what she told the disciples: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Still looking around – still overcome with grief – she turns around and sees someone else new on the scene - she thinks he’s gardener – the landscape man. Maybe he knows something. Maybe he’s responsible. Again - this same interchange: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” “Sir, if you have carried him away – if you have taken his body - tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Three times – three very similar conversations – with the disciples, with the two angels, and then with the gardener – but we know better. What changes everything for Mary – what lifts her up out of her deep grief – and what gets her off of this grave robbery scenario – and, dear friends – what can change things for you and for me - is a word. Just a word - one word – but a significant word for her, just as it is for us. The word Mary hears is her name. Just he name – one she’s heard thousands of times – sometimes spoken in love and tenderness, but for this Mary, a name spoken too many times in anger and abuse and exploitation. Hearing your name spoken is a powerful thing, really. If you are looking this way, and you hear someone back over there speak your name, what do you do? You turn, and you look. It’s automatic. We hear, and we react. Hearing your name spoken in love and tenderness - or with respect and praise – that pulls at your heart – and lifts your spirit. Making efforts to learn another person’s name - and to greet that person by name – this is all part of being in relationship with that person. And sadly, hearing your name spoken in anger or disgust or hatred – that really hurts – and can wound us very deeply. The adage we’ve heard - ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me?” – this saying is just plain wrong. Being called hurtful names, and hearing your name spoken of in negative and abusive ways – that hurts – that damages us. Now Mary hears her name – spoken here in love and tenderness – with recognition and with regard – and everything changes. It changes because Mary recognizes the one who is speaking. This is not just anybody speaking her name. This is a particular person – a special person in her life – a person who was supposed to be dead, whose body was seemingly taken away – but who now is clearly very much live – and even more than alive. This is amazing! This is something beyond her wildest dreams - something beyond reason, beyond any plausible explanation – then and now - beyond what we or anyone could have ever expected. The one whom she now recognizes, the one who speaks her name in recognition and love and regard – is Jesus – now the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The risen Lord speaks this one word to her – and the grief melts away. “Mary,” he says, “Mary” and with that word comes all the love and grace and care that the Risen Lord has for her – more than Mary has ever known. “Mary” – you beloved child of God – Mary.” Mary replies - “Rabbouni!” – “teacher” in Hebrew. But Jesus is no longer “teacher” – he is not some dead but now resuscitated Rabbi. Jesus is now the risen Lord. So when Mary reaches out to embrace him – Jesus stops her. “Do not hold on to me.” You can’t hold on to me like you used to do.” This new resurrection reality is not something that can be held on to or controlled or used. It is beyond and above all that. “Mary, you can’t hold on to me,” Jesus tells her, “Rather than holding on to me, there is something I want you to do.” After speaking her name - Jesus gives her a task – he gives her something to do: “Don’t hold on to me - but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” And Mary goes and does what Jesus asks – she tells the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and tells them everything Jesus said. Friends – the good news on the Day of Resurrection is this: just as the risen Lord Jesus Christ speaks Mary’s name – so the Risen and Living Lord Jesus Christ speaks your name – and my name – with that speaking comes all the love and grace and care that the Risen Lord has for you and for me. He speaks your name - in recognition. You are not unknown to Jesus. Even if you think you do not know Jesus all that well - Jesus knows you, and very much wants to be in relationship with you. All you need do is respond as Jesus calls your name, right now. And no matter the hurtful ways others may have spoken your name – no matter the pain of your life - no matter how deep your grief may be – the risen Lord Jesus Christ speaks your name and is able to heal, and relieve, and work through that deep grief and bring you to a time when you can find joy and hope and a confident trust for the future. The Risen Lord speaks our name – and like Mary he gives us a task to do – he sends us with something to do. Discovering that task is both a daily, and a life long endeavor. It may be the task of being the very best person you can be – the best child, parent, spouse, friend, worker, young person, older person – the best person you can be. It may be a very specific task – a particular work to enter into – something immediate or long term – something for a season, or for a lifetime. Whatever it is, part of our response to Jesus speaking our name is to do our best to listen, to discern what it is the Risen Christ is calling us to do – and to respond. The risen Lord speaks your name, and gives each of us a task to do. This is the resurrection reality in which we live, here and now – and into the future which is yet to be. And you and I can bet our life on that good news. Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed. Alleluia! And all God’s people said. Amen.
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