The Risen Life

Easter 2024 - The Risen Life

We come to an end of our series. Finding Courage. We have journeyed with Christ towards the Cross and now here today to an empty tomb.  In His journey we look to reflect on our own lives and how we might find courage through Him.  Like a train journey, we will have stations where we will pause and reflect.  We have already stopped at wilderness, Vulnerability, Presence Solidarity, Surrender Obedience And we come to our final stop on this Easter Morning and the question before us is whether can have the courage to step toward a final station of courage embracing new life.  Whether we have the courage to step into the Risen life.  Hear now our scripture reading from John chapter 20 verses 1 through 18. Hear the word of the Lord as Elizabaeth, Austin and I  read this passage together….

John: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them,

Elizabeth: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

John:  3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, 

Elizabeth: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 

John: 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, 

Austin: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” John: Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him,

Elizabeth:  “Sir,[b] if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 

John: 16 Jesus said to her, 

Austin: “Mary!”

John: She turned and said to him in Hebrew, 

Elizabeth: “Rabbouni!”

John: Which means Teacher. 17 Jesus said to her, 

Austin:  Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

John: 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, 

Elizabeth: “I have seen the Lord,”

John: and she told them that he had said these things to her.

ALL: This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. 

Let us pray.

Lord, Surprise us with your truth. We know the struggle, We know what loss feels like

But Like Mary, Call our name this morning,

And renew our lives with the courage, To believe, to live, To find the Risen life, Through the love of  Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Outline:

(Mary’ story our story) Is Mary Magdalene’s story our story….

(Dark, Shock, empty)  Mary was in the dark: 

(Angels all around her and most importantly Jesus is with her.  Questioning and Bargaining)   But what Mary can’t see is that there are angels around here.

Response and calling to new life - Calling her name in love, a moment towards new life, the Risen life

Loosen our grip on the past to embrace a new future:

Courage to embrace this new life because of Christ’s presence.  

Calling to share your story of courage.  

You story overcoming hardship will one day be someone else word of hope.  

Is Mary story your story? Our story?  

This is what we believe, in His rising you may rise to.

(Mary’ story our story) Is Mary Magdalene’s story our story….

Yes, may the details are different but I wonder if her story can be our story?

I wonder if Mary’s story of courage and new life can be our story of new life and courage?

(Dark, Shock, empty)  Mary was in the dark: 

She goes to the tomb in the dark.  And she feels this loss to her core.

Numbness, haze, and shock - “How could this have happened?”

She is in the dark, not knowing what to do. She tries to keep busy. Doing what tradition would have called her to do and go and tend to the body.  

She is shocked that the stone is rolled away.  So Simon Peter, and an unnamed disciple run to the tomb and it is empty.  And Mary knows that empty feeling.  She knows the space that has been left behind.  All that she has lost.  

(Angels all around her and most importantly Jesus is with her.  Questioning and Bargaining)   But what Mary can’t see is that there are angels around here.

In the midst of the grief.   There are angels around her.  

But the questions plague her.  She asks herself and the angels.  Where is He?  Why has this happened?

What Mary can’t see is that even in the dark, even in the questions Jesus is right there beside her.  And she even begins to ask Jesus the question maybe we all ask,”If”  

“If you have taken him away she says” 

But we know those if questions in our own life.   

We know the bargaining with Jesus.  

 If I could just go back.  

If I could just go back to the way it used to be.  

In her tears I can see her remembering when lif was goood.  When she was walking alongside him.  When the crowds were cheering his name.  When they were happy.  

If, and this question leads to another question we ask Jesus.

Where?  Where are you?  All I feel is emptiness? I can’t see you.  Are you really here Jesus.  

I can’t see you.  Where have you been Jesus?  Where are you now?

She can’t see Jesus, but Jesus is right there.  Right there in her grief.  In her questions.  In her anger.  

Response - Calling her name in love, a moment towards new life, the Risen life

In hte midst of hte grief how does Jesus respond:

He does not condemn Mary.  Or get angry with her.  He is not angry at her lack of belief.  He hears her questions with love.  He listens.  He does not say a lot.  And than he does something amazing.  

Jesus calls her by name with love.  

Mary does not control this moment.  But she hears Christ calling her name in love, in a unique way.  In a way that only she could know that this is the Risen Lord.  And He is right there.  Right by her side.

And that is a sacred moment, a turning point, a new chapter, a new season for Mary.  It is the sign of moving towards new life.  Towards the Risen Life.

But how does this new life?  This risen life happen for Mary.

Loosen our grip on the past to embrace a new future:

Jesus gives strange advice. He says don’t hold on to me for I must ascend to the Father.  

And maybe htis is true of our lives.  That to really walk towards new life often times we must let go of our tight grib of hte past in order to embrace a new future.  It is like a trapeze act, where you must loosen your grib on hte past in order to embrace a new future.  A new chapter, a new life.  

Now Jesus does not say forget about the crucifixion or the past.  But it is more an invitation to loosen, to not hold on so tightly in order to see that a new future is possible.  

And she has the courage to move forward.  What courage it m ust have taken Mary.  But she finds the courage to move towards life because she remembers she is not alone.  Jesus is calling her name.  She gets a glimpse, a sign that through Him it is OK to move forward.      And Jesus invites her to see a path forward toward life.  There is hope. A path to heal. A new chapter.And somehow through His presence She can see it now.  

Courge to embrace this new life. This risen life “I have seen the Lord”

Does not change the past, both the good and the bad.  She is forever changed. It does not change what she has experienced.  This loss, was real, hard, and terrible. It does not change the past.  But this resurrection moment opens her to a future.  In Christ’s presence, in the Risen Lord, she knows she can rise as well.  

With these simple words…“I have seen the Lord.”  And with this small moment.  There is the possibility of new life.  And Mary has the courage to embrace it. She runs towards it.  And that takes all the courage in the world.  And she has the courage to tell others.  

And Jesus tells her, “Go and tell my brothers and sisters that you have seen the Risen God”  

Call to share our story - Go and tell my brothers and sisters…. Your story of overcoming hardship will be someone story of hope.  

I find it so interesting that Mary’s call to is share her story.  And she faithful to her call.  That is why we know it today.  She had the courage to share it.    And I think that has been our call as well.  

Stories of courage.  In this season of lent.  I have been so moved by the stories of courage.  Of Bev, Ginger, Steve, Jim and Sue, Art, Austin.If you have not read those stories.  They are available to you.  They are stories of people just like you and me.  Stories of people who sit in the pews next of you.  Who have all faced different challenges in life.  Some hardship I cannot even imagine.    And in all of them they talk about a moment, a time when somehow Christ showed them a way forward.    Towards life.    It did not change the past.  

All of them were marked, and changed.  But all of them talked about a hope through Christ. A way forward.  

And as I hear their stories.  I am convictd of this.  That in hearing their stories of hardship and finding life, they became for us stories of hope.  

And this practie, began with Mary.  Sharing her story of courage.  Just imagine the courage it must have taken Mary to tell her story.  I have seen the Lord. And yet, in sharing her story it became a word of hope to them and to the world.      And they believed in her story.  They believed her story of hope could their story as well.    That it was true for them as well.  And that is what we do at Easter.  

Mary Story is a story of courage.  And it can be your story as well.  (Are you in hte dark, questioning, angry, wondering where he is.  He is right by your side.  Calling your name in love, inviting you when you are ready to embrace a new future, a new chapter, a new season, a risen life. For in His rising, you can rise to.  Amen.    

We hear Mary’s story of courage.  And yes, it began in hte dark.  But Jesus showed up in the dark.  And in her questioning, and bargaining.  This loving God listened.  And In His precedence   He would call her name with love.  And invite her on a path towards new life. 

I wonder if Mary’s story is our story.  If Jesus might be calling you, me, our church towards life.  

I wonder if Christ is calling your name? Look for him, in the midst of the tears, the anger, the bargaining. Lookf or him in the dark. And if you ar ein that place.  Remember that angels are around you. Even if you can’t see them. Remember that Jesus is with you.  Even if you can’t see him. And one day.  He will show you a path forward.

Into a Risen life.  

Into New life.  In his rising you will rise to.  Mary believed it, I believe it.  

Do you believe it?  Amen.  

Is Mary Magdalene’s story our story? Yes, maybe the details are different.  But can Mary’s story of courage be our story of courage?

Mary is in the dark. She goes to the tomb in the dark. She feels this loss to her core. In shock, She asks this simple question, “How could this have happened?” In her core, she feels numbness, and a haze. The loss still feels unbearable and her feelings seem overwhelming. The tears seemingly uncontrollable.  She is in the dark.  Not knowing what to do. She tries to stay busy.  And goes to take care of the body of Jesus.  Shocking to her,  the tomb is empty. She does not know what to do and so she runs to get Simon Peter, and the other disciples. They run together to the empty tomb.  But with so she has so many questions. She can’t even allow herself to go in.  In the dark, and feeling shock.  What Mary cannot see is that there are angels right there with her. But she can’t see them.  In her grief, she can’t fully see them. Or recognize them. But the angels are there around her.  They are there but she is caught up in this haze.  And not only Angels. But Jesus is there. Although she can’t see him as well.  And so she begins to bargain with the angels and with Jesus. And she asks the question we all ask… If.  She says, “If, if you tell me where he is.” And we ask those questions to. “What if I had done this?” If only I had done this or that. And with the question of if you hear her desire to go back. You hear the bargaining.   IF I could just go back.  I would give anything.  If I could just go back to the way it used to be.  .  When things were good. When I was by his side. When the crowd was cheering.  We were all cheering His name. When he was healing. And she was so proud. When he was welcoming the little children. When he was teaching and she was learning.  But the questions of if haunt her.  And she asks them to Jesus and herself.  Jesus If…. “If you  had just done this.”  Or if you had we had just done that. And most deeply.  The hardest questions of all.  Where were you? Where are you? I can’t see you.  Where were you? Where are you? But in the midst of the grief.  Jesus does not condemn her for not believing. He is not angry at her tears.  He is not angry at her questions.  But Jesus calls her name, in a way she would hear it.  Jesus calls her name  in love.  And she hears it.  And she sees him. By her side.  She sees what she could not have seen before.  

A moment…. A turning point.  A shift.  Mary did not control this moment.  It is beyond her control.  But Jesus calls her name in love.  And Mary sees the Risen Lord.  And Jesus has this strange advice.  He says don’t hold on to me so tightly.  For he is going to the Father.  Towards life.  Jesus is inviting her to loosen her tight grip on the past in order to embrace a future.  Like a trapeze artist moving from ring to ring.  She must let go, in order to embrace a new future.  But she is not alone.  Jesus is calling her name.  She gets a glimpse, a sign that through Him it is OK to move forward.      And Jesus invites her to see a path forward toward life.  There is hope. A path to heal. A new chapter. And somehow.  She can see it now.  Now, the truth is.  She is forever changed. It does not change what she has experienced.  This loss, was real, hard, and terrible. It does not change the past.  But this resurrection moment opens her to a future.  In Christ’s presence, in the Risen Lord, she knows she can rise as well.  

With these simple words… “I have seen the Lord.”  And with this small moment.  There is the possibility of new life. And Mary has the courage to embrace it. She runs towards it.  And that takes all the courage in the world.  And she has the courage to tell others.  I find it so interesting that Mary’s call to is share her story. And she has the courage to share it.    And I think that has been our call as well.  

In this season of lent.  

I have been so moved by the stories of courage. Of Bev, Ginger, Steve, Jim and Sue, Art, Austin. If you have not read those stories.  They are available to you. They are stories of people just like you and me. Stories of people who sit in the pews next of you. Who have all faced different challenges in life.

Some hardship I cannot even imagine.    And in all of them they talk about a moment, a time when somehow Christ showed them a way forward.  Towards life.  It did not change the past.  

All of them were marked, and changed.  But all of them talked about a hope through Christ. A way forward.  

And as I hear their stories.  I am convictd of this.  That in hearing their stories of hardship and finding life, they became for us stories of hope.  

And this practie, began with Mary.  Sharing her story of courage.  Just imagin the courage it must have taken Mary to tell her story.  I have seen the Lord. And yet, in sharing her story it became a word of hope to them and to the world.      And they believed in her story. They believed her story of hope could their story as well.  That it was true for them as well.  And that is what we do at Easter.  

We hear Mary’s story of courage.  And yes, it began in hte dark.  And yet, Jesus showed up to her in the dark.  And in Him, she found a teacher to a path forward.  She found in Him the living God.  Who would call her name.  To a path towards new life.  To a way forward which acknowledged her past. But he was calling her, you and me, and Brownson church to a way forward to new life. Can you see it?

Do you believe it?

People will say to me. 

You know, I saw  a Robin today and thought of Mom. IT was a sign from her to say I  am OK.  

They will say, I think it was a sign that it is OK to move forward.

I wonder if Christ is calling your name? Look for him, in the midst of the tears, the anger, the bargaining. Lookf or him in the dark. And if you ar ein that place.  Remember that angels are around you. Even if you can’t see them. Remember that Jesus is with you.  Even if you can’t see him. And one day.  He will show you a path forward.

Into a Risen life.  

Into New life.  In his rising you will rise to.  Mary believed it, I believe it.  

Do you believe it?  Amen.  

Manuscript #2: We have been on a journey to explore courage.  And we come to the end but it is also a beginning.

And if you hear anything today it is to wonder. If today is a new beginning. A new chapter. A word of hope. A word of light. To find courage.  Right where you are.  

God always creates new life in the dark. In the beginning of genesis.  God created out of formless void in the dark. Jesus in the manger was born in the dark of night.

And the story of the Risen life begins in the dark.. The dark, not knowing which way to go.

Not knowing if there is any way forward.

And like Mary, in the darkness it is hard to recognize Jesus.

But her story and our story is the good news of Easter.

That even in the darkness a living God appears, offering a path to life.  The Risen life.  

Mary Magdalene, Must have thought it was an end.  

She had followed Jesus.

Loved him.  He had been her teacher.  But with her tears and her weeping.  She is distraught because she cannot find her Lord.

She really is not sure what to believe. But Christ comes to her in the dark. Calling her name. Somehow she recognizes him. And with his presence.  She finds life again.  She finds hope again. It is not the end but a beginning.  Death always wants to say it is the end.  

When you are in the dark.  You can’t see.  But with her simple message. I have seen the Lord.  She names a new beginning.  There can be life again. There is hope.  

I have seen this kind of courage here.

I have heard in the real stories of courage shared by people sitting in this sanctuary.

Bev;s story, Steves story,

Jim and Sue,

Art’s story,

Ginger’s story,

A caretaker of 5 years rises each day to care of a loved one.

I have seen this Easter courage in you and I think you have seen it in each other.

Jesus is calling Mary, you and Brownson church forward. Into a story of hope.  Into a resurrection story of a new beginning.  

And this is the Risen life. 

 Jesus’s resurrection doesn’t undo his crucifixion.  What I mean by that is that when Jesus appears to Thomas later on he has the scars of the Cross.  So the Risen life acknowledges the hardship and the scars. They mark us, just like they mark Jesus but they do not define us.  THe Risen life, Acknowledges the past but it is not defined by it.  For there is a future.  A hope.    In his rising, we can rise as well.  There is life.  Life is possible again.  Moments of life, where we just like Mary M. “I have seen the Lord.”  Renewed life. Life is possible again.  Different.  Changed.

Yes, just as Mary was…. But possible again. 

And how do we find that life? The Risen life does not mean that all our problems are fixed.  But it is a reminder to find life in Christ’s presence.  I have seen the Lord.  Life through Christ exists on the other side of death. Both eternal life and life here and now.  In the presence of the living God.  Our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee OH God.  And I know what Augustine is talking about.    

But I see you seeking and searching just like Mary for life.  Life again. Loneliness, loss, anger, grustration can cloud our eyes.  But today is an invitation to see again. To be open once again to the possibility.  To keep looking for the Risen Lord. 

In John Updike’s poem the seven stanza’s talks about the resurrection, and the invitation we are given…

He says, 

Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence, Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded Credulity of earlier ages: But Let us walk through the door.

Easter is always an invitation to trust.  To walk through the door.  To have the courage to step, go, move, act, or live. 

This was the invitation to the two Mary’s and it is our invitation as well.

To have Easter courage is to believe that love has the last word. That there is life over death

and when we practice resurrection there is also life here and now.

And because of that resurrection reality we are called to have Easter courage.

To have Easter Courage is to keep walking. New life.  Not the same but life.

Notes:

Children’s sermon:

Before reading the passage, I want to say a word of welcome to our visitors today. We are so glad that you are here. If you are looking for a Church Home, we hope that you will consider Brownson. Our Church is growing, and we believe God is alive and atwork here in this wonderful community. If you are interested, we have a new members class coming up on May 7th, and we would love for you to sign-up.  Just see the back of your bulletin. And now our reading from Matthew 28: 1-10.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,   Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples,   ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer:  Let us pray.