Mark Pendleton (click here for text)

Easter Day

April 17, 2022

The Rev. Mark Pendleton

Christ Church, Exeter

Jesus Left His Microphone On

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. So, she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 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. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (Which means Teacher). 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.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:1-18

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Palm Sunday was going so well. The sun was shining, and the early spring weather was glorious. People started rolling in from the parking lot and we gathered outside in the courtyard, as a faithful core waited inside the church. I saw some faces I had not seen in a long time, and I greeted new faces in the crowd who have found their way here searching for a new community. Palm Sunday is always a little chaotic – sort of the like the events in Jerusalem we reenact.

And just when I was ready to begin to bless the palms, I announced that I was going to turn on my microphone -- when in fact my mic had been on the entire time! I was heard inside: talking with people; commenting on the weather; and the train whistle going by; explaining what was going to happen next. I talked over the organ prelude. Those waiting inside weren’t sure if my hot mic was planned or a blunder… until I said: “now I’m going to turn on my microphone.” Of course, I kicked myself: an amateur mistake for a reported seasoned priest who should know their way around a mute button. And then I thought: OK. Step back. What is it about overhearing a conversation that is not meant to be heard? It happens all the time at restaurants or airplanes with unavoidable loud talkers. Always looking for a glimmer of inspiration for an Easter message I wondered: what if Jesus was caught on a hot mic?

What if we could overhear what Jesus was saying as he awaited the Resurrection and moved out into the world as the Risen Christ?

Of course, the gospels already record some of his hot mic moments.

At the last supper we hear him saying something important that can comfort us all when we feel overwhelmed or lost. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God believe also in me.” John 14:1 “Love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12 “I will not leave you orphaned. Because I live you also will live.” John 14:18-19

In John’s account of the Resurrection, we hear John’s account of what happened that early morning. I love what seems like random details: the foot race between the disciples when it seemed important to document that the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. I always notice how Mary Magdalene, through her grief and tears, mistook the risen Jesus for a gardener. He did not look the same as before. She saw with her own eyes not a gilded king or an armored warrior, but a simple everyday man who many would probably pass by on most days. What did Joan Osborne famously sing back in 1995: What if God was one of us? “Just a stranger on the bus, tryin' to make his way home?”

Mary saw simple gardener. Jesus’ last night was spent in a garden. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he was his most human, vulnerable, and uncertain – just like you and me. All he wanted was for his closest followers to stay awake with him through his last night – “remain here, and stay awake with me.” We see him throwing himself on the ground and we overhear him saying: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Matthew 26:39.

Jesus’ mic was on for the whole world to hear what he said on the cross:

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34)

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34)

“I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)

“It is finished!” (John 19:30)

In the hours after his death, his body was wrapped in a linen cloth laid in the tomb, and a stone was rolled in front. Everything was now quiet. The trial was over. The sentence carried out. His friends were shattered.

Tradition has Jesus spending that brief time on a rescue mission to hell and back. The words we confess at each baptism are that we believe that Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead.

What he did there is a mystery. One of my favorite stories is that of a young boy’s answer during a children’s sermon. When the preacher asked the gathered children at his feet what they thought Jesus was doing when he went down to hell, one boy responded without hesitation: “I think he was looking for his friend Judas.” The boy knew that if we are true to the life that Jesus led and died for, that no one is left behind. No one is diminished. That is for me a core teaching of the gospel. All are gathered up -- the way we are and the way we hope to become. We see in this story how the young and innocent can have an openness to what is from above and true that too many of us make so complicated with our overthinking, our dogma, our guilt, and judgements – which all add up over time and can push out precious possibilities of joy.

I wonder what Jesus might has said to God as he awaited the Resurrection.

I can overhear him saying: I have a feeling the women are going to show up first to the tomb. I just have a feeling…

I think he might have said: this is going to be hard for so many to really believe. Thomas the doubter, many will be like him. They will want to see my wounds and touch me. They will want to prove what can only be believed. We have to find other ways to break through. We have to send a Spirit so that they can breathe us -- a Spirit to push them out to do the work we will give them to do.

I have a hunch Jesus said: I will need to show up at mealtime. You know how my sheep and my lambs need to eat. I’ll look for a few of them on the road to Emmaus and break some bread like I did just a few nights ago. Then their eyes will open. I’ll show up on a beach on one morning soon and teach my friends yet again how to fish, and then cook up some grilled fish and break some more bread. I won’t try to explain the Resurrection – they are just going to have to believe and experience it. How about if I just say: “Come and have breakfast.” John 21:12

I can overhear Jesus saying to God: I know some will scatter and not take the risk to believe in Resurrection hope and new life. But if some scatter and turn away, before they do, I will say to them: “Remember I am with you to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20. Please that be enough to steady them through heartache, hunger, grief, loneliness, pandemics, and wars – to lift them up when they fall and comfort them when discouraged.

Most mostly God, I hope the world will know that you sent me, to become one of them, to breathe, love, eat, laugh, and suffer and rise -- so that our joy may be theirs.

Then, alone in the tomb where they laid him, waiting for the morning, it was quiet again.