“The Grand Finale” Easter Sermon 2017 Preached at Wollaston Congregational Church Scripture: John 20:1-18 Have you ever had someone make assumptions about you because they assumed you belonged to a certain group. Maybe they made assumptions because when they looked at you they saw a teenager or a millennial; an immigrant or stoic New Englander; a straight white man or a middle-aged woman minister. Over the centuries, people have made assumptions about Mary Magdalene, the one we read of today in the gospel. Some Bible scholars have only seen a certain type of woman who met Jesus in the Bible, when they looked at Mary. Mary has been conflated with a nameless woman of the streets, who anointed Jesus feet with ointment tears and then wiped them with her hair. This woman has a particular story to tell, but it is not Mary Magdalene’s story. Classical art works have portrayed Mary in a “woman of the street” outfit, her hair and clothes disarrayed, meeting Jesus in the garden on Easter morning. But that is plain wrong. Mary was simply thought of as “one of those women in the Bible.” You know, the ones that Jesus welcomed and forgave in spite of their immoral living. In fact, Luke’s gospel tells us that she was a woman of means, a benefactor. Along with Joanna and Suzanna, Mary provided for the disciples and Jesus as they made their way around the country. Today we remember that Mary was a member of the group who traveled to Jerusalem, and stood with Jesus’ mother Mary at the foot of the cross. Mary Magdalene must have been a brave woman. And on Easter morning, we hear once more of her courage as she is the first to come to the tomb. Mary is a true disciple. And, on this first Easter morning, she is commissioned with telling the good news that Jesus lives on. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s turn to our story … There’s a thing called a “false finale” in theater, whether it is musical theater, opera, or simple dramatics. The audience is led to believe that the performance has come to an end. A false finale is usually climactic: an epic battle, or the hero drawing their last breath. As I pondered this week’s reading from John’s gospel I began to see the crucifixion as a false finale. The scene in the garden that we heard today is a surprise. Just when we think all is lost, we discover that there is more to the story. Imagine the drama of the crucifixion scene. Crowds surround the three crosses set on a hill. The women gather around the cross of Jesus. The sky turns dark, as the orchestra swells. Brass and strings sound, the timpani crescendo. Then the final words are spoken, the symbolic scenes acted out. Jesus commends his mother into the care of the one John calls “the disciple whom he loved.” Jesus cries that he is thirsty and is given sour wine on a sponge. Finally he says “It is finished”. His head falls to his chest. The curtain drops. And we, the audience, hold our breath. Is this the end? Should we applaud, or should we simply file out of the auditorium, stunned. The darkness continues just long enough to make people shift uncomfortably in their seats. Stifled sniffs and sobs are heard. Just as we are about to feel for our belongings and consider fumbling our way outside in the dark, a hint of light, suggesting dawn, is seen on stage beneath the curtain. Barely audible, a piccolo begins to play. Like the first note of the dawn chorus. In the pale light, the shadow of a woman, Mary Magdalene, moves onto the stage. The scene is a garden. This same setting was seen at the beginning of the final act. It was the evening when Jesus went to pray with the disciples and was betrayed by a kiss. But this time it is morning. We can make out the entrance to a cave, a large stone to one side. Mary turns and hurriedly exits the stage, exclaiming in horror “they have taken away the Lord!” Moments late, bringing a little comic relief, the disciple-Jesus-loved and his sidekick, Peter, run onto stage, as if in a race. They perform an exaggerated mime. The first disciple stops, bending to catch his breath and peers into the tomb. Peter, ever impetuous, catches up and crouches to go inside. He wriggles out, and points inside to the other man. Then he shrugs and raise his hands, gesturing: where is the body of Jesus? Then the two male disciples hurry back off stage, looking over their shoulders as if fearful of being followed. Mary arrives back and stands weeping outside the entrance to the cave. As her sobs subside and she quiets a little, she peers again into the tomb. A bright light is beginning to radiate from inside. Other-worldly voices come from inside the cave, “woman, why are you weeping?” Mary puts her hand to her heart and calls inside, “they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” She is bending, looking into the cave, but we the audience, see a cloaked figure quietly enter the stage and stand to one side. Mary turns toward this man, who gently asks again, “woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Clearly Mary doesn’t recognize this man through her tears. He is disguised in a way that only ever works in theater. “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” “Mary!” Finally the tension breaks, finally he calls her by name, finally she recognizes him as Jesus. “Rabbouni!” she cries. They embrace, but he cautions her that he will not stay. Having passed through the grave, he tells her he must return to his Father in Heaven. Now he gives Mary a responsibility that could not be articulated before. She is to tell the other disciples that she has seen her Lord, Jesus. Instead of being robbed from his own grave, Jesus is out and about, preparing the disciples for the next stage of their life following him. If this was really a musical, they’d now sing a reprise of an duet first performed in the first act. You get the picture, the scene is tender and intimate, a far cry from the harrowing crucifixion. But it is not an “all’s well that ends well” kind of finale. In fact it is the scene that opens the door for a sequel. Because the real ending to this story is that there is no ending. Mary is tasked with delivering the good news to the other disciples, news that has been passed down in an unbroken line these past 2,000 years. “I have seen the Lord!” And so, for today, I will not dwell on the fact that Mary Magdalene was all but written out of the story. There is now more mention of her, not in the remainder of the gospel or in the part of the Bible about the early church. But we know she was an apostle in her own right, a leader in the early church. In fact she even has her own gospel. It just wasn’t included in the Bible we have today. But, today because it is Easter, we remember that she was called by name by Jesus on that morning in the garden. For Jesus, she was not just one of those women in the Bible, she was Mary. This morning Jesus doesn’t call teenagers or millenials, immigrants or stoic New Englanders, straight white men or middles aged women ministers. Jesus calls: Rhea, Mary, Jim, Lisa, Jack, Matt, Kim, Leo … You have been called by name … because this isn’t the grand finale. It is just the beginning. You and I have been called to go and tell the news: Here, this Easter at Wollaston Congregational Church, we have seen Jesus. Let all the people say “Amen”
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