Easter Day, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Easter Day, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
John 20:1-18 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
Today’s scripture readings are readings which offer the hope of new life,
and in the midst of the deep darkness that shrouds our world,
words of new life are balm for our souls.
As I was working on my sermon for today,
I came across Bishop Curry’s Easter message from five years ago,
part of which, slightly amended, I want to share with you.
Curry says:
“When I get to Heaven,
I want to meet one person…
her name is Mary Magdalene.
“…[H]er life,
and her example,
tell us what it means to follow in the way of Jesus,
in the Way of Love.
“Mary Magdalene showed up when others would not.
“Mary Magdalene spoke up when others remained silent.
“Mary Magdalene stood up when others sat down.
“John’s Gospel tells us that when many of the disciples fled and abandoned Jesus,
Mary Magdalene stood by him at the cross.
“Against the odds,
swimming against the current,
Mary Magdalene was there.
“John’s Gospel says in the 20th chapter,
early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene… went to the tomb.
“[She] went to the tomb when it didn’t make any sense.
[She] went to the tomb when the evidence was against [her].
“Jesus was dead.
[She] knew that.
“The power of the Empire had crushed the hope of love.
[She] knew that.
“And [yet she] got up early in the morning [if she had ever gone to bed]
and went to the tomb anyhow.
“But more than that,
John’s Gospel says ‘it was dark.’
“It was dark.
“That’s not just the time of day in John’s Gospel.
“The darkness in John is the domain of evil.
“In John’s Gospel when Judas leaves the Last Supper to betray Jesus,
John inserts a parenthetical remark.
“When Judas leaves to betray [Jesus], John says,
‘And it was night.’
“The darkness is the domain of wrong,
of hatred,
of bigotry,
of violence,
the domain of sin and death and horror.
“[So, John tells us:] early in the morning
while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.
“The truth is she didn’t know that Jesus was alive.
“She was just doing what love does.
“Caring for her beloved, her Savior, her friend,
in his time of death,
to give him the last rites of burial.
“[But] when she got to the tomb,… [she] eventually discovered that Jesus was alive,
and [that] in the silence of the night,
in the moments of despair,
in the moments of the worst darkness,
God had done something incredible.
“God had raised Jesus from the dead.
“The truth is, nobody saw Jesus rise from the dead,
because God had done it secretly and quietly,
when nobody was looking.” (Bp Curry’s Easter address 2019)
That kind of makes it hard to believe…not seeing Jesus rise from the dead.
And yet,
he called her by name:
“Mary!”
“Teacher!”
“Is it you?”
“Could it be?”
Yes, it could…
and it was!
Mary went and announced with boldness borne out of her quiet confidence:
“I have seen the Lord!”
I have seen the Lord.
My friends,
I think it is fair to say that this morning we arrive at the tomb
while it is still dark in our world.
We see violence
and hatred
and intolerance
and disaster
and hunger
and disease.
We see desperate need in our world, our country, our county, our town.
All of creation seems to be living in a time of darkness, both communal and personal.
But…
on this day we come together to celebrate that God has begun a new thing…
that God is making a way out of what appears to be no way,
that love can overcome fear,
that life overcomes death.
Richard Rohr says:
“Jesus replaced the myth of redemptive violence
with the truth of redemptive suffering.
“On the cross he showed us how to hold pain
and let it transform us rather than project it elsewhere.
“I believe one of the greatest meanings of the crucifixion
is the revelation of God’s presence in the midst of suffering.
“God suffers with us.
“Even when we may feel alone and abandoned,
as Jesus did on the cross, saying,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) --
we can trust that divine love is holding us.
“Thankfully, we know the end of the story from the beginning,
that after death comes resurrection,
after injustice comes liberation,
after wounding comes healing.”
Jesus shows us the way…the way of Love…
through which we may bind up the broken,
proclaim release to the captive,
provide welcome to the lost,
accompany the lonely,
and offer hope to the suffering.
God is love.
God is alive.
God is at work in and through our very lives.
In a few moments we will baptize Ellana into the Body of Christ,
inviting her to follow Jesus alongside us
as we all proclaim God’s love to the world. Amen.
