Sermon Archive
Readings for 22 July 07
Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
Year C
Judith 9:1,11-14
Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said, "Your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope. Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my prayer! Make my deceitful words bring wound and bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. Let your whole nation and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!"
2 Corinthians 5:14-18
The love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
John 20:11-18
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.
Sermon
The Rev. Susan B.P. Norris
For anyone who is in Christ there is a new creation.
The old order has passed away; now everything is new!
. . .
Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!
In nomine . . .
I’m sorry that I ‘m not replying to The DaVinci Code’s story here, Nor am I going into discussions of scarlet women- Mary of Magdala wasn’t one – except in a sermon from Pope Gregory in the 6th century – a sermon with a “parable” that has resounded ever since.
Instead I’m going to point out the obvious from which we all turn, run, even race away screaming, every single day. This reality that I, and most of you as well, I’ll bet, hate, is that LIFE CHANGES and does NOT return to where we’ve been, no matter how wonderful – or awful – that place was.
It drives me nuts, that , just as I figure out who and where I am, and what I should be doing, everything changes round, and I have to learn to do and be all over again. People who work in any institution know the famous and frequently quoted institutional motto, “ But we’ve never done it that way before.” Translation: “Please don’t change the few things we can control. -- Changing and growing is more work and it makes us nuts!”
Mary of Magdala-on-the-west-bank, and Jesus, her teacher, were faithful, long time, close friends. Scripture tell us Jesus chased away from her some seven demons. Obviously she had been seriously ill, of what we are not told) (possibly he cured her of epilepsy or of some manic episodes) We have no idea whether she was young, old or middle aged, attractive or not, had or hadn’t been married. (Her being a widow is highly probable since she was permitted to lead the group of women who followed Jesus around the Galilee.) What we know about Mary, other than her healing & her close friendship with Jesus, is that Magdalene was the long-term, faithful friend, whom we all want. She had found joy and healing, a new family, and a new life in the disciples’ community. She found a beloved friend and teacher in Jesus, and she never intended to leave him or them.
BUT – the authorities took him away, convicted him on trumped-up charges, mocked him, and executed him. The only thing Mary and the other women had left was the body of their teacher. Anointing it and burying it was something they could do Something that held them together, Something they could do which ” had always been done that way.”
So Mary went to the tomb that Easter morning and - joy beyond believing – found her beloved friend alive and well. Then came those words, the words we all fear “don’t hold onto me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God!”
Mary, we can’t go back. You can’t hold onto what we once had. Life is bigger and stronger than our family. God’s purposes don’t stop with us. Life changes and moves on, and a great and wonderful change is coming. Go and tell the Disciples that I am going to our God.
* * * * *
So Mary ran and told the disciples, I have seen the Teacher. And she told them what Jesus has said to her.
* * * * *
Thus did Miriam become Mary Magdalene – the apostle to the apostles – our Church’s witness through the ages to the risen presence of Christ. The church has given her and her story, a rough time because she was female and feisty. She’s spent a lot of history wearing an iconic scarlet letter. She makes a wonderful torch singer in plays about Jesus’ life. But Mary’s message lies at the foundation of the Good News. Life changes! And in that change, I HAVE SEEN THE LORD! We can’t, we mustn’t try to “hold on to the good we know” Within the power and love of God, Jesus is always with us and is going before us to lead us to more wonders and a greater goodness. I went to anoint a body. I found a living Lord.
Jesus doesn’t want us to leave him or his community, But to stay with him and with them, we must travel on and as we travel, we will change. Christ is risen and is ascending to Our God, We are called to go and tell everyone that he is going ahead of us into Galilee just as he has gone ahead of us into the eternal realm of God.
We can’t hold onto the miracle EVEN of this moment. Our lives change. Life changes! Only God’s love and power are everywhere, eternal and unchanging, We have to let go of Jesus and meet him in the Galilee. (which is shorthand for – go out an meet Christ in the world around you.)
It’s an exhilarating, incredible bummer – Mary has been given everything she could want - and much more by a holy miracle, But she can’t hold onto it.
Neither can we. Our Wedding day, our Graduation, our first job, our first grandchild, the amazing operation, the brilliant performance the perfect sunset or sunrise - All of these end. “Summer turns to winter, and the present disappears . . .” Round and around go the seasons, the worlds, and the circle of life. And yet . . . They all are founded and they all turn on that first testimony, the report of Miriam of Magdala-on-the-west-bank-of-Lake Gennesaret, “I have seen the Lord!” Christ is risen, revealing to humankind the power and love Which create and sustain the worlds in which we live. Christ’s rising promises us that no matter what happens, or who or where we are, Nothing can separate us from Jesus, or from God’s people, not even the powers of death and hell. Because “for anyone who is in Christ there is a new creation The old order has passed away; now everything is new! . . . Now is the acceptable time! Listen, today (and every day)is the day of salvation!
(Thank you, Mary Magdalene!!)
In nomine . . .
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