Mary Magdalene Rocks

“UNBELIEVABLE”
John 20:1-18
Faith United
Easter, 2008


I like Mary Magdalene
I don’t care what you say about her,
I like that woman
I’d like to meet her
She was what my father would refer to as one of those
“pushy women”
And that was not a compliment, I assure you
Pushy women
tell it like it is
they push and push until the truth is told
When something stirs up their passion
you can’t stop them,
they can get annoying
in their persistence
They won’t just leave well enough alone
they never stay in their place
they offer their opinion
and they don’t give up
when others don’t want to listen
Or when others dismiss them
as just another pushy broad
or they give her a worse name
I like Mary Magdalene
She had spunk
She had to, she was on her own
She didn’t have a husband
or any family that we know of
She had to make do on her own
find her own way
At one point
well, they say she was crazy
that she was possessed by demons
It’s likely
A single woman in that culture
trying to be taken seriously
trying to find ways to make enough money to live on
when one of the few options for single women
was prostitution
People assumed that’s what she was
Nowhere does it say that in the Scripture
but again, there were few job opportunities available
for single women back then
and so, we make our assumptions
Anyway, trying to find her way in that culture
with so few choices,
well, that would drive anyone crazy
She was right there, in the thick of things
She really loved Jesus
People wondered about their relationship, you know
how can a man and woman be so close
if there wasn’t something else going on?
There were lots of rumors and speculations
because people have a hard time celebrating
when someone has something special
there must be something wrong with it….
Anyway,
Mary Magdalene was a woman of passion
She felt things deeply
her love for Jesus gave her enormous power
and strength
He saved her life
in more ways than one
He saved her sanity
He took her seriously
He saw something beautiful in her
When others just thought she was pushy
She never left him
I get the image of the mother in the movie “Steel Magnolias”
When her daughter was on a respirator and there was no hope
One by one, her father, her brothers, her husband
all left her bedside
they couldn’t stand the pain
They couldn’t take it
But her mother, Molynn, stayed there, night and day
talked to her, held her hand, moved her legs
read to her
Mary was like that
She wouldn’t leave
That day on the hill of Golgotha
no civilized person should have to witness what happened there
it was enough to break the strongest of people
Crucifixion was cruel and unusual punishment
a slow, suffering, torture
that sometimes went on for days
It was brutal to watch
worse than any horror movie
and yet Mary was there
the disciples couldn’t take it
no one knows exactly where they were,
except John
John was there,
some figure he was Jesus’ best friend
But the others weren’t able to watch
But Mary did
she wouldn’t leave him
We call it Good Friday
but I’m still at a loss as to what was good about it
I know all the pious answers to that
but they don’t cut it
when the rubber hits the road
when you come right down to it
there’s nothing good about Good Friday
Especially if you happened to be there
Many of us have been there
not on Golgotha, but we’ve experienced our own Good Fridays
sometimes they go on for days, weeks, months, years even
And during that time
it feels like nothing will ever feel good again
Mary Magdalene watched her beloved friend,
the one who saved her life over and over again
she had to watch him be unjustly executed
There was nothing she could do
She had no power to stop the madness
The hope that Jesus gave her
died on that cross that day
I’m personally amazed that Mary Magdalene was still standing
much less able to walk to the tomb
in the darkness of that morning
Sabbath was over,
but that Sabbath was no day of rest for her
I bet she spent the Sabbath sobbing
until she couldn’t cry anymore
Until she ended up looking like Rocky after a fight
I bet she wailed
I bet she ranted against the Romans
the church officials
against Judas
Maybe she even ranted against Jesus
how could you let this happen??
Why did you let me believe in you,
why did you make me love you
if it was only going to come to this??
You made me believe in a God of possibilities
and miracles
You raised me up, only to let me fall that much farther….
I bet Mary Magdalene feared for her sanity all over again
because the grief was so devastating
the hopelessness out of control
maybe she would just go back to crazy
I don’t know how she was able to stand up
much less face the darkness that morning
much less face the grave
but she did
She carried a jar of spices to anoint his body
and walked alone in the solitude of the breaking day
Her knees must have gone weak
when she saw the tomb was opened
how much more indignity must Jesus suffer?
Surely now, she was crazy
Peter and John came
when she called them
hysterical
but they looked in,
looked into the darkness
and saw nothing but graveclothes
If someone had stolen his body
why would they bother to undress him first?
Why would they take the time to neatly
roll up the cloth that had covered his face?
It seemed strangely obsessive compulsive
but there were too many other details to deal with
for them to worry about that
Peter and John left
Left Mary alone
doubled over with grief and insanity
weeping at the tomb
The whole thing is unbelievable
if you think about it
I mean, who’s crazy here?
Actually, we’re not sure what happened that day
nobody really knows
Matthew says there were three women
and an earthquake
and a light that came down from the sky
and these big bad angels were there
to announce that Jesus was alive
It was very theatrical
John says that only Mary was there
that Peter and John showed up for a little bit
but then left and went home
No earthquake,
no angel
no bright lights and booming voices
so the details are a little sketchy
Luke agrees there was other women there
and angels bringing the news to them
But according to Luke
the disciples laughed at the women
when they carried the news to them
they dismissed as an idle tale
from those hysterical women
and they didn’t believe
It doesn’t matter what the details are
In fact, you know how it is
when something happens
there are so many different versions of the story
from different perspectives
But that doesn’t make it any less true
Mary was bold
Mary was strong,
she reached into the darkness of the tomb
and found nothing but cloth
Cloth that still bore the familiar smell of her dear friend
Maybe she wrapped it around herself
like a blanket
to try to feel his presence again
Maybe she used the cloth to dry her tears
as she rocked and moaned on the hard earth
It was unbelievable that someone could be so cruel
as to steal the body
when would all the indignity end?
Was there no limit to cruelty?
It was unbelievable to her, too,
when the gardener approached her
couldn’t he see that she needed to be alone?
He seemed nice, though
“Why are you weeping?” he said
She told him
with some bitterness in her voice
what had happened to her, to her friend
Please, she pleaded,
just give me back the body
if you know where it is, I’ll take it away
I will take care of it….
The gardener said, “Mary, Hi.”
Unbelievable
She really was going crazy
She had really lost it this time,
over the edge, no coming back
she had lost her mind, she thought
That man,
sounded like… just like, and he looked like…
All the breath in her body left her
“Rabboni!”
and then she stopped
“Rabboni??”
Oh I wish they could have hugged
I wish she could have just soaked his robe
with her happy tears
and kissed him all over his face
but he wouldn’t let her
“don’t hug me,” he said
“don’t cling to me,”
but it didn’t matter,
she just stared at him with delirious joy
She had to remind herself to breathe
Don’t cling to me
Moments like that, wow…
moments like that, you want to freeze frame
you want time to stop
so you can savor the joy, the beauty of the moment
clutch onto it
so it won’t disappear, so it won’t go away
leaving you alone again
but you can’t
You gotta keep moving
keep living
carrying that moment in your heart,
and trusting it will never leave you
It was unbelievable
It’s crazy, really, if you think about it
that we believe it
That we buy Easter lilies and invite family home
and cook a special dinner
all because of this story
about a man who died
and rose from the dead
The whole world celebrates today
because of this story
Isn’t that wild?
Some people say that the empty tomb is the good news
but I don’t think so
the empty tomb is just an empty tomb
You can visit it
but you won’t find anything in it
and you can’t stay there,
because, well, it’s empty
it’s finished, it’s done what it was supposed to do
The good news happens
in the encounter with the Risen Christ
The good news started, not when Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty
the good news started when Jesus simply said,
“Mary.”
Easter started in that moment
that took Mary’s breath away
It continued when she went to the upper room
and pounded on the door
till those weenie disciples opened up
and she threw her arms around Peter’s neck
and said, “Peter, hug me!!
Dance with me!! He’s alive!! He’s ok!! It’s not over!!
It’s only just begun!!”
and Peter got dizzy from being spun around in circles
And Easter keeps happening
any time someone finds hope again
anytime someone finds healing again
Easter happens when we sing,
when we hug, when tears come to our eyes
even if they are sad tears
and hopeful tears
and trying-to-believe-the-unbelievable tears
Easter happens again and again and again
I smell it now
in the perfume of these flowers
I see it now, in your faces
C.S. Lewis wrote in his book, “A Grief Observed,”
“You never know how much you really believe anything
until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter
of life and death to you….
only real risks test the reality of a belief.”
In other words,
we celebrate this crazy story every year
but do we believe it?
We don’t know
what we believe until we are UP AGAINST it
until what we believe IS a matter of life or death
until what we believe brings light to our darkness
and relief to our weary hearts
That’s when we know what we truly believe
when it’s tested
and found to be strong enough
to stand the brutal testing
We’ve known Good Friday
for some of us, we’re still living it
but there’s a risen Jesus out there on the loose
making Easter happen again and again
he left his death clothes behind
and he’s now wearing the clothes of a gardener
of someone who nurtures new life,
new colors, new beauty
who buries seeds in the ground
believing that they will grow into something miraculous
And he knows your name
he knows who you are, where you’ve been
where you’ve come from, and where you’re going
The tomb is empty,
there’s no use hanging out there
Jesus is out there on the loose
setting his spirit loose on the whole world
and he wants you to come,
he wants to follow
and join him on the adventure
And Easter will happen all over again
for you and for me
every time
we bump into that mysterious gardener….
And it’ll be unbelievable
every time.