The Day of Resurrection: Easter Day 2019

The Day of Resurrection—Easter Day April 21, 2019 There are very two different store signs on Montgomery Cross Road that I like to read as I frequently drive past. The first is Jerry’s lounge, which is often clever, sometimes slightly irreverent, and usually involves drinking. (There was one in homage to the newest season of Game of Thrones up there last week: “we drink and we know things.”) The other is the sign at Maycrest Hardware. These postings are always religious themed. And I have to be careful how I say this because if there is one thing that I’ve learned about living in Savannah these last almost two years it is that at least someone in this church is related, somehow, to the person who does that sign at Maycrest Hardware. I like to read the sign at Maycrest Hardware; I don’t always agree with it, and it encourages me to think theologically about my beliefs and why I believe the way I do. This past week, the sign caught my attention. It read: “Redemption is possible. Witness Tiger Woods.” I had read a couple of different blog posts about Tiger’s victory at the Master’s this week, and I had even thought about it in connection to Easter. But that sign on the Maycrest Hardware made me start to wonder, is Tiger’s story truly a story of redemption, in the truest sense of the word? It’s definitely a story of a fall from grace followed by faithfulness, hard work, courage, a willingness to show up, and an amazing comeback. But does redemption imply some sort of moral change? Does anyone but God know they state of Tiger’s heart in all this to say whether or not this is truly redemption? So, I looked up the definition of redemption in the dictionary: redemption is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil or a thing that saves someone from error or evil. (The second definition is considered archaic. It is the action of buying ones’ freedom. And this is actually how the word redemption is used throughout the Old Testament.) Our collect for the day also speaks of redemption: “O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection…” Still, I continued to ponder, is Tiger Woods victory at the Masters’ a true story of redemption? Over the last four days, as we have been walking beside Jesus and his disciples in Jesus’s last days of his earthly ministry, I’ve been inviting the congregation to think about discipleship and what our sacred stories have to reveal to us about our call to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Discipleship comes from the Latin word that means pupil; there is an aspect of learning involved in discipleship, but it is not just an intellectual learning. Discipleship also involves a learning of our hearts and our souls. On Maundy Thursday, we saw how Jesus modeled vulnerability as a component of discipleship for his followers and for us, and we pondered how we are called to be vulnerable and how we are called to acknowledge and receive the vulnerability of others when they share that gift with us. On Good Friday, we saw Peter deny, three times, his discipleship of Jesus, and we pondered how we, too, deny through both word and action, our own discipleship of Jesus. We laid these failures at the foot of the cross, and we were assured of Jesus’s forgiveness of us and of all who fail him. Today, I am especially struck by the discipleship that is illustrated in our gospel reading for today—and I don’t mean the two men who race competitively to the empty tomb to try to verify Mary Magdalene’s report to them that the tomb is empty. No, I’m talking about the discipleship of Mary Magdalene, herself; Mary Magdalene, who comes to the tomb alone when it is still dark for what purpose? Mary Magdalene who exhibits a faithfulness and courage and a presence at all of the significant moments of Jesus’s death and resurrection that really none of Jesus’s other disciples exhibit. I’m reading a book titled The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity by Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault. And Bourgeault looks at the gospel accounts, the historical research, and the myths that surround Mary Magdalene. She points out that all four of our gospel accounts agree that Mary Magdalene was present as a witness at Jesus’s crucifixion; and all four gospel accounts agree that Mary Magdalene was the first witness (or one of the first witnesses with other women disciples) of Jesus’ resurrection. In fact, in the early days of the Christian Church, Mary Magdalene was known as “the apostle to the apostles” because she was the one to tell the other apostles the good news of Jesus’s resurrection. In this book, Bourgeault writes, “All four gospels witness to Mary Magdalene as the premier witness to the resurrection - alone or in a group, but in all cases named by name. . . All four gospels insist that when the other disciples are fleeing, Mary Magdalene stands firm. She does not run, she does not betray or lie about her commitment, she witnesses. But why, one wonders, do the Holy Week liturgies tell and re-tell Peter's threefold denial of Jesus, while the steady, unwavering witness of Magdalene is not even noticed? How would our understanding of the Paschal Mystery change if [the role of Magdalene was acknowledged?] What if, instead of emphasizing that Jesus died alone and rejected, we reinforced that one stood by him and did not leave? For surely this other story is as deeply and truly there in the scripture as is the first. How would this change the emotional timbre of the day? How would it affect our feelings about ourselves? About the place of women in the church? About the nature of redemptive love?”i And there’s that word again. Redemption. The heart of what we gather here to celebrate today is the power of redemptive love, how it transforms the worst that we have to offer, even death, into redemption and resurrection and new life. Magdalene loved Jesus. She showed up, over and over again, courageously, when it made no sense to do so, because of her love and the way that her relationship with him had redeemed and transformed her life. There is no doubt that Tiger Woods’ love for the game of golf inspired his come-back, his Masters win, even, I daresay, his redemption. (So whoever you are out there, you can tell your cousin at Maycrest Hardware that I agree with the sign.) Each one of us has been redeemed by God’s love, redeemed of all our failures and failings, redeemed from all the times when we did not show up, from all the times when we did not love. And each one of us has also followed the example of Mary Magdalene and showed up courageously because of love despite all reasonableness. On this Easter Day, what might God be calling you to show up for in your life, out of love, despite all reasonableness? For that is our continued call as disciples of the Risen Lord. Let us pray: O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Alleluia. i. Bourgeault, Cynthia. The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity. Shambhala: Boulder, 2010, p 16.