“Do= Not Cling to Me”

John 20:1= -18

Providenc= e United Presbyterian Church

April 12,= 2009 (Easter Day B)

Rev. Dr. = Mary Jane Hitt

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&= nbsp; A few days ago I heard about a pastor who was advised by a parishioner not to work too hard on his Easter sermon – not to preach too long – n= ot to try to compete with the musicians and the children and the lilies and the excitement of this day. ̶= 0;Just say what needs to be said,” the man told his pastor. “Just say what needs to be said.” Good advice, don’t you think?

&= nbsp; There is never a Sunday when what needs to be said is any clearer than it is on Easter. I can say it in a par= agraph – maybe even a long sentence – and you can, too. Today we remember that Jesus Chris= t, who was crucified because of the sins of the world, was raised by God from deat= h to life, and that in his resurrection we receive the promise that God is with = us now and forever – that nothing, even death, can defeat the power of G= od for us and for the world. Tha= t’s the message of Easter – the same message you heard last Easter and all the Easters before that.

&= nbsp; But before you get your hopes up that this sermon is almost over, let me go on. There is more that needs = to be said today. Because while the message of Christ’s resurrection never changes, we do change. = We are not the same people we were = last Easter. Over the course of th= e last year, something – big or small – has changed in each of our lives. Babies have been born,= and loved ones have died; we’ve started new jobs and we’ve lost old jobs; we’ve retired; we’ve moved; we’ve experienced illne= ss and pain, sometimes recovering our health and sometimes not; we’ve enjoyed new friendships, but also found old relationships strained; we̵= 7;ve watched our financial investments dwindle.= Today some of us are experiencing what we might call a “dark n= ight of the soul”, hanging on to faith by a hair, while others are feeling stronger faith in faith than ever before.&= nbsp; Think for a minute about what has happened to you over the past year. [Pause] No, we arenR= 17;t the same people who heard the good news of resurrection last year. Every year, we hear the old, famili= ar story of resurrection in a new way.

&= nbsp; Of course, the story was anything <= u>but old and familiar when it unfolded that first Easter morning. Jesus had died and been buried on = Friday afternoon. The few disciples = who had been with him through the agonizing hours of his crucifixion had gone b= ack to their homes, where they rested on the Sabbath. But then, on the first day of the = week, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been placed. She wasn’t expecting anythin= g out of the ordinary to happen that morning.&nb= sp; She just went to the tomb in blinding grief to mourn the death of her beloved teacher and friend. W= hen she got there, her sorrow was compounded, because the stone that had blocked the door to the tomb had been moved, and the tomb was empty.

&= nbsp; Mary could think of only one explanation: Someone must have moved Jesus’ b= ody to an undisclosed location. A grave robber? A Roman official? A Jewish leader? She had no idea who, but she knew = she needed to tell the other disciples about the empty tomb. So she ran to tell Simon Peter and= the disciples we know as the “Beloved Disciple”, and they did what = any of us would probably have done if we had been there – they ran to che= ck out her fantastic story for themselves.&nb= sp; When they got to the tomb, they found everything just as she had described it, and they couldn’t make sense of it, either. So they went back home.=

&= nbsp; Mary, however, stayed right there outside the tomb, weeping. When she got up her nerve, she ben= t down to look inside, and she saw two angels sitting there where Jesus’ body had been. They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” and her answer was simple. “They have taken away my Lor= d, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then she noticed a man standing th= ere beside her. He asked her the = same question: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” And, supposing that this man must = be the gardener, Mary asked if he had removed a body from the tomb. She would take the body, she said.= She would take care of it.

&= nbsp; Can you imagine her astonishment when she heard this man speak her name? “Mary,” he said. And she knew. She couldn’t understand it.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> She couldn’t explain it. But when she heard her name, she k= new who it was who stood there, and she responded, “Rabboni,” “Teacher.” In that instant, Mary must have come to the conclusion that everything was back to normal. History must have see= med to her to have been reversed. It= must have seemed as if Friday had been a bad dream. Jesus was back as she remembered h= im, Mary thought, so she went to throw her arms around him. But Jesus stopped her. “Do not cling to me,” = he said. “Do not hold on to me.” =

&= nbsp; Because Mary got it wrong. Oh, she kn= ew that the man standing there was Jesus.&nbs= p; She got that right. But she thought when she saw him that everything had gone back to th= e way it used to be, when in fact, everything had changed, forever. She thought that the drama was ove= r, when in fact, it was just beginning. She thought that, having located the missing Jesus, she would be abl= e to keep track of him, when in fact, he was about to go to a place she could not begin to imagine. He was abou= t to ascend to his Father, and hers – to his God, and hers. And then God would send the Holy S= pirit to be Christ’s continuing presence in the world, in all times and pla= ces.

&= nbsp; You see, resurrection isn’t the end of the story of Jesus, but a new beginning. Easter doesn’= ;t tie up the story of Jesus with a sweet, spring-colored bow. Easter blows the story out into the world in ways we see unfolding even today.= Easter doesn’t return the old Jesus, none the worse for wear, = to Mary or to us, but rather confronts us with the Christ who is always on the road ahead of us, calling us by name and inviting us to follow.<= /span>

&= nbsp; Like Mary, we can’t hold onto the Jesus of the past, as much as we try. Resurrection isn’t about = that Jesus, but about the Christ who is on the move, opening to us a new future = that we could never begin to imagine. Easter isn’t about warm memories of where Jesus used to be and= what he used to do in the world or in this congregation or in our individual lives. Easter is about the go= od news that the risen Christ is always showing up in new places and doing new things.

&= nbsp; So his message to us today, in all the circumstances of our lives this very moment, whatever they are, is like his message to Mary. He calls us by name, and then he s= ays “Don’t hold onto me.”&nb= sp; Don’t try to keep me under control. Don’t try to keep me where I= used to be. Don’t expect our future together to be the same as our past. Don’t try to manage where I = can go and what I can do. Don’= t try to keep me safe and predictable. Don’t cling to me – just come with me.&nbs= p; Just follow me.

&= nbsp; Like Mary, you may have come here this morning not really expecting anything out= of the ordinary to take place in your life.&n= bsp; But the risen Lord is here, and he wants to change your life. He wants to resurrect all those th= ings in you that have shriveled up and died.&nb= sp; He wants to give you new life right now, and lead you to places you = have never even dreamed of going. = This kind of life doesn’t come from all your hard work or good intentions. It is the gift of= God, pure and simple, and it’s yours this Easter Day.

&= nbsp; Thanks be to God. Amen.

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