St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

Easter Sunday
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH
John 20:1-18

April 12, 2009
The Rev. Barbara Bond

Growing Up in Faith

Mary lives in a city on the Sea of Galilee, a place called Magdala. Like many others from her time and from all times, she has had ups and downs in her life. She may have had some emotional problems – she called them demons – but when she found a vision and a purpose, her life straightened out. She met someone special, a man who helped her to heal and to find a new direction. She was quite devoted to him, and began to follow him. His name was Jesus. Mary left Magdala and joined his followers, and for about two years things were going well. She learned a great deal from him, and regarded him as her teacher in life. Following him was a spiritual quest. She did not know where it would take her, but she came to see his vision, the Kingdom of God, as a new way of life.

It was a cruel blow to her when he was taken from her. She stood on a hill outside of Jerusalem and watched as he died. She noted carefully where his body was laid, a tomb in the rock. She came back to take care of his body, the sacred duty of a faithful follower, a last service she could do for him.

But when she came to the tomb, it was empty. What? Who took the body? Where was her Jesus? She ran to tell the other followers. Much distressed, she told them, “They have taken him away!” Two of the others accompany her back to the tomb, and they depart again, wondering.

Mary stays by the tomb, weeping. She looks inside and does not comprehend the scene – bright light, but no Jesus. She weeps some more, in the half-light of early morning, her eyesight distorted with tears. There is someone there outside the tomb. Perhaps this person took away the body? Maybe it is the gardener?

He is talking to her, asking why she is crying. Oh, I have lost the most important person in my life! Of course I’m crying!

And he says, “Mary.”

Suddenly she sees him, recognizes her beloved teacher. She rushes towards him, embraces him, thinks that it was all a mistake. His death was just a bad dream!

But no, he is different. He gently loosens her embrace and tells her that her spiritual quest now has a whole new life. His role as close friend and teacher has changed. He is opening to her, and to all the followers, a new life in God’s Kingdom, one that begins right now. She can not hang onto the old way anymore. She will grow up, become spiritually mature, and take the good news to others. She will first take it to the other followers, and then she will take it out into the world. She herself will embody the new life and lead others to the Kingdom of God. She has a new role and a new life.

This is our story. Like Mary, we may have encountered Jesus in our earlier life and still carry images of him, perhaps from illustrated childhood Bibles. Perhaps we have grown in other ways in our lives, emotionally, intellectually, but Jesus has stayed in the old form in our mind, something of a fairy tale.

But like Mary, the stories of our lives can lead us to search for a more mature relationship with God, perhaps through study with a good teacher, or serious encounter through prayer or spiritual exercise. As we grow in our spiritual quest, Jesus is transformed in our lives, as we are transformed by his. We no longer hang onto the old images, but grow up to a new understanding of our own role in the Kingdom of God. Jesus can send us out, too, to proclaim a new world, where things that were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, where the sick shall be healed, where brokenness will be mended, where oppression shall end, where hope opens to us endless vistas of new life. Alleluia!