Megan E. Sanders
Easter 2012 – Year B
Isaiah 25: 6-9
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
1 Cor 15: 1-11
John 20: 1-18
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
I have seen the Lord!
These are the words Mary Magdalene uses to tell the disciples the gospel message that Christ indeed has risen from the dead and that we are set free from our sins by Christ's love for us. We are free! We are free and despair no longer has power over us. We are free and God's love empowers us to love one another out of one another's despair. Jesus is alive and we are not alone. Let all the earth rejoice and be glad!
It's been a long journey this Holy Week. This holy season of Lent. This season where we are called to walk with Jesus through trials and tests and empty places. But we made it, and we are here with the risen Lord on this glorious day of resurrection. And we are here together, in community, just as the disciples were huddled together two thousand years ago. They were hanging on for dear life, and they were hanging on together. We are called to hang on for dear life together, too...and we have the power of the resurrection behind us. We have the power of the living God within us, calling us by name the same way Jesus called Mary Magdalene by name in the garden on that holy morning. We are equipped with all that we need to live life abundantly because we are no longer bound by sin and death. And although Jesus told Mary not to hang on to him while they were in the garden, she is not left alone. We are not left alone. Christ calls us by name and we are called to respond by telling others our story. The way Mary told hers to the disciples. We are known by God and we must respond by building community with our brothers and sisters. We are known by God and we are filled with strength to build to the ends of the earth.
When was the last time God called you by name? When was the last time in your life when you felt infused by the power of the Holy Spirit and compelled to go and tell everyone you can about how God's love changed your life? When was the last time you were moved to do something in response to your knowledge of God's love for you?
Well, you may not know the answer to those questions. It may have never happened to you like that.
For me, it happened over time and has culminated in a call to ordination, where proclaiming the good news and building community with my brothers and sisters is my primary job. I love it! It all started when I was a freshman in high school, and my family had just moved from Washington, DC to the panhandle of Florida. I had zero friends, felt isolated and alone, and thought I was going to collapse from the despair I was feeling. My mom took me to a local church, and she must’ve put my name on a youth group list, because a few weeks before school started, I got a phone call from a woman who was volunteering as a chaperone for the youth group’s annual canoe trip. She asked if I wanted to go. I thanked her very much, said no, and hung up as fast as I could. I was so scared of the new places and people I was experiencing. What if they didn’t like me? What if I never fit in with a group of people who could love me? Well, thanks be to God, the woman didn’t give up on me. She called and left messages and talked with my mom and tried to get me to sign up for the trip with all of her might. She even called the actual morning of the trip, and I had the perceived misfortune of answering. She asked me one more time, and in a leap of faith and desperation for friends and community, I looked at my mom, got the nod of approval, and said yes. I’d go. I’d go on a trip with no one I’d ever met before and take a chance at being loved.
It was wonderful. Everyone was so nice to me. And since the town was half full of military families, it turns out that they were used to having brand new people all the time and they knew how to embrace me perfectly. I made a couple dozen new friends, had the newfound courage to try out for the high school soccer team a few days before school started, and on my first day of school, there were people in the halls saying hello to me and calling me by name. They knew me, they cared about me, and I was going to be okay. I was not alone. God called me by name through the youth group chaperone, the kids on the trip, and my new soccer teammates. God called me by name through my brothers and sisters in community, and from that moment on I wanted to be a part of that big love that saved me from my despair. I was infused by the power of the Holy Spirit to reach out to others who needed to hear God call them by name. I was hooked on love, and I wasn’t letting go.
That’s my story in a nutshell. We all have our own stories of why we’re here this Easter morning and what keeps bringing us back. What’s your story? Where have you been in your life where you’ve experienced despair? Has anyone reached out to you? Remember the people who have embodied God’s love to you and hold them in your heart as you go forth from this place and build community with your brothers and sisters. The love of God through other people is powerful and contagious. Catch it, and be set free.
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