This morning, we read the account of Jesus' resurrection from the gospel of John. Mary here takes center stage. If you recall, when the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 writes about the resurrection. Paul lists out a tradition that he had received of the account of scores of people that witnessed the resurrected Christ. Paul lists Peter, James, and the twelve, and 500 others, and himself. Surprisingly however, Mary Magdalene is left off this list. Many who read this list asks themselves this question, why did Paul leave Mary off. Scholars have pondered why. One possible explanation is that Paul was attempting to convince his ancient audience and they wouldn't have taken him seriously if he had included her because back in that day, many people didn't take the word of a woman seriously. But Jesus and the gospel writer refuses to silence Mary, they knew that if you took Mary out of the garden, you took the heart out of the resurrection. She wasn't only a witness, she was the first person commissioned to announce that New Creation had dawned in the world.
We know a little about Mary Magdalene. She is one of the first of Jesus' disciples, she is from the town of Magdala or Migdal from where her name is derive, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. She is mentioned though more than 12 times in the scriptures, that is actually more than most of the other disciples of Jesus. She is someone that is mentioned in (Luke 8:2) as one who was cured from evil spirits and infirmaries. She is one of the women that traveled with Jesus and who supported Jesus financially again a rarity in that time. She was at Jesus' crucifixion and watched, she was on her way with spcies to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus body for burial. Clearly, she is a devoted follower of Jesus, who had encountered Jesus' love and loved him very much, and had her life changed by that encounter.
Mary may have been used to having people discount her, or overlook her, she may have felt unimportant. At any rate, we find her in the garden distraught, overwhelmed in her sadness. She might have felt quite alone. There is a poem by Caitlan Glaspell called “Alone”
No One will ever truly know me.
How can they when they never even try,
because I smile they assume I am happy.
No One Knows Me.
I hide behind a mask,
they just never did get it.
No One Knows Me.
It is a difficult task,
always there for people but they are never truly there for me.
No One Knows Me.
Friendships, I have many, if I do why do I still feel alone in this world?
She may have felt alone and unseen but the reality was quite different, she wasn't alone, Jesus was there with her even though she didn't recognized him. She mattered, she mattered to God, and she mattered to Jesus, and the Spirit of Christ was there with her in that garden. She wasn't alone.
The story of Mary Ann Bird
I will never forget hearing the story told by the Rev Tom Long of Mary Ann Bird, she was born with a cleft palate and a disfigured face, Mary Ann also had lopsided feet and so an ungainly way of walking. Naturally, she was the target of all the school-age cruelty the other children could muster and was often bullied.
One year her teacher was Miss Leonard. Miss Leonard was a teacher that shined with kindness. Back in those days teachers were required to administer a kind of homespun hearing test. The teacher would call each student up to her desk, have the student cover first one ear and then the other, and the teacher would whisper something to see if the child could hear. Usually the teacher would say simple things like “The sky is blue” or “You have on new shoes today.” Well, Mary Ann dreaded this test because she was also deaf in one ear and so this test would be yet another chance for her to be singled out for her deficiencies in life.
On the day of the test when it came time for her turn, Mary Ann waddled and shuffled forward. She covered up her bad ear first and then, as Miss Leonard leaned in close, Mary Ann heard words that would change her life. Because for Mary Ann’s hearing test, Miss Leonard whispered, “I wish you were my little girl, Mary Ann.” And through those words and in the midst of her personal darkness and weakness, Mary Ann heard the voice of Jesus, the voice of love, the voice of grace.
This changed Mary Ann. She grew up and became a teacher herself and now she shies with kindness and grace to her students. And this is what Easter does for us, it is meant to change us. When Jesus says her name “Mary”, it is a personal moment, a recognition of who she is, God knows her deeply and intimately and love her unconditionally. Yet Mary is immediately connected with her siblings, her community. She is not alone and Jesus reminds her she is part of something greater.
But go to my disciples and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
When we are feeling alone, and that no one really knows us, we wear masks that conceal who we are or stand alone in our gardens, Jesus calls to us, Jesus knows our scars and with one word, our name, reminds us that we are seen and loved, and that we are called to reach out to others, and not keep that love to ourselves, we are a part of a greater community, and every day that we live until our last, when we are reunited with that community in God's presence, we are never really alone. The message of Easter is one that reminds us that we are connected to a community of faith, the church, in which we live and grow.
I remember as a child walking around a big box store, my parents would shop and they would allow me to go find gumballs. On one such trip, I got lost in the store. I found my gumball but I didn't find my way back to my parents. Then I heard my mother call. I followed the sound of her voice. When I found her I felt 'at home.' safe. Yet it was more than safety, it was what my family meant to me; values, music, food, love, kindness, teaching, others. Likewise, for us, Jesus connection Mary to her faith community was so much more; salvation, support, spiritual growth, new creation, connectedness, faith, grace, mercy. This Easter, let us hear Jesus call to us; yes Jesus loves us all intimately and personally, but Jesus also calls us to connect with others in the same spirit of love and faith.
