Easter 2022

There she stood in the middle of a cemetery with tears running down her face. We really do not know much about her, mostly innuendo and gossip. We know that she struggled with mental illness – possessed by seven demons as they said. She was unmarried but we do not know why. Had she always had her illness and her father was unable to find someone to marry her? Or had she been married only to have her husband die at a young age. Or did he divorce her because he no longer was pleased by her, or she had not given him a son, or because of her illness? However it came about she was now the talk of the town. Mothers pointed to her and told their daughters that, when they got married, if they did not obey their husbands they would end up like her. Men just used her. She had been discarded by those around her like a piece of trash. 

But then, one day by chance, she met a man who saw her not as someone to be abused but as a person. He healed her, accepted her, and invited her on a new journey. What a wondrous couple of years that had been. But it all came crashing down the other day. They killed him. And now, injury upon injury someone had stolen his body. Had it really happened? Was it all a delusion? What now? What would happen to her again? As that sinking feeling in her belly kept growing and the threat of her illness returning she stood there sobbing and Jesus spoke her name.

We know Mary. We know her very well because we are her. We, too, have stood in cemeteries and cried as the world swirled into chaos around us.  We have seen our hopes, dreams, and plans come crashing down. Unlike Mary, in our anger and pain we have lashed out and hurt others and instead of looking for Jesus we have tried our own solutions. And there are plenty people out there offering us a solution to our problems. From the street pharmacist down there on the corner, to the ones on television hawking some drug that will solve everything. “I know your problem” they say and then tell you what you need. You need to wear certain clothes, drive their automobile. “Here, try this, do that.” they entice. They even have apps for you phone that will solve all your problems. Better yet, you need a new phone. One without a cracked screen. You know them and you have bought their line.

But in the midst of the chaos and mess that you find yourself in, Jesus calls you by name as he called Mary. Called you into a different world. Not one that has no pain or struggle but a world that gives hope and strength. A world of faith. You, chase after false hopes and dreams, have been called by name and made whole by God through the death and resurrection of God’s own Son. And from now on, you can rejoice and be glad in all that you do. Whether it is at the kitchen sink, the dining room table, a hospital bed, or in a cemetery, you are in God’s hand and can rejoice in the gift of salvation. Christ is risen!