EASTER IS MORE THAN LILY POLLEN
A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Marie Sheldon
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.’” (John 20:18a)
Scripture Passage: John 20: 1-18
Easter is a holiday – a holy day – which is more palatable for children than it is for adults. Children (and many skeptical adults) can handle the trappings of Easter quite well. Even if we don’t always have all the trappings every year, there are always memories of when some of them played a role in our young lives or in the lives of our children. New clothes and spring shoes. Hidden Easter baskets. Family-style dinners with relatives and friends. Easter cards with bunnies or chicks or spring flowers. Colored Easter eggs. Going to church and seeing the sanctuary arrayed with Easter lilies – as ours is today with the added garnish of tulips. These images are all a part of our collective consciousness, and for many of us, they spark warm remembrances of Easters past. There is nothing inherently wrong with Easter trappings. They simply are not enough.
You see, Easter is more than lily pollen. Easter is more than new clothes and ham dinners, Hallmark cards, jelly beans and chocolates. Easter is the joyful remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. We’re here to celebrate that resurrection, aren’t we? And yet, as one minister put it at a preaching seminar, “People leave the church on Easter with one question in their bellies: ‘Did this really happen?’”
Can you blame people? The Easter trappings are tangible, real. But when we delve into the biblical Easter story, we’re presented with ideas that defy our logic – ideas that press us to deal with things outside the realm of our everyday lives. In John’s Easter gospel lesson, which I read to you this morning, we are asked to deal with an empty tomb that had a corpse in it three days earlier. We’re not used to that. There were also grave clothes lying in the empty tomb – making it look as though a corpse had somehow slipped out of them. We’re not used to that. Angels are around the tomb. They speak to Jesus’ friend, Mary Magdalene, questioning her about weeping over the missing body of Jesus. We’re not used to talking angels – except perhaps on television. We simply aren’t used to Christ being more than we could ever imagine. We aren’t used to a Christ risen from the dead – but that, my friends, is what Easter is all about. Yet, Christ’s resurrection is only the beginning. The story goes on.
If we believe Easter ended with this first-century story, we might as well take our Easter lilies home, and call it a day. Easter faith beckons us to realize that if Jesus really did rise from the dead, he must still be alive. But where – and how?
Jesus Christ continues to live through us – through what we say – through our actions – through our welcoming others to the community of faith named after him: the Church.
In John’s gospel, when the risen Christ appears to Mary, he calls her by name – “Mary.” At that point, she knows her Teacher is very much alive, and she goes to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” Yes, Mary saw the Lord. He touched her life – both before and after his resurrection.
I would imagine that in some ways – big or small – the Lord has touched each of our lives as well. If he hadn’t, most of us probably wouldn’t be here today. That same Christ who called Mary by name calls us by name – asking us to respond with Mary Magdalene’s message: “I have seen the Lord!”
In what ways has the risen Christ touched your life? Has he given you hope when all else seemed darkened with despair? Has he encouraged you to reach out in love when your natural inclination was to turn inward with fatigue or lash out in selfish anger? Has he compelled you to serve in some way when you felt you had nothing more to give? Take time this Easter Sunday to reflect on ways that Jesus has transformed your life. But don’t stop with this cerebral activity. Do as Mary Magdalene did. Share your story in some way. Let someone else know that you, too, have seen the Lord. After all, when the tulips shed their petals, when the lilies have faded, when the candy is eaten, when the new clothes are old, the eternal Easter message is the same:
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen and alleluia!