Through Mary's Eyes, Sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord

The Resurrection of Our + Lord
April 17^th, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Through Mary’s Eyes
John 20:1-18, 1 Corinthians 15, Isaiah 25:6-9

Christ is Risen!  (He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia.)  

   Lord, I believe.  Help Thou my unbelief. (Mark 9:24).  What was a desperate cry from the father of a demon possessed boy in Mark chapter 9, “Lord, I believe.  Help Thou my unbelief” is also the proper daily prayer of Christian living.  And, with Mary Magdalene this morning, we see this writ large. 

   As we have done with various characters of John’s Gospel since Ash Wednesday, this morning we
will seek to see Jesus Christ through Mary Magdalene’s eyes.  And her eyes needed help to see the Truth, just like ours. 

   It’s not easy for us to believe.  As much as we rejoice to celebrate the Resurrection this morning, we all sometimes struggle with doubt.  And all the more as the world, and especially the educational institutions and the media all around us, disregard, deny and mock the central linchpin truth of the Christian faith.  For our faith stands or falls on the fact that Jesus Christ, on the third day after He died on a Roman cross, rose from the dead, revealing Himself to be the Savior, the font and source of free forgiveness for sins, and the Head of the New Testament People of God, destined to live with Him in glory, forever and ever.  

   Through Mary’s eyes.  Magdalene means “from Magdala,” her village in Israel.  We don’t know much more about her back story, not even exactly where Magdala was.  But we can ask one question to help us see through Mary’s eyes:  What is it like to have seven demons cast out from you?  To see through Mary’s eyes, we need at least to consider what it would be like to be demon possessed, and then have Jesus set us free.  This is what Jesus did for Mary, (Luke 8:2).  Unsurprisingly, she then became a devoted follower and supporter of the miracle worker from Nazareth.  If you have suffered deeply in the darkness, and then the light of Christ sets you free, you will likely seek to stay close to that light.  Which Mary did, even when the darkness closed in around Jesus on Good Friday.  

   Mary’s seven-fold exorcism presents another faith problem for us.  Do we really believe in demon possession, today?  With all that science has revealed, shouldn’t we leave this primitive idea behind?   Well, it is no doubt a good strategy for Satan and his minions to leave us “advanced” people alone, to leave us suspecting they don’t exist.  Because it is a short journey from discarding the Biblical witness about demons to accepting an entirely materialistic and scientistic world view.  Which denies the existence of demons, and angels, and in the end, of God Himself.  Lord, save us from our “advanced” wisdom. 

   Back to Mary’s eyes.  Mary was a particularly unfortunate victim of spiritual warfare, and Jesus set her free.  This singular experience led her to devote all her time, energy and resources to her Savior.  On the first Easter morning, Mary calls Jesus Rabonni, or Teacher, which makes sense, since as a close follower of Christ, she would have heard Him do a lot of teaching.  She witnessed miracles, great acts of mercy, heard the Good News of the Kingdom again and again, from the very mouth of the King.  These things kept Mary close to Jesus.  Unlike most of the disciples, she was brave enough to be at the Cross.  And of course, with some of the other faithful women, Mary went early on Sunday morning, after the Sabbath was ended, to properly honor Jesus’ body, hastily buried on Friday evening.     

    From Mary’s experience and example, we can draw a number of fundamental truths about the Christian faith. 

 

First, God in Christ saves us; we contribute nothing.  The fancy term for this is “divine monergism.”  Salvation is not a joint project.  As St. Paul says in Ephesians 2, we were all once dead in our trespasses and sins, but God has made us alive again, in Christ.  Dead people don’t do anything.  Certainly a person suffering under the possession of seven demons does not set herself free.  For all that Mary did in response to being rescued, it is clear that she was saved by Jesus.  She did not contribute, but rather simply received. 

Faith comes by hearing.  Mary, weeping outside the tomb, cannot see Jesus.  She believes He is dead, His project is ruined.  On top of the horror of the crucifixion is added the newly discovered travesty that someone has taken His body.  She is overwhelmed.  It isn’t so important whether Mary couldn’t recognize Jesus because of the tears in her eyes, or for the veil over her heart.  Either way, she was lost in despair, until Christ Jesus called her name.  “Mary.”  Hearing the voice of the resurrected Jesus snatched her out of darkness and brought her into God’s marvelous light, even brighter than when Jesus cast out her demons three years earlier.     

Faith alone saves, but faith is never alone.  Faith always springs forth in good works.  True faith in Christ necessarily leads the Christian to do good works.  In a prelude to the main event, Mary responded to being set free from her demons by following and providing for Jesus in His ministry.  And Mary responded to Jesus, once she heard His voice and believed that He had risen from the dead. 

   As Mary demonstrated outside the tomb, true faith looks to and clings to the Resurrected One, God in the flesh, the Savior of sinners and Source of eternal life.  And this connection with Jesus fills the believer with the desire and energy to do the things He gives us to do.  In Mary’s immediate case, to run to the Eleven and share the Good News with them. 

It hurts to be saved.  Maybe you lack a dramatic conversion experience.  Maybe you don’t remember a time when you weren’t a Christian.  God be praised.  Even still, salvation is not painless.  Mary was brought very low by the Cross and the Empty Tomb, before Jesus called her to new life.  The Apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus was frightening and shameful, as he was confronted with the reality that he was an enemy of God, persecuting His Church. 

   Even after the Holy Spirit makes us Christians, we still face pain.  Sometimes there is pain from without, ridicule and rejection from the world, or even persecution.  But always in this Christian life on earth, there is pain from within.  For we Christians are still sinners.  And that’s not o.k.  Repentance for the sin that still clings to us is a necessary part of our daily lives.  Lord, I believe.  Help Thou my unbelief.  Being brought to repentance, being confronted by the Holy Spirit with the foolishness, ugliness and seriousness of our own sin is never pleasant.  But God’s intent with repentance is to open our ears to the forgiving voice of Jesus, once again.  So the pain is worth it, every time.    

Sometimes we are just going through the motions.  Sometimes, our hearts, minds and wills are all in line with our faith, and that’s great.  But sometimes we’re just going through the motions.  In a sense, the women going to the tomb Sunday morning were just going through the motions, doing the habitual things that a Jew always did when someone died.  And that is o.k.  Indeed, the human life rests upon a foundation of habits.  God built routine into everything, from the beginning. 

   Evening and morning, each day follows a pattern that shapes our living.  Seven days of Creation led to a seven-day week, with six for working and one for rest and worship.  The year is divided into seasons, each with its unique character, needs and blessings.  Israel was given a series of annual feasts, to accentuate their weekly worship. 

   And so also in the New Testament Church, we live from the repetition of the traditions of God.  As Jesus teaches us, we rise and pray our way through our day, until we commend all things into His hands and close our eyes in sleep.  We gather week by week around His Word, to receive forgiveness and strength for living.  Preaching, Baptism, Supper, Mercy.  These are the traditions of Christ, which make and keep us alive. 

   Around these we are free to carefully add our own faithful traditions, which help us along, and confess the truth of Christ.  Our traditions must never displace or contradict God’s traditions.  But if they are faithful, they can be of great value, both practically and spiritually.  Like the burial customs of the Jews.  They were not given by Moses, but they were good and right and in keeping with God’s love for humanity, and the bodies He created for us.  

   Maybe today you are just going through the motions.  Maybe your habit is to go to church on Sunday, without thinking very much about it, and so you are here today.  Or perhaps you are what another Mary, Maria my first church secretary, liked to call a “Cheester.”  Your habit is to go to Church on Christmas and Easter, and not much more.  Or maybe your habit is to make nice when visiting your parents or grandparents, and so going through this motion brought you here today. 

   We all have habits, some better, some worse.  We’d be lost without them.  It is wise for us to consider our habits and whether they are the best ones we could develop.  Because some habits can be truly wonderful, if going through their motions brings you to the Risen Christ.   Which is what God did for Mary.  She was distraught.  Weeping.  Without hope.  She only wanted to do the right thing with the body of Jesus, and even that had been taken away from her.  And then Jesus called her by name.  “Mary.” 

   God’s call for Mary is also His call for you.  Hear Jesus.  Be saved.  Confess your sins.  And know this truth:  in the Blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, your sins are forgiven.  In Christ there is eternal life, for you.  The proof is the Resurrection. 

   You still have doubts?  Dig into the story.  Consider the history of the Church, from that first Easter down to today.  Read the Gospels and the Book of Acts, and consider the fact that this message and Church are still going strong today, despite all the resistance and persecution of the world.  Most of all, hear the Word of Jesus.  Hear Him calling your name, just as He did for Mary. 

   Because Jesus Christ is Risen today, for you, Amen.