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Pastor Kerri Parker's sermon at the McFarland United Church of Christ on April 24th 2011 (Easter)“In Their Own Words: Mary Magdalene”Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCCEaster Sunday (April 24, 2011)John 20:1-18“Why are you weeping?” they asked me.As if the simple fact that I was a woman standing alone by a grave in that lonely hour before thesunrise, weren’t enough.I could have given them any number of answers.It wasn’t just those horrible last hours that had me weeping. That was just the beginning ofwhat had me aching inside.My dearest friend, teacher and guide, was gone.Our community, this family that we built, was scattered and grieving. One of our own hadbetrayed us – had betrayed him.Once, we had hope. Once, we were a community. A people. A movement. Our lives hadmeaning, and purpose.And now we were no people. We were alone. I was alone.Why was I weeping? There were millions of answers to that question.But the biggest one was this: someone had taken Jesus’ body. His body was missing. I realizehow absurd that sounds, but it’s true: when I arrived, the stone was gone, the tomb was open.The tomb was as empty as my hopes and dreams were, that morning. His body was missing. Itwas an extra layer of grief, on top of what was already so difficult to bear.And then again, “Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”Why mock a grieving woman?“Who are you looking for?” Just the one person who could take away this pain, who couldmake the world right again. The one person who called us out of our daily routines, the onewho gave our lives meaning.--“Who are you looking for?” It was one of his favorite questions. Right up there with “What areyou looking for?” or “Why are you looking for me?”He said that to his parents, in the temple, when he was just a young thing, and they werefrantic with worry at having lost him. “Why are you looking for me, didn’t you know I’d behere, in my Father’s house?” And you’d want to clutch him to you, hold on for dear life, andsay, “don’t you ever wander away like that again! I thought we had lost you forever!”He said it to John’s disciples, when they started tagging along behind him. “What are youlooking for?” They didn’t quite know how to answer. How can you put words to thisindefinable longing? This sense that things aren’t quite right, that there’s something missing.Once you were certain you were on the right path, and then, not. So you stutter and stammerand finally spit out a question, instead of an answer. “Where are you staying?” As if it weresuddenly of the utmost importance to know, so he doesn’t sneak away from you in the middleof the night, before you have a chance to know him.We were all afraid of losing him, from the very beginning. We were all afraid of losing him,because he helped us see the hole in our hearts that God was just waiting to enter. He had atendency toward risk-taking. He was so sure of himself. So he’d walk up and ask the disarmingquestion. “What are you seeking?” And suddenly, you’d be spilling your heart out to him.“I’m seeking healing,” they would say. Or “fellowship,” or “truth,” or “forgiveness.”He saw the beauty in us that we were afraid to see. He looked right through our rough edgesand imperfections and saw us as beloved children of God. He treated people with honor,embraced them as companions – even people like you, and like me! You didn’t need anyspecial qualification to walk with him, just a willingness to open your heart.“What are you looking for?” That’s what I was looking for. That’s who I was looking for. TheOne who paid attention to the important things. The one who encouraged us to live with everyfiber of our being. The One who poured himself out for us, who told us to love one another,who showed us that there was something more to live for.I ached to have him back, and yet it was impossible. Dead is dead. So I was weeping in theGarden, that morning, because not only had we lost him, but we had lost him. He was dead,and his body had gone missing, and there was nothing certain in the world anymore.--Tears running down my face, I asked the gardener, “Where have you laid him?” It mattered,deeply. I wanted to care for him, in the way that he had cared for us. I didn’t know who thisgardener was, but at that moment, I was reaching out for something, anything.And that moment was when the world righted itself again. “Mary,” he said. It was Jesus! Hespoke my name. He spoke my name and it echoed in my soul. It splashed into my thirsty spirit,carrying with it joy, and confidence, and certainty. He was alive!--“Why are you crying?” “Where have you laid him?” “What do you seek?”In a world full of questions, there is so much we do not know. There is so much that lies out ofour control. We are tempted to isolate ourselves, build up barricades around what we have,live in fear of what we have to lose, pretend perfection.But Jesus is alive. And that opens up all sorts of possibilities.Maybe – more than maybe – the dead places inside you don’t have to stay dead.Maybe - more than maybe - it’s okay to let yourself be vulnerable. Maybe it’s okay to say youdon’t have it all under control. Maybe – more than maybe – it’s okay to let go of whateveryou’re carrying. To ask for help, healing, forgiveness. It is not your burden to bear alone.Maybe - more than maybe - it’s okay to dream. To imagine a world in which this is not all thereis. To throw an armful of God’s promises up in the air and watch them flutter down like ashower of blessings on your shoulders and your head and your nose and around your feet. It isa joy to be shared, to be scooped up and poured out, over and over again.Maybe – definitely more than maybe – goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger thanhate. Light is stronger than darkness. And life is stronger than death.I know the one you are looking for. I know his name. I know he lives.Jesus is alive. I have seen the Lord. Alleluia! Praise God.Amen.http://www.archive.org/download/McfarlandUccSermonApril24th2011/MUCC_Sermon_20110424.mp3