Easter Day
March 23, 2008
~The Rev.Steve Smith

She came before the first rays of dawn. There had been no sleep for her for days on end. But darkness was no stranger for Mary of Magdala. Before her Rabouni had come into her life, before he had taken hold of her soul, darkness was all this woman of the night had; all she had to blot out the memory of light and love.

And so, before daylight, she returned to the darkness, this time to blot out forever whatever flicker of hope was left. She had seen the broken body of Jesus. She had heard his dying gasps. She had touched his cold flesh. She had tasted the bitter end. Now, in the dark, she came, one last time, to seal off the tomb, to seal up her heart, to resign herself to an endless night of darkness.

And when she arrived, insult was added to injury. The tomb had been vandalized, or so it seemed. The body was gone, and even her last vestige of grief violated. She ran to Peter and John, and they too came, running, but seeing what they did, they slinked back into the shadows, leaving Mary alone to weep by the tomb.

In her agitation, her sight blurred, her body aching, her heart broken, she saw but could not see. Her mind, was it playing tricks on her? Then a voice, then two apparitions, and then this question: Woman, why are you weeping?

She turned and faced what she took to be the gardener. At least he could lead her to the body, and end this horror, and let her return to life as it was.

But the stranger speaks again. “Mary,” is all he says. And Mary recognizes. Then, Mary sees. “I have seen the Lord,” she announces to the disciples, huddled behind closed doors. And she told them what things he had said to her.

Yes, it is a story we know well. But let me ask you this question: “Who are you looking for this Easter morning? If it is simply a body buried beneath the ancient layers of dirt and sand half a world away, if it is simply a moment of nostalgia heralded by bunnies and trumpets blaring, if it nice idea, a crazy notion, or simply a confirmation by cynicism and doubt for you, then my friends, this is exactly what you will find. On this day, in this place, in your hearts, you will find exactly what you are seeking. And you can go home now with the satisfaction and comfort that Easter is exactly what you thought it was. Nothing more and nothing less.

If, however, this morning you are looking for something else, something more; if through your tears, or your confusion, your doubt or your despair, you are seeking the One whose love overcame death; if you here even if it simply to look for a body to bury; if you are here, like Mary of Magdala, with broken hearts and busted dreams; if you are at the end of your rope; if you are weeping by the tomb; if the veneer of the world’s answers and solutions is peeling away; and if you are seeking another way, another one, then this morning, you must listen, and listen hard.

For in the silence of another Easter morning, there comes a voice, a voice calling your name, a voice of recognition, a voice of hope and joy, a voice you already know, and who already knows you.

Your see, friends, the beauty of it all is that on Easter, we get exactly what we are looking for, and eyes behold exactly what we seek. The Resurrection changes everything or it changes nothing. There is no middle ground. No easy accommodation. No neatly wrapped box to open and then consign to collect dust on the closet shelves of our inner selves.

Whom are you looking for, then? If it is Jesus, if it is the Risen Christ whom you are seeking this morning, then he will find you, and you will find him. And raised with Christ, the glory of this day will not fade, but burn brightly in your hearts, until that day you return to him.