Easter 2011

“Mary,” Jesus says. In that one word, the name of a woman standing in a garden in the early half light, in that name is everything. The woman cries out in joy and wonder “Rabbouni” - master.

Imagine. Imagine that moment when everything changed for her. Already she has been called to follow Jesus, already she has turned from a life of disappoinments and bad decisions, already she has called Jesus master. And then these few days where her hope for triumph, her hope for something new is taken, nailed to a cross and dies. Jesus is gone.

So she comes to the tomb, early, and he really is gone. There is nothing in the grave. Imagine her hope, imagine her desperation – the last thread of what she thought she had is gone. The other disciples come and leave again in bewilderment. Mary stands alone, much as she did when Jesus met her. Then she was shunned and hated, then she was under attack from those around her. Now, she is in a quieter place but, again, alone.

“If you have moved him, please tell me where he is,” she begs the figure who is approaching her. Imagine.

And then in one word,

“Mary” he calls her back.

The idea of names in Biblical times was quite different to what it is now. Firstly it really mattered what you were called, that is why Jesus got in so much trouble with the authorities – he allowed names to be used for him which offended them, names like Messiah and Son of God – this was no light thing, it was not a joking matter.

And this was because knowing a name gave a person away. When you knew some ones name you had power over them – they let you into their life. A name was almost a sacred and so when Jesus says Mary's name it is not just a word, it was not just a word, it, somehow, caught up everything that she ever was or could be. Imagine.

But then imagine more. Imagine that it is you standing in the garden – imagine it is you who are sobbing your heart out, deep heart wrenching sobs which catch every piece of pain and disappointment which you have ever felt, deep gasping breaths which seem to suck in only darkness. Imagine then this figure, and this voice , this man who you have loved so well, imagine Him speaking your name – and in that word Barbara, Joyce, Peter......in that word scooping up everything that you are and holding it tight.

And that is resurrection. That is today. That is Easter. That moment when from all the darkness and worry and sheer hard work of life there comes life and hope and meaning. It doesn't fit neatly into a ten minute sermon slot – it cannot but once you have stood in that place life is never going to the quite the same again.

How can this be, in a world where so many things go wrong. How can this be in a world where so many people suffer? There is no simple answer – but it is. And perhaps this is why it is important that it is Mary today – someone who had truly been at the bottom of life's heap becomes witness to the greatest event in human history.

The question is, are we ready to stand there too – are we in the garden this morning. Jesus knows all of our names but are we ready to listen to him call them and respond? Are we ready for a God who knows every bone and cell, are we ready for a God who scoops us up when everyone else has given up on us? Are we ready for a God who does not provide easy answers, who asks us to trust more than to talk? Can we simply answer – Rabbouni!

This is the wonder of the resurrection, not that we are called to witness this astonishing event but that we are invited to enter into it. Mary was invited in by a God who knew her and loved her anyway. There is nothing to say that she did not still face hostility and all that comes from a broken past – but somehow in having her name known, in having her name on the lips of Jesus, her life changes, for ever.

I remember when I was a student at Bristol University – I gave up on God for a while. Life was not going very well for a variety of reasons – bad things had happened and I was feeling a bit beaten up. I was on all sorts of committees and even Deanery Synod – but it seemed to me that God wanted a bit too much all the time and I decided that none of this religious stuff could be true. I think it was only about three months that I did not go to church for but that was a long time for me....and then I was walking past the University Church on Holy Saturday when the Easter Vigil was on.

Right, God, I thought to myself, we will see now. This is all a load of rubbish, you aren't real and I am going to go in here to prove it to myself and I sort of gave God a now or never ultimatum (looking back I was not ever going to make a very good atheist). I arrived at the back of a crowded Church just as the Gospel of the Resurrection was being read out – I really tried hard to keep my arms crossed and a frown on my face – I really tried to carry on being angry and feeling hard done by but as the familiar words washed over me I realized that they were true – that Jesus was risen from the dead and that He loved me very much. I was home again.

I cannot claim to understand that, and whilst I did not hear any voices or anything very dramatic I certainly felt God calling my name and just had to answer, Rabbouni!

And somehow God is doing that today for us too, calling our names whereever we are and how ever far we have wandered. Perhaps this resurrection is just a glimmer or a hope for you, perhaps it is shining light and big brass bands. Perhaps it is a whisper, a song or a shout. But however Jesus is calling your name this Easter, He is calling you – he is calling us, each and and every part of each and every one of us.

If Jesus can scoop Mary Magdalene up, we have to be sure that He can scoop each and every one of us up too. This is the Resurrection – new life, new hope, new birth in Christ. If you are feeling confident in Christ today, rejoice. If you are somewhere else then I invite you to listen to Jesus calling your name – to allow Him to hold you in that place and to answer faithfully,with all that you are and have – Rabbouni.