Sermon by Lou - March 27 - Easter Day

Sermon for Easter Day by the Rev. Lou Hays

John 20:1-18

It is dark when Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb. For her it’s still Good Friday. The light of the resurrection is not yet shining in her life. As far as she is concerned, Jesus is dead and in the grave. Her hopes and dreams are as dead as what she assumes is Jesus’ lifeless body.

When she discovers that his tomb has been disturbed, she runs home to tell Peter and the beloved disciple that Jesus’ body has been taken away. So Peter and the other disciple run back to the tomb and discover the linen wrappings from Jesus’ body and wrapping from his head carefully rolled up and left behind, surely not the sign of a grave robber at work.

Peter, as usual, doesn’t get it. The other disciple, the beloved disciple, begins to understand that Jesus has risen from the dead, but remains silent. Mary is left by herself, weeping, as Peter and the other disciple head back home.

After an encounter with two angels, Mary sees someone who we know to be Jesus, but she assumes to be the caretaker of the garden. Jesus says, “Mary,” and immediately she knows that it is the Lord. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows his sheep by name, and the sheep know his voice. Resurrection arrives for Mary. The light shines and overcomes the darkness in her heart, and Mary becomes the first person to share the good news that Jesus has risen from the dead.

Who among us has not had dark moments in our lives? Times that felt a lot more like Good Friday than Easter morning. Times when our hopes and dreams were dead and in the grave, when the light of the resurrection was not shining in our lives. Who among us doesn’t have a dark place within us even on this most happy morning?

The good news is that Jesus is alive! The good news is that Jesus has risen so that we might have life, life in abundance. As Jesus tells us earlier in John’s Gospel, he has come so that his joy may be in us, and our joy may be complete. This morning we celebrate the resurrection, the world’s best news, that Jesus has conquered death and given us the gift of eternal life.

There are two resurrections we proclaim this morning. We proclaim the historical truth and reality of Jesus’ resurrection that occurred 2,000 years ago. As our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in his Easter message, we don’t proclaim a fairy tale. We proclaim a world-changing, life-changing reality witnessed by many who were still alive when the Gospels were written down and that changed men like Peter from fearful cowards into bold testifiers to the risen Lord.

But there’s a second resurrection we proclaim this morning. It’s a resurrection that has happened millions of times and could happen again at any moment to any one of us. It’s the resurrection that occurs whenever we meet the risen Lord in our everyday life.

Now I admit it may seem hard to see the resurrection as we look around the world. Sometimes it seems like we’re in a permanent Good Friday as we survey the wondrous carnage. Terrorist bombs, death and destruction, war and natural disasters, vicious and destructive political campaigns at home. It’s almost enough to give up hope. But as the prologue of John’s Gospel famously proclaims, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

In fact, there are signs of resurrection all around for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Frankly, much of the good news is happening as a result of the Church. Episcopal priest Becca Stevens and her life-changing, life-giving work at Thistle Farms that gives dignity, hope, and new life to women escaping lives of addiction and prostitution. Check out their amazing story and their wonderful products at ThistleFarms.org. And now Whole Foods will bring big resources into this ministry by carrying Thistle Farm products in their stores nationwide. The Thistle Farms motto is “Love Heals.” Resurrection love. Light shines in the darkness.

Episcopal Relief and Development, through the generosity of thousands of Episcopalians, is bringing hope to Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle East, flood victims in Louisiana, and life-changing development projects in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, India, Asia, and the Pacific. Hope. Life shines in the darkness.

Closer to home, St. Paul’s is working with the people of McDowell County West Virginia, the poorest county in West Virginia. We’ve developed a wonderful partnership through our annual trips, and have provided a new freezer for their food pantry and goats for their expanding flock that now includes pigs and llamas. At this morning’s Easter egg hunt, our children will have the opportunity to name one baby goat, four piglets, three mama pigs, and two llamas! This summer we will provide books for young readers. In return we receive love and new friendships and understandings. And in the circle of life, they give us heritage seeds to grow in our garden, producing food that will be given to people in need through the SHIM food pantry in Bethel Park. In a community devastated by the collapse of the coal industry and the departure of Walmart, we are bringing hope. Light shines in the darkness.

On the very day of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, the Episcopal Church in Europe went ahead with a service already planned for the Cathedral. Here’s how the preacher, the Venerable Colin Williams, described the situation: “Just as I arrived in Brussels the city closed around me and a bomb exploded in the Metro. I was in Brussels to preach at the annual Chrism Eucharist at which clergy and lay ministers renew their commitment to service and Holy Oils are blessed. I made my way on foot to the pro-cathedral and the service went ahead with depleted numbers. Sirens sounded and helicopters hovered overhead. Going ahead with the service felt like an act of defiance; and as the Eucharist began we lit candles to show again that the Light has come into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.”

As we worship in this beautiful place this morning, soaking up the magnificent music and the joy of this day, I pray that the light will shine into any darkness of your life. I pray that you will encounter the risen Lord this day and every day. And I pray that God will bless you and use you to do the work of Christ in the world, that each of us might be the risen Lord, the light shining in the darkness.

Last week our story ended at the cross with a comma. Today’s story ends at the empty tomb with an exclamation point! Alleluia, Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!