In Darkness – Light!
Sunrise Service
Psalm 118: 14-24 and John 20: 1-18
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ April 24, 2011 – Easter with Celebration of Our Lord’s Supper
Service held outside in Unity Presbyterian Church's shelter
Introduction Scripture
Psalm 118: 14-24
In its ancient context, Psalm 118 was most likely an entrance liturgy to the Temple, used at the festival of Passover. It proclaimed God's deliverance from Egypt and, later on, from the Exile. There are phrases such “as stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” that Christians have claimed as their own affirmation of salvation.
As long ago, the priests and people processed into the Temple with this Psalm on their lips, let this Psalm lead us into Scripture with reverence and awe:
14The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
15There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
16the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
21I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
John 20: 1-18
John does remarkable things to the (synoptic) stories surrounding Easter. His emphasis certainly falls on the reality of the resurrection as much as it does in Luke, but the focus is not a resurrected Jesus who materializes to his disciples. The focus is on the purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth to bring light in the darkness, love instead of hate, truth instead of the lie and life instead of death. This is what Mary seeks to hold on to but it is meant to be shared.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Sermon
Many of you have gone spelunking or at least toured a cave. It is the darkest experience we can get next to blindness. In that darkness even the tiniest light is significant. The glow of a watch dial or a cell phone can guide your walking. Most of us would not travel more than a few feet into a cave without some source of light. Spelunkers recommend at least three sources for exploring. When that stone was rolled over Jesus’ tomb it was that kind of darkness in which no amount of straining the eyes will give light. Yet when we enter spiritual darkness we often expect our own abilities to be enough to explore where angels fear to tread.
There are four characters in this story: Mary Magdalene, Peter, an un-named disciple and of course – Jesus. We know little about Mary Magdalene from the Bible other than she was healed of seven demons and was one of the few disciples that followed Jesus to the Cross and the Tomb. Some early Christian writings call her "the apostle to the apostles." In apocryphal texts, she is portrayed as a visionary and leader of the early movement yet others have interpreted her healing as an indication that she was filled with sin. She is named as one of the women who helped fund Jesus’ ministry. There is very little doubt she would of known Jesus when she saw him. For just this day push aside all the excuses of: it was dark, she had been crying, she was distraught. Let’s face it Mary is back in that dark cave of despair. At some point we have all wandered into it. We get lost in its darkness without our faithful light, the light of Christ to illuminate our way. Our life journey will take us to dark and frightening places. When we just fumble our way around, we will get lost and hurt. You have seen friends heading toward a terrible fall and tried to warn them. Stay out of that dark place; we try to pull them back. But this is their journey and we could stand around in anguish or we can carry the light of Christ with them into the darkness. That means we are truly with them.
At the tomb all Jesus has to do is call Mary by name and she believes. Peter we know struggles a little longer. He is still suffering from the darkness of his own betrayal when he denied he knew Jesus at his arrest. The un-named disciple gets it right away. All he has to see is the empty tomb.
We need the light of Christ to face the darkness of our own hearts and with that light we can see the way, the path becomes clear. We are the light in the darkness. So this Easter, let there be light in the darkness, joy in the midst of despair, hope when fear grips our hearts and love lighting the way. Amen.
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