"Don't Hold Onto Me..."

Scripture

John 20:10-18

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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?” 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.     (NRSV)

Devotion

 Well, it's mid-week, which means its time to go out to the garden and remove the flowers from the living cross our church put together on Sunday.  Taking down the flowers is a little sad.  They were so vibrant just a few days ago...but now, they are wilted.  Their time is over.  Easter is over.  Or is it?

While that first Easter Sunday only comes once a year, churches that follow the liturgical calendar have a six week long Easter Season.  During this time, we continue to celebrate the Resurrection and make a point of asking ourselves what our new life in Christ calls us to do and be in the world.  Theologically speaking, every single Sunday is a miniature Easter...because that this is the day of the week when we gather to remember that Jesus has defeated death and sin forever.

When I take flowers off a cross, I can't help but notice the way they still cling to it...just as Mary evidently clung to Jesus after she recognized him.  Given the pain and sorrow of the last few days, it's little wonder that Mary wanted to hold onto him for a while.  The problem with that was that Jesus had still had places to go and things to accomplish.  If he stayed with Mary or even the other disciples forever, then his work would never be fully realized and the Church would not get off the ground.  The Christian faith would wilt like flowers left out in the sun.   

Jesus told Mary not to hold onto him not because he was too holy to be touched...but because by letting him go, she would free him to proceed with doing what needed to be done.  He also gave her a mission: go tell the others what she had seen and heard.  In this moment, Mary Magdalene became the first Apostle (which means "sent one" in Greek).

Sooner or later, we all have a moment when we experience the joy of Resurrection--the times when joy replaces sorrow, new life comes out of death, or hope returns during a time of despair.  Those moments are life changing; they also require us to choose what will do next.  Will we try to hold onto Jesus as tight as we can and try to stay in that perfect moment forever?  Or will we have the faith and courage to  let Jesus continue on his way and start off on our mission to go spread the Good News to others? 

Tempting as it is to try to stay in the garden forever, I want to believe that most of us are eventually willing to let Jesus send us to proclaim what we have seen and heard.  As Christ's sent ones, we (like Mary before us) become his apostles...sharing the Good News through our thoughts, words, and deeds.  Every time we go forth, the joy of Christ's Resurrection penetrates a little further into the sinfulness of the world.   

One of my previous churches had a tradition in which they play "Lift High the Cross" and parade a flowering cross into the sanctuary at the conclusion of the Easter service.  It was a truly joyful moment.  Now, though, I wonder what would it be like to reverse that pattern.  What if we had carried the flower cross out of the church and into the streets and paraded it around town as a way of sharing Resurrection joy with the world?  A little digging showed that a congregation in the Presbytery of the Western Reserve is already two steps ahead of me.  Our music selection today features a family from Christ United church going forth on Easter morning to visually share Easter joy with the surrounding community.   This family has joined Mary and countless others who have obeyed the Easter command to be Jesus's "sent ones."  May we too be willing to leave our gardens and boldly proclaim that Jesus is moving throughout the world.

Prayer

Jesus, we are overjoyed to know that you have Arisen.  We also know that you have work left to do.  We ask you to forgive us for the times that we want to stay where we are and cling to you too tightly. Give us the faith to let go and then go forth as your sent ones, joyfully proclaiming your Good News to the world.  Amen