John 20:1-18

Letting Go to Rejoice

A Sermon by Dr. Rev. Dawn Berry

Easter, 2005

Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me…” Jn. 20:17a

What makes the Easter story so believable for me is the lack of uniformity among the Gospels regarding the details of Jesus’ resurrection. If it was a story the disciples were making up, then I think everyone would have come up with the exact same story, making sure that all the details matched. But, they don’t. Each Gospel does include some points in common: the empty tomb, the presence of women and men, and the testimony, amid the confusion, that Jesus had risen. But, each tells the story in its own way.

The Gospels are not timid in mentioning that some believed and some didn’t, that some doubted. Isn’t that true for us? I mean this is 2005, and we are sophisticated and educated people who find this hard to believe. Yet, I do believe, and you must have some belief because you are here this Easter morning. You are here full of hope because what the mind cannot understand, the spirit can still embrace.

Luke and John have developed further narratives around the post resurrection appearances of Jesus. Each is meant to teach:

• That the risen Christ is indeed the same one who was crucified;
• The spiritual body is consistent with the identity of one’s physical body, though not exactly the same since there were times, as on the road to Emmaus, that Jesus was not recognized until the breaking of bread, remember our children’s story of the caterpillar and butterfly;
• Easter defines the Christian faith. We do not worship a fallen hero, a martyr, a good teacher, but the risen Lord. In fact Easter was the first and only Christian holy day until the late fourth century when Holy Week with Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were added. Next in line was Pentecost, then Epiphany, and lastly Christmas was added to the Christian calendar.
• And, the power of the risen Christ is present in the lives of the disciples and in our lives. Just as Jesus called Mary’s name, so we experience Christ calling our names in this life for service and carrying us into the next one for joyous rest

We come to our theme this morning which has always troubled me, “Do not hold on to me.” If Jesus could go fishing with Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, and the sons of Zebedee, then sit on the beach with them and eat breakfast, if Jesus could let Thomas touch the wounds on his hands, why didn’t he let Mary hold on to him? She was there at the cross. She saw the horror of his death when the others ran away. What is up with this?

I think this is the learning for us. We want to take the Christian faith and say this is how everybody should experience it and understand it. We want to make a blueprint for everyone for all time. My experience of the risen Lord because a map for your experience. But you see, as soon as we do that, we are not paying attention to the details of the Gospel. The Risen Christ appeared to each person, and will to us, as we need it to happen. Have you thought about that?

As soon as Mary called Jesus teacher, she wanted to go back to the old relationship she had, to the old dependency. Doesn’t that happen to all us when we experience the death of a loved one? We want everything to be the same. We don’t want death to change our lives. We don’t want to have to face living without that person we love so dearly. Mary was trying to hold on to a memory, to an old way of relating to Jesus. Every time we clutch in that way; we clutch the past; we clutch our relationships like they will never change; we do not grow or find joy. If we just want to hold on to the way things were, then it is not because we are afraid of death, but we are afraid of life.

Jesus said to Mary, “Do not hold on to me.” It is not that Jesus will not be there for her, but she now must live in the power of Christ rather than as a student of Jesus. We have to let go in order to embrace the new things God is doing in our lives, to mature. It is letting go to rejoice.

Elizabeth Kubler Ross taught us a lot about the stages of grief: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and finally acceptance. I remember when I was doing my Clinical Pastoral Training, I thought it was my job to move everyone through those stages within a month. You know, I was young once. Not only did I learn that people set their own pace, but I learned that we also need more than psychology. Ending at acceptance, as if that is all we have and is our only hope, is not enough, for as Paul puts it, “We are to be pitied.” Easter is about resurrection, tasting it now on this side of the horizon and throwing ourselves into the love of God in Christ when we cross over to the next. Faithful people use the tools of psychology for understanding, but the goal of the Christian faith is life: Life lived in abundance; lived in hope; life able to love again and again and again; and it is life that is lived in joy. Happy Easter.