4 April 2010
Carolyn L Roberts
John 20.1-18

            Those of a certain age may remember the old Kingston Trio song, Desert Pete. It tells of a cowhand crossing a blistering desert, thirsty down to his toenails. And there, out in the middle of nothing but sun and cactus he sees a water pump. At first he thinks it’s a mirage...till he sees a note stuck in a baking powder can. It tells him that the old pump works, but has to be primed with the water under a rock in a bitters jar. The chorus sends the message home: You’ve got to prime the pump. You must have faith and believe. You’ve got to give of yourself ‘fore you’re worthy to receive.

            The Kingston Trio notwithstanding, the gospel according to John tells a compelling and challenging story of Easter faith and belief. Faith is confidence and trust. Belief is a feeling that something is true. And of course, the two–faith and belief–not only co-exist, but often interrelate. So let me be clear: there is more to faith than giving oneself over to a set of beliefs. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard–in some variation, “Oh, I’m not a real Christian; I don’t believe in this life after death stuff!” For the record, I’m not here to prove the resurrection. None of us was there; those who were disagree about most of the details.

            However, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was crucified. That he died in every sense of the term: brain-dead; heart stopped. Dead. Paul’s letters and sources outside our gospels attest to this; so the gospels themselves. Certainly Mary Magdalene believes Jesus is dead. Like a lost puppy, she returns to the tomb, presumably to mourn...and finds the grave disturbed–the stone has been removed. So she runs to tell Peter, who along with “the other disciple” checks out Mary’s report. They appear to agree that the tomb is empty. Then both of the men return to their homes. So sad. Another dead Jew, a good man, a great teacher. He will be mourned and remembered for a while by his friends. Even his grave isn’t left in peace. End of story.

            Only it isn’t the end of the story. Jesus appears to Mary and asks why she is weeping, then speaks to her by name. In this simple interaction, the systems of privilege and hierarchy and power of both the Temple and of Rome begin to crumble. In this simple interaction between Jesus and Mary, Mary becomes the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection–and her witness doesn’t count in the court of Jewish law. Not incidentally, Mary Magdalene is the consistent woman present at the tomb in all four gospels...and there is nothing in any gospel to suggest that Mary was a prostitute. That little innuendo comes from later in church history, when men decided women were getting too uppity. And the men? When it comes to the first witnesses to the resurrection, the men either are missing altogether or present for a moment, then disappear. And then the second shoe drops. Not only is a woman the first witness to the resurrection; Jesus has the chutzpah to commission her to share that witness with the other disciples. The witness is given the authority to testify.

            And what a testimony! Mary has seen the Lord! Life  is no longer the same: through the resurrection, God says “no” to the powers who executed Jesus, and “yes” to the Spirit who animated Jesus’ life of healing and compassion. When Lazarus was restored to life, God through Jesus struck a blow at mortality. When Jesus, crucified by Roman authority and Temple complicity, is restored to life, God strikes a blow to the systems that executed him.

            No longer is the holy the sole province of the Temple. Through the resurrection, even the fringes of society–women, children, the unclean, the poor, the abused, the forgotten—all have access to the holy. And Rome? An empire unlike any the world has known? No longer does Rome, with its fearsome capacity to execute a horrible death, even Rome loses its absolute grip on power. Through the resurrection, Jesus calls each of us by name: and because we are named through the waters of our baptism, we have worth, we are beloved of God. Through the resurrection, victims of the callous and the powerful also are vindicated. And if they are vindicated, they too have worth. Through faith in the resurrection and the belief that our still-speaking God is more powerful than empires, more powerful even than death, Christians dared to believe that lepers and those dying of the plague were worthy of their ministries; that institutions such as slavery could be abolished, that people of color in this great country had every right to equal rights. Through faith in the resurrection, people of this congregation recognize the worth of children and their families: we tutor at Fox Chapel Elementary, volunteer at Shaw Community, offer nutritious meals at the Lord’s Table, provide special gifts and holiday meals, and extend a helping hand to those with emergency needs.

            Through faith in the resurrection, we are witnesses: Christ is risen! God is still speaking! Thanks be to God!