On the Loose!

On the Loose! is our worship theme for Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013. Our focus scripture is John 20:1-18.

In John’s account of the Easter story Mary Magdalene rises early on the day after the Sabbath and goes to the tomb. John does not tell us that she goes with spices to finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial. Nor does she have company. Perhaps she is so tied to Jesus that she just wants to be near him in the same way that we feel drawn to visit the tomb of a loved one who has died. We don’t expect to see the one we love, but there is a comfort in just being close to where their body is laid.

When she reaches the tomb, Mary sees immediately that the stone that was covering the entrance has been rolled away. She thinks grave robbers are to blame and goes running to Peter and the beloved disciple to sound an alarm. In turn they run to investigate, and eventually go back – Peter puzzled, the beloved disciple beginning to believe that grave robbers may not be the culprits.

Meanwhile, Mary returns to the tomb with the men, and lingers there, weeping in her sorrow, feeling the most bereft she has ever felt. As she cries she looks into the tomb and sees two angels, sitting at the head and feet of where Jesus was laid. “Why are you weeping?” they ask.  “Because they have taken my Lord,” she replies, “And I don’t know where they have laid him.” Then looking around she sees Jesus, but so powerful is her conviction that he is dead that she thinks he is the gardener. He asks why she is crying, but she is focused on her primary concern.  “Sir,” she pleads, “if you have carried him away, please show me where you have laid him and I will take him.”

A word from Jesus is all that is necessary for her to recognize him. “Mary,” he says. And recognizing him, and seeing him alive, she does what any loved one would do, she hugs him. But Jesus interrupts her. Having endured the unbelievable cruelty of those who crucified him, we expect him to hug her back and enjoy the love and care of one who is truly on his side. Yet not being contained by death, he is not contained by life either. “Mary,” he says, “do not cling to me, for I must go and see my Father – my God and your God. But instead, go and tell the others of my ascension.” And so Mary tears herself away from Jesus and does what he says to do. She goes to the disciples and tells them, “I have seen the Lord.”

In this and the other resurrection appearances told by John, Jesus cannot be pinned down. Mary cannot hold him. Later that night, presumably after his ascension, Jesus returns to the upper room and appears to all the disciples except Thomas who is not there. A week later Jesus appears to Thomas. Then some time later he appears on a beach by the Sea of Galilee when the disciples have gone fishing. In each experience Jesus appears at his own initiative. On each occasion he has some specific and life-changing point to make. In the upper room he breathes Holy Spirit into his followers. A week later he convinces the skeptical Thomas of the reality of his resurrection. On the beach he gets things straight with Peter who has denied him, and gives Peter his mission for the rest of his life. And so his appearances continue in one way or another to this very day.

Jesus is on the loose. It is impossible for us to predict when he will show up or how exactly he will change the lives of those to whom he appears. The risen Christ changes the Apostle Paul from a persecutor of Christians to the greatest builder of churches in history. He sets Mother Theresa on her mission to the poor. He strengthens Martin Luther King, Jr. at a crucial turning point in the civil rights movement. Only one thing is for certain. There is nothing that can hold him down. He is always out in front, beckoning us to follow him and to create his love and justice and peace.

Here is a Call to Worship from Psalm 118 using wording from Eugene Peterson’s The Message. Please use or adapt anything that is helpful to you.

Call to Worship    From Psalm 118  (most wording from The Message)

L: The Lord is so good! God’s love never ends!
P: God’s my strength and my salvation.

L: Hemmed in by my enemies, I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,
    when God grabbed and held me.
P: It’s so amazing! I didn’t die. I lived!
    And now I’m telling the world what God did.
L: God tested me, he pushed me hard,
    but he didn’t hand me over to Death.
P: Open the gates to God’s wonderful city!
    I’ll walk right through and thank God!
L: Thank you, God, for rescuing me;
    you’ve truly become my salvation!
P: The stone the masons discarded as flawed
    is now the capstone!
L: This is God’s work.
    We rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!
P: This is the very day God acted—
    let’s celebrate and be festive!

All: Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
    Oh yes, God—a free and full life!