Isaiah 65:17-25 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Acts 10:34-43 John 20:1-18
“’Woman, why are you weeping?’ Mary said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.” Jesus, the man who had raised her brother from the dead, the man who she loved deeply was standing right in front of her – yet Mary did not recognize him. The thought that this man was Jesus was simply too incredible for her mind to grasp, so she assumed he was the gardener. For her, it was simply impossible to imagine – Jesus alive and standing before her.
There was an accountant whose life centered around his family, with the exception of during tax season. For him, family was everything – and not just his immediate family, his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and his cousins were all important to him. When he and his wife were expecting their second child, the unthinkable happened and eight months into her pregnancy, the baby died. Their experience with the physicians, nurses and other hospital personnel lead him to consider medical school. As an accountant, he had not taken pre-med courses, so for any medical school to even consider him, he realized he would have to get another undergraduate degree.
The idea of becoming a physician occupied more and more of his thoughts until he decided to quit his job and return to school. It required his family to make significant life changes – they sold their house and moved into rental property owned by one of his cousins. The house was a fixer upper, so when not in school he remodeled the home in exchange for lower rent. Years later, he graduated from medical school and joined a practice.
Though this sounds like the end of a heart-warming story – it was not. He and his wife had a second child, a son, but he no longer had time for his family. At large family get-togethers, he would spend his time off in another room reading medical journals. He no longer played with his nieces and nephews and was, in fact, annoyed by their presence. He ignored his wife and his own son and daughter as well. If he did engage in a conversation with anyone – he was to talk about himself, his opinions, or his practice. If the topic turned away from him, to what someone else in the family was doing – he left the room.
Once again, however, the unthinkable happened. His daughter was diagnosed with cancer. Despite the fact that he was a physician he found it difficult to get answers. He spent hours in her hospital room – frightened and waiting to hear the results of one test after another, one treatment after another. His daughter’s cancer was treatable and she experienced a full recovery – but the experience transformed his practice and his life.
He began making a point to see patients and families immediately after receiving their results. He changed his on-call practice of referring everyone to the emergency room and convinced his partners to answer every call personally. Then, he scheduled time to be with his family. He made an effort to spend time with his brothers and sisters and learn what was important in their lives. The people that were closest to him, his family, didn’t recognize him – at least not at first. But the more time they spent with him, the more they remembered how he had been before he started medical school. They remembered the uncle who cared about each of them, who loved them, and who wanted to spend time with them.
I think that at one time or another every one of us is blinded by pain. Whether it is the pain of grief that blinds us to the feelings of others – causes us to enter into our own tomb of self centeredness, or the pain of being hurt by others, we lose our direction in life. The physician was blinded by his grief; then shocked back into the world of the living by his daughter’s cancer. By that time, however, those that once knew him as a loving uncle believed he had died – so when he listened to them, when he went out of his way to see them – they didn’t recognize him. It took time. What they had believed to be impossible happened – their loving and caring uncle had returned to them.
Now Mary was blinded by her grief. Her Lord had been crucified as a criminal. People who gathered to hear what Jesus had to say, had turned against him and one of his own trusted disciples had even turned Jesus over to the authorities. Now, by herself at the grave, she sits weeping – overcome with grief. When Jesus appears, she hardly even notices the man, and assumes he is the gardener. Jesus must call out her name for her to take notice and see it is Christ standing before her.
In our baptismal liturgy, we are lead through Christ’s death and resurrection, from bondage of sin into everlasting life. The fact that Mary did not immediately recognize Christ may be difficult for some to understand – but look around you. Over and over again when I ask people what they like most about St. Andrew’s I hear, “the people.” I’ve heard stories about how you have surrounded those who grieve, with love. I’ve sat in the surgical waiting room with many of you as you waited with the family of another member of our church. I know that you have taken one another to doctor’s appointments, even appointments in Little Rock or Springfield. Look around you – do you not know who you are looking at? The church is the body of Christ in this world. We are the hands and feet of Christ. Look closer, now – do you not see the face of Christ is those who have helped you when you’ve needed a friend. When you leave here today – look closely at everyone you meet and you will likely see the face of Christ in them as well. This morning we will baptize Coty and Ever Watson. That they, too, may become the face of Christ to others in the community. We are not just baptized into a faith, but into a way of life – a life that is to be filled with amazement, wonder, with love and service. Open your eyes, look around – Alleluia, Christ is risen!
Let us pray.
We give thanks and praise for the risen Lord. We give thanks to you, oh Lord, that through the waters of baptism you have given us life anew. Bless Coty and Ever that they might grow in the knowledge and love of you, and strengthen and guide us that we might be for them and others the Body of Christ. We praise you, we bless, we give thanks to thee oh Lord, our God. Amen.
