Most of us are afraid to die. What scares us the most is oblivion, I think. We are afraid that we will simply cease to be. Many Christians who profess belief in eternal life have another fear. We fear that we will somehow be absorbed by God, that we will live with God forever but that we will no longer be ourselves. We will become so perfected, so much a part of God that we will no longer be truly ourselves.
The answer to both of these fears is contained in the story that we will hear in just a few moments. This story addresses all of our fears. It is a story about the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus.
Mary Magdalene became a disciple the day that Jesus healed her. She was tormented by eleven demons. Her mind was not her own. She could not lead a normal life but was plagued by misery, depression and some sort of mental incapacitation. She was imprisoned in her own mind. She was in darkness. And then he came.
We do not know how Jesus cured her, whether he touched her face or spat on the ground, but I do believe that he spoke her name. He said, Mary. That is how you call someone away from their demons, from who they are not. You call them back to their true selves. So he must have spoken her God-given name, Mary.
She was born at that moment, the moment that she became free from her demons. Her life began on that day. And she wanted nothing more than to follow Jesus.
Mary was the only disciple who is present in all four of the gospel accounts at the foot of the cross. She would not leave him. There is no disputing the fact that Mary Magdalene did not leave Jesus, not even when he was a bloody mess. She just would not leave.
When he died, she must have felt that part of her heart was extracted. Deep grief is like that. When your beloved dies, you feel that only a fraction of yourself remains. Mary was encased in darkness once more.
Early in the morning on the third day, she came to the tomb. The sun was just beginning to rise. She came because she could not be without him, her Master. She was drawn like a magnet. Whether consciously or not, she thought maybe she could find a piece of herself amidst the tomb, that just being close to his body might help her feel alive again. She could not stay away.
But the tomb was wrong. The stone had been rolled away. His body was gone. Mary fell down weeping. When a gardener asked her what was wrong, she said, "They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have left him." She is grieving all over again. Her Lord's body has even been taken away. There is nothing left.
At that moment, Jesus speaks her name: "Mary," he says.
"Mary."
At that moment, she recognizes him. And everything has changed.
Often people ask me,
"Will I be myself in heaven?"
Notice that it is when Jesus speaks Mary's name that she recognizes him. He doesn't identify himself, he identifies her. Mary. Just like when he healed her of her demons, Jesus restores her to her true self with her name. His resurrection restores her to herself.
We are going to baptize five beautiful women, both tiny and grown, this morning. As the sun rises, we will wash them pure and mark them as Christ's own forever. I will say
You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever.
Sealed. Marked. Forever. As yourself. You are God's and you are yourself. Forever.
Once you are baptized, you will never lose yourself. You will be in a relationship with Jesus that will seal you as your true self forever.
We believe in a radical thing. We believe that at the moment of their baptisms, these five will begin a life with God. From this moment on, they will be alive in God, possessing a kind of eternal life that will seal them as themselves and mark them as Christ's forever. What happens on this Easter morning can never be taken away from them. Not even death can separate them from God and from themselves.
You will be you, perfected and in your body. You will be you when you die. This life is just the introduction. We are getting ready here. Your eternal life begins now. Jesus rises from the tomb and he says your name. He says your name.
