Well, friends, you know that you can’t turn on the news right now without hearing the story of Terri Schiavo. Terri, the brain injured 41 year old wife, daughter and sister that is in the midst of an extreme controversy, both legal and political, as to whether she should live or die. I say this not having heard if she died late last night or early this morning.

Of one thing I’m sure about the Terri Schiavo case. There is no doubt that we in this room are totally divided in our opinions on what should happen with Terri. We can’t agree—nor can the “experts”—as to whether Terri is functioning at all, whether there’s any hope for improvement, or on what “quality of life” would be for Terri? Could we make a determination on the meaning of that term “Quality of Life” for ourselves, if we were somehow unable to respond… or for anybody else? Who should have the say when we’re not able to speak for our self? Would it be our spouse, or our parents, someone we choose, or some outside authority?

Some of us might even see Terri’s plight as a faith issue… We find ourselves trying to make a judgment on what is the value of a life. What is the basis on which any life determines its worth from God? Yet there really doesn’t seem to be an opportunity to approach this issue from that perspective. Should judges have a say in this? How do you see Terri Schiavo? And how sure are we about the conclusions we come to on all this?

Oh, I’ve heard discussion about suffering, and we all seem to agree that pain is a bad thing, but even that tolerance varies among individuals—and there are all kinds of pain: emotional, physical, and so on… And depending on what we’ve gone through personally, death may not even be that frightening a possibility, especially when we look at it through our lens of faith.

Personally, I think it’s pretty amazing that the Terry Schiavo case happens to be at the forefront of everyone’s attention at the same time as we’ve been reflecting on the last days of Jesus. While it’s important to examine issues of life and death for their meaning for ourselves personally, it becomes critical to review those issues in the context of our faith--realizing we might still end up disagreeing.

Interestingly, I recall another issue on which opinions were split last year at this time—whether or not we should watch the film, the Passion of Christ. Remember that? If we can’t agree among ourselves, where is the hope for our world to come together?

And yet we thirst for spiritual insights and answers, don’t we? Did you hear about the cheese sandwich that went for $28,000 on Ebay this past week, because it supposedly had an image of the virgin Mary on it?

Now we find ourselves gathering on Easter Sunday. Yet we come ambivalent about the resurrection. Many would agree that we live as though Jesus were still in the tomb. That might be more convenient and less demanding…

We claim to value life, yet we don’t have much time for resurrections, other than the eggs and bunnies and ham and candy and such… Well, the religious leaders and politicians of Jesus’ day didn’t either. The Sadducees didn’t believe in a resurrection at all, and we can remember when Lazarus was brought back to life by Jesus. Others who saw that conspired to kill Lazarus and put him right back in the tomb…

And now, in our scripture in John, we arrive at the tomb where Jesus had been placed after his terrible death on that cross of Good Friday. Mary Magdalene arrived first at the still dark tomb, according to John’s gospel, saw the stone had been rolled away and ran to get Peter and the “other disciple,” believing Jesus’ body had been taken. So Peter and the other disciple ran toward the tomb to check it out. The other disciple arrives first and simply looks in, sees the wrappings—the head cloth in one place and the body piece in another--but holds back. Not until Peter gets there and goes in does the other disciple enter. We don’t know if he was cautious or fearful, but when he does go in, we’re told he saw and believed… although at this point, it was not yet understood that Jesus had to rise. Then they went home.

An amazing thing happened to Mary Magdalene. We’re told she stayed outside, weeping, and, as she leaned over to look in, saw two angels in white, sitting near where Jesus had been. The angels asked her why she was crying, which seems to me to be a rather silly question, but, on the other hand, their perspective would have been very different from hers, wouldn’t it? Why would we cry if we only had a heavenly view of things? As Mary Magdalene expressed her concern at not knowing where Jesus was, she turned around—and there he was! Now, Mary thought this person was the gardener, and we can surely relate to that. We don’t always see Jesus when he enters our lives, however he may come.

I was thrilled when Jim Swenson shared, a couple of weeks ago, the story of Joan’s dream, not long before she died, where she was surrounded by light and received a message that she would be okay. I have shared with some of you, that at a time when I was grieving very deeply, I had a vision experience—for lack of better words to describe it--in which I awakened in the middle of the night to see a being of light beside my bed. Not unlike Mary, I thought this being was an angel—at least I knew it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The being didn’t speak to me or do anything, and although I felt no fear, only comfort and reassurance of God’s presence throughout my grief, it wasn’t until some time later that I came to believe this being was actually Jesus.

It can be really difficult to interpret those events which we least expect and are not ready for! And why is there such a tendency for all of us to not know Jesus when we see him, however he may come to us?

For as we continue our resurrection story in the scriptures, it isn’t until Jesus calls Mary by her name that she realizes who this is and responds with “Rabbouni.” Now Rabbouni is Aramaic for teacher, but it’s a very personal term that indicates endearment and intimacy, a term that reflects closeness and community, even family.

Jesus then has the most amazing response, for in his next statement he says it all—everything of great significance: “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” In this statement, he reveals that he is resurrected, in a process yet to be completed, as he establishes the closeness and the importance of this event for Mary Magdalene, and for each and every one of us, for we are all in God’s family. We are all children of God, and the resurrection is a gift for all of us! Jesus says, “Go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending…” Know that the term, “brother,” in the original Aramaic, is meant to include both men and women.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are brothers and sisters, we are all family, because that’s the way Jesus put it, and there is so much meaning for us in our relationship with God and with each other in that very inadequate word, “ascending.” It’s a word that does not fully express what is happening in this most mysterious of circumstances that is beyond our human comprehension and our limited vocabulary!

Mary Magdalene was the first to proclaim the good news of Easter. Jesus had lifted Mary Magdalene up with him, for she had now fulfilled the two requirements of an apostle: she believed and she went to tell about her experience. It was Mary Magdalene who passed on to all the disciples that she had seen the Lord—“Lord,” that other term of close relationship. So our resurrection story continues as the word of what has happened begins to spread.

Christ is risen from the dead! Jesus is alive! Death has been conquered. In this, we see the ultimate love gift of all time, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, and the knowledge of the resurrection that follows. It’s a message of the greatest love of all time, a love that goes on and on with the spreading of the gospel, building disciples throughout the world. We now know, not only what Jesus is about, but that this message is for all of us and for everyone. The resurrection story is that death has been conquered. The love expressed on the cross never ends. It is a free and undeserved gift for our community of faith and for us to take into the world. All the sins of our past are erased and we all have hope for the future.

The nature of God’s love had already been revealed by Jesus Christ in his life. It is for each of us to carry on the message of that love to persons in need. It’s for Terry Schiavo and her family. It’s a love that wants the very best for Terry and for everyone, because that’s what Jesus wanted. Love in the purest sense, as the Rabbouni taught and has now been revealed.

Where do you search for that love and whom do you see? We are all so different in our approaches to life, even as we live out our lives of faith, aren’t we? Yet, with that open tomb, we have the same resurrected Savior and a vision of a world where his love unfolds and spreads.

George Frideric Handel had a vision of what that world could be. He was a remarkable and gifted musician who was enthralled by the organ, harpsichord and violin, and began to compose operas. He went from Italy to London and became the best-paid composer on earth. His fame spread ‘round the world… but then his glory passed. Newer artists came along and Handel’s music seemed outdated and dull. He became depressed. Yet, in the process of these changes and his difficulties, his music became heartfelt and he changed.

One morning, he received a manuscript from Charles Jennens. It was a word for word collection of biblical texts about Christ. Handel was moved by the opening words from Isaiah 40: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people…” He shut himself inside his home and did not emerge until 23 days later. He said “Whether I was in the body or out of the body when I wrote it, I know not,” but the world now had Handel’s “Messiah.” Handel opened to an enormous crowd in London, with King George II present. As the program reached the chorus, George leaped to his feet and the huge crowd followed him to reverently sing:

“Hallelujah, for he shall reign forever and ever.”

Friends, it all started with our resurrection story. It’s the love that never ends.

Sermon delived by Carol Mumford on Easter Morning, March 27, 2005.