Those Five Words: Sermon for Easter Day

preached by Br James Koester SSJE

Those Five Words

Something happened. Something happened and something is happening.

Something happened on a hill, in a garden and in an upper room long ago in Jerusalem.

Something happened and something is happening.

What happened, on first glance, was not all that unusual. It was a brief encounter between a grief stricken woman and a caring gardener. But that encounter changed lives and set in motion a tidal wave that continues to toss and turn people nearly 2000 years later.

A question asked. A name spoken. A pair of eyes opened. A command given. A breathless run taken.

Where?

Mary.

Rabbouni!

Go. Tell.

I have seen the Lord!

It all started out so well, and then turned so horribly, horribly wrong. In an instant the crowd went from proclaiming him king, to demanding his blood. From cries of ‘hosanna’ to screams of ‘crucify’, in just a matter of days. No wonder Mary stood and wept outside that cold, rock hewn tomb. She wept for the One she loved who was now dead. She wept for herself. She wept for another, older Mary who was her dead friend’s mother. She wept for his friends, hiding now in fear of their own lives. She wept thinking of the agonizing death He suffered. And now she wept at this last indignity: grave robbers who had stolen the body even before she and the others had had a chance to wash and anoint and dress it. She wept for all of this and more.

But then she noticed someone standing there. Surely the gardener. I can see it now. A stranger in a big floppy sun hat, leaning on a garden spade, with callouses on his hands, dirt under his nails and scratches all over his face. He’d obviously been rooting out thistles.

In an instant the tears of grief turned to tears of joy and 2000 years later we too can scarcely believe what has happened even as our own cries of “The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!” fill the air.

We are here today because of what happened on that hill and in the garden outside Jerusalem. We are here today because the One who died on that hill was seen alive three days later in that garden. “I have seen the Lord!” Mary announced breathlessly to Peter and John, and even to his mother Mary. And so she says to us today “I have seen the Lord!”

Those five words turned the world upside down. They renewed love. They restored hope. They rekindled courage. “I have seen the Lord”. In five simple words Mary Magdalene changed the course of history just as she changed the course of your life and mine.

What she saw and what she said was not an idea, or a thought, or a wish. It was not a dream, or a theory or a proposition. It was real. “I have seen the Lord!” And in an instant love was renewed. Hope was restored. Courage was rekindled.

It was this message: “I have seen the Lord!” which taught the disciples that hate, death and fear do not have the last word. It was this message: “I have seen the Lord!” that propelled and compelled those early Christians to proclaim Christ’s resurrection from the dead before councils and kings, before crowds and Caesars, in arenas and auditoriums. “I have seen the Lord!” Perhaps the five most amazing words ever spoken.

Those five words turned a fearful band of defeated cowards into a bold company of witnesses who knew Christ’s defeat of hate and death and fear to be true. No longer did they need to be afraid. No longer did they need to feel hopeless. Instead they could sing:

Christ is risen from the dead,

Trampling down death by death,

And upon those in the tombs

Bestowing life!

Those five words continue to inspire. They continue to renew love; restore hope and rekindle courage. We have seen the power of those five words and how they have emboldened people to know and believe that hate, and death and fear do not have the last word.

By his death Christ trampled down death by death, not simply for himself, but for us as well.

By his death Christ trampled down death by death, not simply for himself but for the lost, the lonely, and the fearful as well.

I don’t know many who have gone happily to their deaths. I know I probably won’t when the time comes. But knowing death is not the end will I trust give me the courage to face death when it does come.

“I have seen the Lord!” is not the idle chatter of a gossip. They are words of power that can change lives. Those five words changed the life of Mary Magdalene. Those five words changed the life of Peter, Paul and John. Those five words changed the life of Cleopas and his companion. Those five words changed the life of Salome and the other Mary. Those five words have the power to change hate into love; to change death into life; to change fear into courage. Those five words have the power to renew love; restore hope, rekindle courage and conquer death.

Those five words turned a world upside down nearly 2000 years ago. They continue to turn the world upside down today. Those five words changed lives long ago in Jerusalem. They continue to change lives today. May the power of those words change your life today. By them may your love be renewed, your hope restored, your courage enkindled, and may you be filled with the power of Christ’s unconquerable life.

I have seen the Lord, proclaimed Mary. And her life was changed. Alleluia!

I have seen the Lord, proclaimed Mary. And the world was changed. Alleluia!

I have seen the Lord, proclaimed Mary. And your life was changed. Alleluia!

I have seen the Lord, proclaimed Mary. And love, hope, courage, and life is renewed, restored, rekindled. Alleluia!

I have seen the Lord! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!