David Orendorff · John 20:1-18

Mary is desperate to find the body of Jesus. She has lost his life and lost his love. The body was the only thing left to her grief. But when she goes to the grave it is empty. She runs (respectable grown women don’t run!) to the disciples and tells them the body is gone. They too are desperate to have the corpse and so they go running (respectable grown men don’t run!) to Jesus’ grave but except for the grave clothes, there is nothing.

The disciples go away discouraged. But Mary, like a person who must find a lost sheep, a lost coin, or a lost child stays to look yet again for her Lord. When she looks a second time into the tomb there are two messengers/angels who ask her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” And she answers, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

Mary’s life is lost. Who will guide her to meaning and purpose? Who will be there to protect her from innumerable enemies, men of power and evil who pray upon single woman? With her Lord gone she is but another victim of life’s horror, another lost soul.

Turning from the tomb she sees a man who she believes is the gardener. The man asks her, “Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?” Thinking maybe the gardener knows something she asks, “Sir, if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Then the supposed gardener says her name, “Mary,” and she recognizes him to be Jesus. It is such a simple moment. It is only the saying of a name, yet it is a moment that defines and alters all history. Mary’s search has ended and she returns to the disciples to tell them “I have seen the Lord.”

To have our name known is important to us. The theme from the old television show, “Cheers” said it succinctly and right. “Cheers” is a bar, a place and a people, “Where everybody knows your name.” It is a place to be accepted, warts and all, as family. It is a place to which we all want to belong.

One of the gifts I wished I had is to remember names. Some of you have experienced my calling you by the wrong name or my need to ask again for your name. I am very grateful when you wear name tags. If you are new to this community you know how good it feels when someone here remembers you and says your name. You also know the hurt feeling of being forgotten.

It is not always a good thing for every one to know your name. In some cultures you told only the trusted our name because once your name is known the knower has power to call you and command you. And knowing your name also gives one the power to name your warts. My mother-in-law sent me this story:

A small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand in a trial — a grandmotherly, elderly woman.

He approached her and asked, “Mrs. Jones, do you know me?”

She responded, “Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy. And frankly, you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a rising big shot when you haven’t the brains to realize you will never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.”

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, “Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?”

She replied, “Why, yes I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. I used to babysit him for his parents. And he, too, has been a real disappointment to me. He’s lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. The man can’t build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the shoddiest in the entire state. Yes, I know him.”

At this point, the judge rapped the courtroom to silence and called both counselors to the bench. In a very quiet voice, he said with menace. “If either of you ask her if she knows me - I will hold you in contempt of court!!”

Jesus knows us better than the woman knew the attorneys. Jesus knows us and loves us beyond our warts and our failings. Jesus loves us into the truth of our beauty and wonder. Jesus knows why Mary might be shamed but greater does he know why she is a blessing. It is the saying of Mary’s name with forgiving and holy love that awakens her to Jesus and to herself. Mary is resurrected with a passion to tell of this love to all. She is no longer afraid of life and becomes the first preacher of the gospel.

Three days after Jesus’ death Mary and the disciples burst into bloom. Jesus is not dead but lives. The primary evidence of Jesus resurrection is in those who come out of fear and tell the good news that God is love beyond death. We, those who have found love in gardeners and teachers, used car salesmen and attorneys, are the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. We are the fearful ones who hear our names said in redeeming love and bloom to great beauty. And this miracle and mystery is such that we have the largest family of faith in the world.

In the garden of death Jesus called Mary’s name; called her to the full height of herself; called her in love to a greater life for the sake of a desperately seeking world. And when the resurrected Jesus finds us desperately searching in grief he says our name with the gentleness of forgiving love and we too bloom Easter.

Shalom and Amen.