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Sunday, April 12, 2009
Rejoice This Day!

Scriptures: Acts 10:34–43; Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24; I Corinthians 15:1–11;
John 20:1–18; Helaman 3:59; Doctrine and Covenants 18:5f

Prelude

Welcome

*Celebration through Song

*Invocation

Scripture Reading: Helaman 3:59

Celebration through Song

Responsive Reading

Reader 1 is Mary; Reader 2 is Jesus.

Reader 1: They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him.

Reader 2: Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?

Reader 1: Tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.

Reader 2: Mary.

Reader 1: Rabbouni!

Reader 2: Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

Reader 1: Rejoice this day! I have seen the Lord!

All: Rejoice this day. We have seen the Lord. We have received his grace. Peace be with you. Amen.

—John 20:1–18 adapted

Disciples’ Generous Response

Sermon

Celebration through Song

Prayer for Peace see page 27

*Sending Forth

*Postlude

Scriptures: Acts 10:34–43; Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24;
I Corinthians 15:1–11; John 20:1–18

Psalm 118 celebrates the life of one who experienced life-threatening danger and was saved by God from the jaws of death. There is a striking parallel in this servant’s story and the Holy Week experience of Jesus with its culmination in the Resurrection. Both experiences brought reason to rejoice for the individual and their colleagues.

As we turn to the Resurrection story in the Gospel according to John, it is interesting that rejoicing was not the first emotion experienced by those who began to see the clues of resurrection. Mary Magdalene was the first to arrive and discover the stone was moved. She did not rejoice because she did not yet understand that Jesus had been resurrected. She ran to Peter and the beloved disciple with an accusation that someone had stolen Jesus’ body. They ran to the tomb. Peter saw the tossed-aside grave clothes, but he did not rejoice. The other disciple also saw the empty tomb, and the scripture indicates that he “believed,” but likely he did not fully understand since there was still no rejoicing.

The two men went home, but Mary stayed at the tomb weeping. Two angels appeared and still Mary did not realize that this was an occasion for rejoicing. Next, the risen Christ appeared to Mary but she did not recognize him. Like the followers on Palm Sunday, Mary could only see what she expected to see: a stolen body, angels to comfort her, and a gardener. Mary did not expect to see the risen Christ and to have her mourning turned into rejoicing.

It was not until Jesus called Mary by name that she recognized Christ and rejoiced. Jesus explained how the shepherd knows his sheep by name and they respond at the sound of the shepherd’s voice (John 10:3–4). Jesus knew Mary by name and she knew the voice of her friend and teacher. John’s Gospel begins with the image of Jesus as the Word (John 1:1–2). So it is the Living Word and the one word, her name, that brings Mary to faith and rejoicing.

Christ points Mary toward the future. He asks Mary not to hold onto him and sends her to share the news that he is returning to God. The final actions of Christ mark the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the beginning of the ministry of the Living Christ. Jesus taught his disciples, “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). Jesus had also explained to the disciples that he would not leave them alone: “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). Mary’s message that Jesus was returning to God ushered in the opportunity for the disciples to prepare to receive the Advocate and to do even greater works.

So without hesitation may we understand the clues that point to miracles in our experience and rejoice this day. Like Mary, we have each been called by name and are sent to tell what we have seen. Let us “generously share the invitation, ministries, and sacraments through which people can encounter the Living Christ who heals and reconciles through redemptive relationships in sacred community” (Doctrine and Covenants 163:2b).

1. Those who came to the empty tomb did not understand the clues they saw or how those clues related to the miracle of the risen Christ, and thus they delayed in rejoicing.
2. Rejoicing begins when we understand that we are called by name and sent with the support of the Holy Spirit to do even greater works than Jesus.

1. When have you misunderstood the clues that you’ve seen and jumped to an erroneous conclusion?
2. How have you experienced being called by name by God?
3. When have you witnessed someone rejoicing because they have had an encounter with the Living Christ?
4. What miracles has your congregation experienced and participated in over the last few months that demonstrate that Christ lives?

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