Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on July 28, 2024

[sermon begins after two Bible readings]

John 20:1-2, 11-18 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “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.'” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 6:1-21 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
¹⁵When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

[sermon begins]

What’s it like to find yourself in a conversation about a topic you were sure about only to discover that you were wrong or didn’t have all the facts? Or a discussion in which someone challenges your idea with a better idea? Letting go of what we think we know is rarely easy. But the church, as in the church catholic (with a little c), starting with the earliest disciples, is one long example of letting go of what we think we know. The disciples with Jesus the day that he fed the 5,000 were sure that they knew the situation and that they couldn’t solve it. There was no way that thousands of people could be fed with the food available in that boy’s lunch box. They just couldn’t see how it could be done. But Jesus being who Jesus was, was the first to see it all. He could see the hungry people. He could see the confused disciples who needed instruction. He could see the boy’s lunch of fish and loaves. Jesus could see the abundance when his people only saw scarcity. He could see it all and he could see it first. Jesus included his confused disciples in the action. Some of us have trouble hosting 5 people for dinner. 5,000 people is hard to imagine. No wonder the crowd tried to make Jesus their king. Someone that capable of feeding them must belong on the throne. But Jesus’ coronation was of a different sort – a coronation with a crown of thorns at his crucifixion.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, there was one person mentioned in all four Gospel stories.[1] Mary Magdalene was there, named individually in the Bible stories alongside several other women. While Judas betrayed and Peter denied Jesus, the image of a resolute Mary Magdalene is compelling.[2] She was a Jesus follower, a disciple with unwavering presence at the worst of times. Jesus, their rabbi and friend was not completely abandoned at the cross. Mary Magdalene was there. The four gospels also include her in each of the resurrection stories – sometimes solo and sometimes with other women. In our First Reading this morning from John’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene was in the garden by herself wondering where Jesus was. She asked the gardener where he was. But Jesus being who Jesus was, was the first to see it all. He could see Mary. He could see her confusion. He could see her devotion. He could see her discipleship. He could see it all and he saw her first. He called her by name to do what he knew she could do. Jesus sent her tell his brothers about what was happening. Jesus could see it first, before Mary could even identify him in the garden.

The church over the years couldn’t see her the way that Jesus did. He was the one who healed her from seven demons.[3] She followed him through his ministry, death, and resurrection. Mary Magdalene’s story was one that the church couldn’t see. They bundled the stories in which her full name appeared with other stories of other Marys and sometimes added non-Mary stories about unnamed women, too. Folklore and fiction writers also combine to romanticize her when scripture doesn’t say anything in that regard. Recent scholarship in the past half-century has teased apart this amalgamated Mary. Mary Magdalene is celebrated every year on July 22 as the apostle to the apostles, a messenger sent by the risen Christ to proclaim his good news. It’s hard to pass up a chance to talk about her, a powerful preacher who speaks to us today from foot of the cross, from the garden of the empty tomb, and from her own healed experience.

When Jesus sees first what the church cannot see for ourselves, it takes faith to imagine that things look different through his imagination. Figuring out what’s on Jesus’ mind as our minds open to change takes all of us as the church. I mean all of us across God’s whole church, the church catholic. The church catholic, the wide tent of Christianity, is a tangle of dogma, emotions, faith, hope, love, and all the rest. The church is complicated because people are complicated. We want to see what we want to see in scripture and in our lives, and ignore the rest. But Jesus doesn’t leave us there. Jesus sees us first.

Last week, Augustana’s staff had a half-day retreat complete with an organizational consultant. Because of everyone’s summer travel, there was only one day this summer that we could get together with at least those of us who work together in the building during the week. That day was July 23, the day after Mary Magdalene’s feast day. With recent staff changes and additions, including my new call with Augustana, it made sense to take some time together this summer and regroup. Some of our time was food and fellowship. Sue Ann and Ron Glusenkamp hosted us at their home. Ron baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Each of us brought something for the potluck lunch. Some of the retreat included typical retreaty exercises. Some of it was comfortable and some of it was uncomfortable but much of it taught us things about ourselves and each other as a staff team trying to steward our gifts, skills, and relationships for the good of Augustana. And by “the good of Augustana,” I mean for the good of the gospel. It takes time to see what Jesus sees first. It takes cooperative thinking and listening to make sure that each voice is heard. It takes ideas and opinions stretching and evolving with new information about each other. It takes trust and faith in Jesus who calls the church toward reckless grace and radical welcome.

It’s inspiring that Bible stories open us to the possibility of seeing something different than we expect to see. Or maybe it’s scary. Or maybe it’s both inspiring and scary to try to see as Jesus sees. Mary Magdalene had her eyes opened through hearing her name spoken by Jesus. He sent her on a new task. Her role as a quiet, resolute presence during his life and death was shifted by the resurrected Jesus who called her to announce his resurrection to his brothers. Feeding the 5,000 people with Jesus, his disciples and the boy had their imagination expanded towards God’s abundance revealed by the work they did together that day.

It takes time and togetherness as the Augustana congregation to even begin to see what Jesus might see first. As we say at the end of each worship service this summer, “Go in peace. You are the body of Christ.” This means that we, the church, are the risen body of Christ in the world. That’s empowering and terrifying. Pure grace and a daunting responsibility. Our individuality weaves together as Jesus calls each of our names as he called to Mary Magdalene. Called to proclaim a risen Christ who combines our experiences and faith to build the church for the sake of the world. A risen Christ who we see in each other, hear from each other, and wonder about together. We live in a world that makes almost everything a transaction. But grace cannot be bought. It’s unconditional. Love holds self, love holds us, to a higher standard and extends to others through the faith that Jesus first bestows in love. Given the magnitude of the love, receive this blessing given to us in the letter to the Ephesians:

“I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.” Amen.

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[1] Matthew 27:55-56, Mark 15:40, Luke 23:49, and John 19:25

[2] Cynthia Bourgeault, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity. (Massachusetts: Shambhala, 2010), 16.

[3] Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9

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Ephesians 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen