SERMON - St. Mary Magdalene

Song of Solomon 3:1-4 Poetry for the beloved

(2 Corinthians 5:14-17) New creation in Christ’s love

John 20: 1-2, 11-18 Mary Magdalene meets the risen Jesus

Psalm 42:1-8

The Fast of St. Mary Magdalene

Today is a good day for the benefice. The feast day of Mary Magdalene falls today, and we are lucky enough to have a church dedicated to her in the benefice.

Mary Magdalene's story is intimately linked with Jesus. She plays a starring role in one of the most powerful and important scenes in the Gospels.

When Jesus is crucified by the Romans, Mary Magdalene was there supporting him in his final terrifying moments and mourning his death. She also discovers the empty tomb, and she's a witness to the resurrection. She was there at the beginning of a movement that was going to transform the West. But the Mary Magdalene that lives in our memories is quite different. In art, she's often semi-naked, or an isolated hermit repenting for her sins in the wilderness: an outcast. Her primary link with Jesus is as the woman washing and anointing his feet. But we know her best as a prostitute.

The whole story of Mary as a prostitute, who is fallen and redeemed, is a very powerful image of redemption a signal that no matter how low one has fallen, one can be redeemed.

Powerful as this image may be, it is not the story of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is mentioned in each of the four gospels in the New Testament, but not once does it mention that she was a prostitute or a sinner. At some point Mary Magdalene became confused with two other women in the Bible: Mary, the sister of Martha and the unnamed sinner from Luke's gospel (7:36-50) both of whom wash Jesus' feet with their hair. In the 6th Century, Pope Gregory the Great made this assumption official by declaring in a sermon that these three characters were actually the same person: Mary Magdalene, repentant saint. The Catholic Church did later declare that Mary Magdalene was not the penitent sinner, but this was not until 1969. After several centuries, the reputation still lingers.

Mary of Magdala

Although we know something about Jewish society in ancient Palestine, 2,000 years ago, we know very little about Mary herself. The Bible provides no personal details of her age, status or family.

Her name, Mary Magdalene, gives us the first real clue about her. It suggests that she came from a town called Magdala. There is a place today called Magdala, 120 miles north of Jerusalem on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Possession

Could anything else in Mary's life have made her an outcast? The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary. (Luke.8.2)

At that time, people believed that the demons possessed people who had done something wrong, and deserved to be possessed, whereas good, virtuous people were protected from demon possession.

Whatever the cause of her possession, Mary's exorcism is the catalyst which makes her sign up with the Jesus movement. The message that Jesus is said to have preached seems to have particular appeal for people who are in the margins of society. Luke chapter 8, tells us that Mary was one of Jesus' followers and travelled with him.

Apocryphal texts

But the Bible isn't the only source. In 1945, at Nag Hammadi in southern Egypt, two men came across a sealed ceramic jar. Inside, they discovered a hoard of ancient papyrus books. Although they never received as much public attention as the Dead Sea Scrolls, these actually turn out to be much more important for writing the history of early Christianity. They are a cache of Christian texts.

One of the documents discovered at Nag Hammadi is the Gospel of Philip, in which Mary Magdalene is a key figure. It has been the cause of one of the most controversial claims ever made about her – we read about it in the DaVinci Code, and there have been hundreds of books dedicated to the suggestion that Mary was the wife of Jesus.

There is no real evidence for this, the ants ate most of the text – but the controversy continues. What it proves to me, beyond all reasonable doubt, it that down all the generations we have always been partial to a bit of gossip rather than Gospel?

Mary's biggest moment

The Bible says that Mary Magdalene was present at the two most important moments in the story of Jesus: the crucifixion and the resurrection. Mary Magdalene was a prominent figure at both these events.

We're told that Mary Magdalene was one of the women who kept vigil at Jesus' tomb. It was customary at this time for Jewish women to prepare bodies for burial. Corpses were considered unclean, and so it was always a woman's task to handle them.

When Mary goes to the tomb, Jesus' body is no longer there. The fullest account of Mary's role after discovering the empty tomb is in the Gospel of John. She is in a state of shock and runs to where the disciples are gathered to tell them the news. When she reports to the disciples she is not believed. Peter and another disciple return with her to the tomb, to see for themselves.

When they enter, Peter reacts to the sight of the discarded linen burial cloth with anger and dismay. But the other disciple understands what has happened and concludes that Jesus must have risen from the dead.

The two of them leave without a backward glance at Mary.

Then, something even more extraordinary happens. It is Mary Magdalene's biggest moment. In the most common account - Mary is alone when someone asks her why she's crying. She believes it's the gardener, and says, 'they have taken my lord's body and I do not know where it is'. The figure says her name. And then she sees Jesus. She is overwhelmed and says 'Master!' and goes forward to reach out to him, but he stops her. He says 'don't touch me'. Instead, she must go to the others and tell them that he has risen from the dead. It's an awesome moment. Jesus stands before her, yet he's beyond her reach.

Jesus was raised from the dead. The movement is not a failure. It is in fact a great success. The person who declares this is Mary Magdalene.

Jesus' resurrection was the turning point for Christianity. This was when it changed from a small movement to a whole new covenant between God and Humanity. And Mary Magdalene was a key figure in this event.

You might think, then, that at the very least Mary would be recognised as an apostle - one of the early missionaries who founded the religion - as she seems to meet all the criteria set out in the Bible.

Both the Bible and the Apocryphal texts tell me that she was just too radical. She had the ear of Jesus and followed him to the end. She declared the risen lord to the world, and she fearlessly spread the good news. We call her the Apostle to the Apostles, but I think she was a bona fide Apostle, and a beacon for all of us who struggle to be brave for the sake of the truth.

In the name of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN

SERMON - Pentecost 6 (Trinity 5)

It’s been a funny few weeks, and not just the weather. Of course, my sermon will be shorter this morning, because like most people, I am going home to build an ark. But this time, I’m not going to take wasps, snakes, or spiders.

Today’s texts bring us to the centre of it all: faith in God is expressed through love.

The theme is introduced by some apparently re-assuring words from Deuteronomy “this command that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away”. God, in His infinite wisdom, does not require superhuman acts from us, he knows of what we are made (as it might have said last week in the readings), he knows all too well our frailties and our weaknesses. So God asks something very human of us; Love – to love God with all your heart, and immediately after, and your neighbour as yourself. The law and all the commandments are contained in this neat and all encompassing love.

The lawyer who is questioning Jesus knows this. The problem comes in terms of determining who exactly is “my neighbour”. If neighbour means “close-by”, then how far does the proximity extend? Is it down the bottom end of the street where the strange people live, or is it something else. He needed to know.

With the parable of the Samaritan, Jesus doesn’t respond with a complicated theory, but with a simple comparison. The lawyers question didn’t quite focus on the real issue. The parable however, makes it all quite clear. The theory about “who is my neighbour” is not about previous bonds of family, friendship or similar, instead what makes us neighbours is our generous attending to the needs of others – this brings us close to them, they become our neighbours.

Hence, the final question of Jesus in the reading “Which of these do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” And the lawyer has to respond (because he has no other choice at this stage) “the one who showed him mercy”.

Jesus is explaining that the focus of our love should not be so narrow as to restrict it to the things that are close and known to us – for in doing so, we restrict the free and gratuitous love of God.

The saying “charity begins at home” is undoubtedly popular, but unfortunately, according to the reading today, home is exactly the place charity doesn’t begin.

On another point really…

The reading a few weeks ago about the towns in Samaria, and the Disciples wanting Jesus to call down lightning on them. Jesus says rather cryptically about the people doing rather than just believing. Here, this week is the story, as undoubtedly it is, about a Samaritan doing the unexpected.

The parable makes other specific points. First of all, the love of “neighbour” is genuine human love, moved at the sight of someone who is mistreated or injured. This is why the Samaritan is quite smart and thoughtful in his care – bandages, food and drink. So not only is charity widespread, it is also effective, and not just well meaning. The Gospel is telling us that we need to make a careful analysis of the needs of others, personal, social, material, and then give an appropriate response.

I was away for a couple of days at a conference this week in Birmingham, it was about homelessness, and how we should all have the target to end “rough sleeping” in our towns and cities by 2012. Currently there has been a huge drop in “rough sleeping” leaving only a fraction of the people on the streets that once were. This is because projects have been utilising government money well, and the services are found in every city and most towns. People have been trained to help others and it is all very impressive.

The remaining people on the street are a different story however. The few hundred, that’s all it is, that sleep rough each night in our nation have a huge and varied need. They might have physical or mental health problems. They might have addictions to alcohol or drugs. They might have emotional difficulties and might be very suspicious. They might now be so used to sleeping on the streets that they need slow coaxing to remember what is was like to live under a roof, and sleep in a bed. I visited a project that is trying to do this.

The Samaritans love is just like this last push on ‘rough sleeping’, we must tailor our care and love to those who need it, and not merely to say ‘this is what I have’ take it if you want.

Love of neighbour, in the same degree as the love of God, both are the same, is realised in practice.

Addressing the lawyer, Jesus concludes with the categorical “Go and do likewise”. Love is made real in action, and at that moment, his theoretical question finds a practical answer.

Taking the love of neighbour as the criterion of Christian life, that is to say, being moved by the suffering and need of others, and doing something constructive and effective about it does not exceed our human strength. However, it is tremendously demanding, and it is the sign of the new life of God’s children.

The great Christian challenge to serve the cause of peace is to make the love of neighbour the centre of our transformation and the transformation of the world