Earth Day
Mary [of Magdala] stood weeping outside the tomb…. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
—John 20:11, 15–16
In her homily at the 2019 CAC Universal Christ conference, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis reminds us that we are each called by the resurrected Christ who knows us by name:
Mary is the first preacher in the gospel … not because she recognizes Jesus, but because he knows her, and what she can do, and what she’s got to give. Amen. In the moment of speaking and seeing, in the moment of revelation and connection, there is a passing on, an apostolic succession, that goes to this woman on the outside of her society, who has no status, no stature, except that Jesus sees her, and knows who she is, and whose she is.
So, my friends, Jesus sees you. The Christ knows you. The Christ knows you even when you don’t know the Christ. Do you understand what I mean? You are known. You are seen. You are loved. You are baptized into the work of the Living God, and you are catechized into the work of the Holy [Spirit], which is no less than the healing of the world. This is your job, too. You’re not preaching the first sermon. That’s happened already, but you’ve got sermons to preach. I have seen the Lord, because you have.…
I have seen the crucified Body of Christ in all those places: in Indigenous people, in the broken heart of Mama Earth, in the brown bodies on the border, in the Black bodies languishing in prisons, I have seen the Lord in the struggling transwoman coming out…. I have seen the Lord in the teen who doesn’t know how to tell his pastor he’s queer. I have seen the Lord in the woman wrestling with the decisions about her body. I’ve seen the Lord in divorcing couples. I’ve seen the Lord in the troubled ones all over my life. I’ve seen the Lord, and I’m going to tell you about it. My job is to speak the truth to power. That’s your calling and mine: To listen deeply to the hearts of those who are languishing, to listen for their hopes, dreams, passions, fears, to love the hell out of them and to speak the truth.
Christ is everywhere. Christ is in all things. We are all one. When you’re hungry, my stomach growls. When someone chops down a tree, I’m cut. When the oceans are being poisoned, I feel thirsty for something different. This is our calling, because we’ve been ordained, just like Mary, by the One who knows all about us. I’m inviting you to look in the mirror and see yourself. Recognize yourself as deputized by the Living God. Amen.
Reference:
Adapted from Jacqui Lewis, “Easter Liturgy: We Shall All Be Changed,” The Universal Christ Conference, Center for Action and Contemplation, March 31, 2019. Unavailable.
Image credit and inspiration: Krista Joy Montgomery, Unknown (detail), 2019, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. We carefully tend the blooms of bright resurrection after the pain of our Good Fridays.
Story from Our Community:
As a recovered alcoholic, the Easter Triduum has special significance for me. I believe with all my heart that recovered alcoholics have already experienced resurrection in a very deep sense. I have been transformed from a hopeless state of mind and body—by the grace of God. I was dead and now I live. I am reflecting on the very real resurrections in our lives this week.
—Ken D.
