Transcript of talk given at Birkenhead Community Church Easter 2018
John 20:11-18
Mary arrived back at the tomb, broken and sobbing. She stooped to
peer inside, and through her tears she saw two angels in dazzling white
robes, sitting where Jesus’ body had been laid—one at the head and one at the
feet!
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” they asked.
Mary answered, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where
they’ve laid him.”
Then she turned around to leave, and there was Jesus standing in front
of her, but she didn’t realize that it was him!
He said to her, “Dear woman, why are you crying? Who are you
looking for?”
Mary answered, thinking he was only the gardener, “Sir, if you have
taken his body somewhere else, tell me, and I will go and . . .”
“Mary,” Jesus interrupted her.
Turning to face him, she said, “Rabboni!” (Aramaic for “my teacher”)
Jesus cautioned her, “Mary, don’t hold on to me now, for I
haven’t yet ascended to God, my Father. And he’s not only my Father and God,
but now he’s your Father and your God! Now go to my brothers and tell them
what I’ve told you, that I am ascending to my Father—and your Father, to my
God—and your God!”
Then Mary Magdalene left to inform the disciples of her encounter with
Jesus. “I have seen the Lord!” she told them. And she gave them his message.
So we’re
continuing with the story that Dan began last week.
Mary, who loved
Jesus – who in one way had already been saved by Jesus from the 7 demons that
tormented her. Here we find her
confused, broken, sobbing, her grief is overwhelming. The one she loved more than anyone. The one who saved her and set her free, who
gave her value and purpose was gone. She
is so overwhelmed by her grief that when she peers inside and sees two angels
she’s not alarmed or fearful. Everywhere
else when angels show up people bow low to the ground, they tremble in fear,
they’re shocked or in awe. But Mary just
responds as if she’s having a conversation with anyone. Her sole focus, is Jesus and where has his
body has gone.
So then she goes
to look, she meets the gardener and pours out her heart - where is he, what
have you done with him, just tell me, I’ll get his body, please, I just need…
Mary.
One word from
Jesus changes everything.
He. Is. Alive.
In that split
moment, everything changes, Jesus is alive.
And she knows it’s him. Before
his death, Jesus had said that as the good shepherd he opens the gate for his
sheep and they “recognise his voice and come to him.” That “he calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out… they follow him because they know his
voice.” (John 10:3-4)
Mary didn’t
recognise Jesus’ voice until he spoke her name.
When the Risen King speaks your name.
Everything changes.
Over the last
couple of services we’ve heard about Hope dawning upon the world, Good Friday
had us contemplate hope when there is no hope.
And today, we see that there is hope because God knows your name.
So what’s in a
name? Why does it matter that Jesus said
‘Mary’?
Hands up, how
many people know the meaning of their name?
My name, Emily, means industrious which is a fancy word for hard
working, but my middle name is Jane which means God is gracious. Kinda need those two together! Anyone know the meaning of their name?
I took the
liberty of looking up the meanings of some of your names. For example, Reuben means ‘behold, a
son’. Which would be fairly on
point! Vigo means ‘settlement’, Sofia
means ‘wisdom’, Alexis means ‘defender of mankind’. Vanessa means ‘a butterfly’. Neet means ‘everyday’. Ann means ‘merciful’. Sean means ‘god is gracious, a gift from
god’. Megan means ‘strong, capable, a
pearl’. Noah means ‘comfort’. Harriet apparently ‘rules the home’ is that
right, she’s not here to defend herself?!
George means ‘Llama’. Ha only
kidding - it means ‘farmer’. Which
rhymes with Llama. So…
In Bible times,
the name you were called had a lot to say about your identity. Your name was significant. That’s why when names change in the Bible it
said something about God and about that person.
For example Abraham went from Abram which means ‘exalted father’ to
Abraham which means ‘father of many’ - directly in line with the promise God
made about his descendants outnumbering the stars. Or Jacob who was born holding onto his
brother’s heal, his name meant ‘supplanter’, he wrestled with God and
prevailed, thus being renamed Israel = He who prevails with God. Symbolic of how the nation of Israel would prevail
with God through many hardships. In
Hosea, his children went from being called ‘not-loved’ and ‘not my people’ to
‘loved’ and ‘you are my people’.
So in the Bible,
what God called you, signified your purpose, your identity and told you
something about who you were in relation to who God is.
In 2011, Dan and
I went to a Christian summer camp just before we were due to move to Leeds to
start Dan’s job as Student Pastor at St George’s. I was about 20 weeks pregnant with Micah. Usually I’m quite a bubbly and emotionally
connected person when it comes to worship (I don’t know if you’d noticed,
ha!). But for some time I had been
feeling far away from God, disconnected and numb. The thing is - I knew going to Leeds was part
of God’s plan and that He was undeniably involved - but I didn’t want to
go. I felt like I was leaving behind a
life where I had my dream job, I was involved and serving in church. My life felt significant and valuable. I was leaving it all in pursuit of a really
exciting opportunity for Dan to serve, but what felt like nothing for me. Plus, pregnant and hormonal, I felt pretty
useless and worthless.
One evening, in a
seminar of about 2000 people, there was a call for prayer ministry at the
end. We were told that the band would
continue to play and sing while those who wanted prayer could come and do
business with God. I went forwards
because during the dude talking I gradually started to cry. Pretty quietly, the odd sniff. I felt so sad. So weighed down. So when we were told to come forwards if we
felt God was doing something I went forward.
Feeling despondent, desperate and disillusioned. As I was walking forwards, I heard the
speaker say, ‘Blessed is she who comes in the name of the Lord, Emily.’ I dismissed that he could have been talking
about me. I mean how could he have known
my name. There were probably 20 Emily’s
in that room. What I didn’t know or hear
was that he then said, the lady in red there and pointed at me. I didn’t know he pointed and singled me out
of 2000 people because actually by that point I was on my knees sobbing.
Internally my
dialogue with God went something like this,
“I don’t want to
go to Leeds, I don’t want to leave where I am.
I don’t want to go…”
The band started
to sing, “God is with you wherever you are in the world.” They sang that one line over and over and
over. I was a wreck. As soon as the truth of God being with me
sunk in my internal questions changed.
Still on my knees, lots of tears and snot by this time - very ugly
crying happening - and my internal prayer then shifted to, “I have nothing to
give. I’m going to be unseen,
unnoticed. Dan’s the reason we’re
going. No one in Leeds wants me there.”
Instantly, the
band started to sing, “Rise and shine, You are mine.” They continued to sing this over and
over. Internally I was hearing it and
thinking ‘I can’t. I have nothing. I can’t stand up. What would I even be standing for? I have no purpose…’ They continued to sing “Rise and shine, You
are mine” until I stood. The second that
I stood, they stopped singing those words and started to sing “Be bold and
courageous.” And finally in my little
dialogue with God, he used the band to sing the words, “There is hope to
come.” There is hope to come.
You see - when
you have a revelation of the fact that God knows your name, it changes
everything. When you realise that God
can single you out of a room of 2,000 people it changes things. You no longer have no purpose, you are no
longer unseen. You are known. You are significant in God’s eyes. God.
God knows your name. He sees
you. It becomes personal. You are accepted and valuable. All you need is that revelation.
Toy Story Clip -
Buzz and Woody in Sid’s room - stop @ 3.13
Who loves Toy
Story? I do and the films have a LOT to
teach us about the value of knowing who you belong to. Buzz here has a real crisis of identity, much
like how I was feeling about going to Leeds.
“I can’t help. I can’t help
anyone… You were right all along. I’m
not a space ranger. I’m just a toy, a
stupid, little, insignificant toy.” I
don’t know how many of us have had feelings similar to that at times. But listen to what Woody says in response -
“look over in that house (and this morning I want to say to you, ‘look up’,
‘look up’) look over in that house,
there’s a kid who thinks you’re the greatest and it’s not because you’re a
space ranger pal. It’s because you are
HIS toy…”
You are not
insignificant. You are not useless. There is a God who looks at you and says,
“you are mine.” I love you and I know
your name. “If only you could see how
much he misses you.” It’s when Buzz
looks at his foot and sees Andy’s name written there - in permanent marker no
less - that he is saved from despair by the reassurance that he belongs to, and
is loved by Andy.
If the toys ever
doubted Andy’s love, all they had to do was look at their foot. They would see
his name and remember that Andy loved them enough to claim them as his
own. As Christians, we can look to the
cross. That permanent marker. It is in the cross and Jesus’ resurrection
that we are assured of God’s love for us, so that we could find our identity,
our true name and have complete assurance that we belong to Jesus.
The Bible is
filled with examples of God knowing our name.
Moses says, “You call me by name and tell me I have found favour with
you.” (Exodus 33:12c). In Isaiah we are
repeatedly told about how God calls people by name. How he calls us by name from before we’re
even born. How he calls us by name
because we are his. (Isaiah
43:1-3/49:1…) Jesus saying Mary’s name
shows us that the resurrection is deeply personal.
What’s in a name?
Your name gives
you humanity. When Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah were in captivity in Babylon the King changed their
names. Their names went from speaking of
faith and relationship with God (‘God is gracious’ (H), ‘Who is what God is’
(M), ‘God has helped’ (A), and ‘God is my judge’ (D)) to names relating to
idols and false gods. Their new names in
captivity meant ‘Beltis defend the King’, ‘Command of Aku (the moon God)’, ‘Who
is as Aku is’ and ‘Servant of Nebo’. The
purpose of changing their names was to eradicate their attachment to their own
nation and faith, to strip away their identity, to disconnect them from their
God.
Even in this last
century, in Auschwitz, prisoners names were taken away and replaced with a
number. One survivor says that she
believed having her mother and childhood friends in the camp with her saved her
sense of self and gave her the ability to not disappear into the number
tattooed on her arm. When you deprive
someone of their name, you are depriving them of their identity. Taking away someone’s name is demeaning,
dehumanising.
What we call
ourselves, and others, matters. Anyone
who has been called names knows that.
Naomi in the bible tried to change her name. She told people to call her Mara. Naomi means pleasant. Mara means bitter. But the thing is, the name Mara didn’t
stick. Because that wasn’t the story God
had for her. It’s not how her saw her. It’s not what he called her. Or what about Gideon? His name means ‘mighty warrior’ and yet he
was found hiding from the Midianites. He
would have described himself as anything else but not a mighty warrior. He felt small, insignificant and incapable,
but that’s not what God called him. God
called him mighty. And what God calls
you matters.
In Toy Story 2,
Woody forgets his identity. He forgets
who he belongs to and almost loses his freedom as a result.
Toy Story 2 clip
- Woody being repainted
His name was
covered up. His true identity was
hidden. In the next few scenes after
this Woody forgets who he belongs to. He
begins to envision his life at the museum in Japan. Eventually, Woody remembers who he truly is
and to whom he belongs. He realises
after scratching away the surface of the paint that even though Andy’s name on
his boot was painted over, it was never truly gone.
Sometimes we
forget the name God has given us and like Naomi we try to be called Mara
instead. Maybe it’s not our own doing,
maybe others have given us a name and it’s stuck. Perhaps some of us are walking around with
names like
Lost
Broken
Abandoned
Stranger
Ugly
Forgotten
Worthless
Rejected
Sinner
Condemned
But God doesn’t
want us to have these names and that’s where the Easter story comes in. If the story had stopped on Good Friday, if
the story had ended with Jesus’ death then we’d be left with words, labels,
names like these:
(names on screen
or boards)
But the story
didn’t finish on Good Friday. Three days
later and Jesus rose. He went to the pit
of hell and back because he knows your name and he doesn’t want you to live
under the banner of these names. He
doesn’t want his precious, dearly beloved child to walk around not knowing
their true name. Not knowing their
significance. Not knowing their identity
as one made in His image - created fearfully and wonderfully. Known intimately, personally and
completely.
Finishing at Good
Friday would have left us with these.
But Easter
Sunday. Sunday brings life. Sunday brings hope. The resurrection changes everything. Jesus is alive and he speaks your name. He no longer calls you Lost, but instead, you
can be found…
Lost - found
Broken - whole
Abandoned - adopted
Stranger - friend
Ugly - masterpiece
Forgotten - remembered
Worthless - treasure
Rejected - accepted
Sinner - saint
Condemned - saved
When God calls
your name, it gives you hope. There is
hope to come. It gives you purpose. Just like Mary here - Jesus called her name -
and then commissioned her. He gave her a
job, a purpose. Just like when Jesus
called Zacceaus down from the tree.
Jesus knew his name, he called him, by name. He saw him.
He called him. He gave him a job. He gave him purpose. Just like the disciples. He calls them by name. Come, follow me. Find hope, find purpose, find value, find
freedom in your true identity.
When Woody
remembers whose he is, he remembers the freedom of being played with, the
freedom of finding his true purpose and delight in being loved as Andy’s
toy. He doesn’t want to keep this joy to
himself. He emplores Jesse and Bullseye
to join him - he knows that Andy will adopt them and love them too - he knows
they will be welcomed into Andy’s family. Just like Mary is called and then
commissioned, the disciples were called then commissioned, we too, as
Christians, are called by name, and then commissioned to go in Jesus’ authority
and to share the good news of the resurrection.
To share the good news that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to
new life to show that he had once and for all defeated death, evil and sin -
the things we do that hurts God and others.
We are called and then commissioned.
So how do we
actually join God’s family and get to bear his name like Jesse and Bullseye
were adopted into Andy’s family?
There was nothing
that Jesse, Buzz, Woody or any other toy could do to earn the seal of Andy’s
name. And there is no thing we can do to
earn favour with God, to earn the right to call him Father, no good work, no
sacrifice. Nothing would be good
enough. It is only Jesus that can give
us access to the Father, only in his death and resurrection that we can be
saved and know true intimacy with God.
Because of the resurrection, Jesus tells Mary that he will be returning
to be with God his Father. And that
now. Now. Because of the resurrection, he will be her
God too. He will be her Father too.
The Bible tells
us that we too can know God as our God and call him Father. He desires to be our personal God. How? We call on the name that is above every
other name (Philippians 2:9). The Bible
says that we need to confess with our mouths that "Jesus is Lord," and believe
in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, (Romans 10:9)
then, the Bible tells us, we will be saved. For “there is salvation in no one else, for
there is no. other. name. under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
His name is “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
His name is Jesus. Call on His
name, because His name brings us to Father God.
His name gives us meaning, purpose, hope. Call on the name of Jesus because he knows your
name. And that changes everything.
Let us pray.
God thank you
that you know us by name. That you know
everything about us and you still call us.
That Jesus you went to the cross and rose again. That you died and rose so that we too might
live. That you endured the cross to take
away the sins of the world. To take away
our sins so that we could call God our Father, our friend, our lover and our
saviour.
Thank you that
you know us so intimately, so personally, so completely. That you know all about us - the seen and the
unseen - you see it all and you still call us.
You call us to come and be one with you and the Father.
Holy Spirit would
you bring a fresh revelation to hearts and minds here that need to know that
you, God, Jesus who died and rose again, knows their name.
Thank you that
you know my name. That calling us by
name gives us purpose, intimacy and hope.
Thank you for the
cross.
Thank you for
Easter.
Thank you that we
can call on your name Jesus for life to the full, for everlasting peace and
enduring hope.
Jesus. Jesus.
Amen.
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