April 21, 2019 | Rev. Graham McCaffrey
Scripture: John 20:1-18
What’s in a name?
We all can likely remember times when our parents or our friends have called out our name with a deep sense of affection and love bottled up – perhaps after a long period of absence, or a parent calling a child over to offer a hug or a comforting shoulder to cry on. Our names are powerful. Just ask any child the power of a name, when their parent uses it to chastise them! When I was a child I would go around saying ‘I am not an Edddin! I am not an Eddin!’ because when I was in trouble, my mother would say Graham Edwin McCaffrey!
Our names are precious. Whether you’ve met countless people with your name, or never met another soul – our names are special. Our parents chose them specially for us: some times they are connections to the past like being named for your parents or grandparents; sometimes they are chosen merely for the beauty of a name; sometimes they are chosen to be as unique as possible. Regardless of the reason, even if it were just random chance we got the name we did – our names are special, they mark us for who we are.
What’s in a name?
Mary. That was her name. Mary, who walked with Jesus, who had found hope in him and his teaching. Mary, who had witnessed her teacher, her friend, and her Lord brutally tortured and killed only days before. Mary, who had watched and remained with him at the cross even as most of his friends and disciples had abandoned him in terror. Mary, who had come early in the morning to grieve only to find the tomb open and empty, magnifying her grief. Mary, who lingered in the garden looking for any sign of the friend and teacher she had lost. Mary was her name.
What’s in a name?
Perhaps, it is no surprise that on the first Easter morning, Mary finally recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name. It wasn’t Jesus’ appearance that broke through the grief and loss Mary had experienced at the cross watching Jesus die; it wasn’t even Jesus’ voice that signalled to Mary the miraculous resurrection of her Lord and Saviour – it was the fact that he called her by name, it was the intimate recognition of her identity, the familiarity and friendship offered by Jesus – he knew her, he called to her, he called her out of the darkness of sin and death, the darkness of the grief which clouded her mind and her sight and into relationship once more.
It wasn’t some miraculous sign or display of power that revealed the truth of Jesus’ resurrection to Mary, it was the simple, personal and intimate call of her name.
This Easter as we contemplate the amazing reality that Jesus has defeated the power of sin and death in the world by his own death on the cross and by his resurrection, as we consider the cosmic and universal significance of the salvation he has brought into the world – we are also reminded that the resurrection of Jesus is also extremely personal event for each on of us. It matters to you and me, personally as much as it matters to all of creation.
What’s in a name?
Just as the resurrected Jesus called to Mary by name, revealing his glory and the victory of God over sin and death in the personal greeting between friends, so too does Jesus call us by name. Each and every one of us – you and me, and your neighbour and your friends, Jesus calls us all by name. Calls us all out of the daze of Good Friday, out of the sin and darkness which no longer has power over us.
The good news today is Jesus knows you. The good news today is that Jesus loves you – each and every one of you. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done. No matter if you believe a little or a lot. No matter if you’ve been good or bad. No matter what Jesus knows and loves you.
Jesus knows your name.
He knows you and loves you even if you feel abandoned and alone in the world.
He knows you and loves you even if you feel worthless.
He knows you and loves you even if you feel unloved and unlovable.
He knows you and loves you even if you have screwed up, even if you push people away and feel that nothing ever goes right.
In Jesus, in his death and resurrection, we learn that everyone has infinite worth in the eyes of God. In Jesus, in his death and resurrection, we learn that there is no length God will not go to, to ensure that we have life, and have it in abundance.
In Jesus you are told that you were worth it.
You were worth the agonizing betrayal of Judas.
You were worth the demoralizing abandonment by Peter and the other disciples.
You were worth the excruciating sting of the whip and biting mocks of the soldiers.
You were worth the intense pain and suffering of the torturous wood of the cross.
You were worth all the sin and brokenness of the world coming down on the very Son of God.
You are worth all of it…. so is your neighbour.
Look to your right and to your left, look around this place, look beyond our walls out the front doors. In God’s eyes all of these people are worth it, worth God’s life, worth every expense. No one is found outside the grace of God, unless they choose to refuse it.
What’s in a name?
Today Jesus calls you by name. Amidst all of the pomp and pageantry of our Easter services today, amidst the hymns, the readings, Jesus is calling your name, he is speaking his secret word of life directly to you, and it is meant for you and only you. He is calling you into life, into life unencumbered by the sin and brokenness of the world.
Listen for Jesus’ word to you today, listen for the call of your Saviour. Only you can here it. Only you can claim the resurrected and abundant life that Jesus offers uniquely to you.
(In a few moments we will all have an opportunity to reaffirm our baptismal vows, we will all have an opportunity to answer again Jesus’ secret word to us, we will each have an opportunity to remember that we are Christ’s own, that in our baptism we were claimed by Christ, and that he will never let us go.
And if you have never been baptized and you hear Jesus speaking the word of life to you today, then nothing stands in the way, you too can enter into the life of Jesus through the waters of baptism, here and now if you feel so called! We will worry about learning more about following Jesus in the coming days and weeks.)
What’s in a name?
While Jesus calls you by name, while he speaks his secret word to you, that is not the end of your calling. Jesus doesn’t just call to us and bring us out of death and sin, he calls us into something new, he calls us to share the life we have received with the world, with our families and friends, with our neighbours.
Easter morning may begin with Jesus calling Mary’s name, calling her out of the shadow of death but it ends with a mission, Mary becomes the first apostle, she becomes the apostle to the apostles, bringing the word of life she has heard Jesus speak to her to the other disciples.
May we bring Jesus’ word of life to a weary and worn down world this Easter. May we share the good news that God considers all of us worth it, let us let the people in our lives know that God knows their name and loves them for who they are.
What’s in a name? Jesus’ call to you and me.
May we have ears to hear it, and hearts ready and willing to respond.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen.
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