THEME VERSE FOR TODAY Psalm 30:5, NLT
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
*OPENING SENTENCES & GREETING Psalm 47:1-2,5-6, NLT
Clap your hands, all you people!
Shout joyfully to God with a joyous shout!
Because the Lord Most High is awesome,
he is the great king of the whole world.
God has gone up with a joyous shout--
the Lord with the blast of the ram’s horn.
Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Sing praises to our king! Sing praises
*CONFESSION AND PARDON 1 John 1:9, GW
God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them
and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong.
Merciful God, we confess that we dwell on the negative side of life, focused too much on what is wrong in our lives and our world. We fail to see the blessings and love with which you surround us. We get bogged down by our inadequacies and fail to rejoice in the abilities you gave us. We get frustrated by the things we cannot do for ourselves and fail to recognize the help you offer through others. We see the problems in our world but don’t pause often enough to celebrate the good news. Teach us to find the joy that you bring to us and to our world, even in spite of struggle or circumstance. Out of that joy, let us live and offer hope!
In Christ there is forgiveness and joy and hope. Thanks be to God!
OLD TESTAMENT READING Psalm 30:1-5, GW
A psalm by David sung at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will honor you highly, O Lord,
because you have pulled me out of the pit
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God,
I cried out to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought me up from the grave.
You called me back to life
from among those who had gone into the pit.
4 Make music to praise the Lord, you faithful people who belong to him.
Remember his holiness by giving thanks.
5 His anger lasts only a moment.
His favor lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may last for the night,
but there is a song of joy in the morning.
NEW TESTAMENT READING John 20:11-18, CEB
11 Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. 13 The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” 14 As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her.
1 Peter 4:12-14, NLT
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.
SERMON Joy
Joy comes in the morning. That’s the promise. But oh the nights we may endure before. Our gospel focus this morning continues the Easter theme we began last week. Easter is a source of our joy, and it indeed followed the darkest of nights for Jesus’ followers. Today we look at Mary Magdalene.
Not everyone remembers the beginning of her story, that when this Mary and Jesus first met she was possessed by seven demons. (from Luke 8:2) You can take that literally or figuratively. Either way her life was miserable, and she was likely an outcast.
Liz Curtis Higgs portrays her as an older woman, maybe forties or fifties, dealing with the traumas of life. Unlike the movie portrayals, Liz is convinced Mary was NOT a prostitute, but possibly someone who struggled with mental health issues. Her fictional character based on Mary from Magdala, named Mary Margaret Delaney, is a recluse in Lincoln Park Chicago, who lost her daughter to suicide and her husband to divorce. She is a cutter and a kleptomaniac, who lives in a brownstone, both a cat lady and a horder, a formerly religious woman who is now afraid of God, someone the entire community avoids until Pastor Joshua intentionally befriends her. The real Mary of Magdala had her own issues, ones we can only guess, but we do know that Jesus intentionally befriended and healed her, and her gratitude lasted a lifetime.
Mary Magdalene followed Jesus, listened to him, provided financial support for his ministry, and was always there in the background helping where she could. Jesus gave her back a good life, and she was determined to give her life for him. She was there with his mother, when Jesus was hung on the cross. She saw it all. She watched him die. Can you imagine the grief and shock, the horror and sorrow she endured that night? Of course, you can. You’ve experience grief too often yourselves. The weeping may indeed last through the night, through many nights.
But for Mary, joy did come in the morning, on the morning after the Sabbath when she went with others to complete the task of caring for Jesus’ body. It was the only remaining way she could still serve him. Joy didn’t come immediately with sunrise. She embarked on a sad task. She worried about that great big stone. Then she was startled to find the tomb open and shocked to find it empty. She kept asking where the body had been taken. She was still crying. But then the man she supposed was the gardener spoke her name and everything changed. She knew that voice. It was Jesus. He was indeed alive! Now her relief and joy overflowed.
We know that feeling, too. We stew and worry over something. Things go awry. Fear gets hold of us. Worry consumes us. We are overwhelmed trying to work through the challenges of life. We may even shed tears in our frustration. But then something works. Things fall into place. Help comes. Good news arrives. There is a flood of relief and maybe even tears of joy.
Mary recognized Jesus when he called her by name. God knows you by name. Isaiah 49:16 includes these words, “Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” While it is said of a community of people, it is often interpreted as also pertaining to each of us as individuals. I believe it is true for both, for God’s people as individuals and God’s people as community. The Gospel of John quotes Jesus comparing himself to a good shepherd. In John 10:4 he declares, “Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice.” Just as Mary recognized Jesus’ voice, so, he said, would all his followers. We might not take that literally, but as believers we should come to recognize when it is Jesus’ message reaching us, rather than the many other voices of the world trying to get our attention. John 10 goes on later to say, “14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd.” Mary found joy hearing Jesus’ voice and knowing he was alive, so may we find joy in hearing Jesus’ message for us in our daily lives, on our difficult days, after our dark nights of sorrow or turmoil. Jesus brings us not only comfort but even joy. Joy comes in the morning!
Max Lucado suggests we find that joy even in the simple fact that God loves us. He shares this snippet from a priest who visited his uncle in Ireland. After watching the sunset together Uncle Seamus was smiling. The priest commented that his uncle looked very happy. “I am,” he responded. “The Father of Jesus is very fond of me.” (p.123) God is fond of you. God loves you. I know folks who find it so hard to love themselves they can’t believe that God loves them. But everything I believe in the Bible says that God does indeed love you! It doesn’t say you are perfect. Far from it. It doesn’t say you have earned or deserved any special love. These are not the basis for God’s love. God loves you, because God chooses to love you. That’s what makes it so amazing, so special, such a reason for joy!
Listen to that message in the poetry of Psalm 103,
“8 The Lord is merciful and loving,
slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9 He does not keep on rebuking;
he is not angry forever.
10 He does not punish us as we deserve
or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who honor him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our sins from us.”
Now listen to Mary Cushman’s story from the Great Depression of the 1930s. Her time of weeping came with her own depression during these hard times. Her husband only made $18 a week, but some weeks he was too sick to work. She took in laundry and ironing to help make ends meet. Their five children wore clothes from the Salvation Army store. They had a tab mounting at the grocery now up to $50, and then the owner accused her son of stealing. That was her breaking point. With no hope in sight, at home with her five-year-old, she plugged up the windows and turned on the gas without a flame. As she convinced her little girl to lay down with her for a nap, the radio in the kitchen was still playing. Then came the hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!” It turned her thinking around. She got up, turned off the gas, opened the windows and doors, and spent the rest of the day giving thanks for her healthy children. They lost the house eventually, but they survived the Depression. They had a future. Those kids grew up and married. Grandchildren were born. Mary found joy again and again, and she knows how much she would have missed if she had given up too soon. (This story is on pages 124-126 of Unshakeable Hope.)
Crying may last the night or many nights, but a morning of joy will dawn, if we wait, if we trust, if we believe. When faced with those hard times we all have, I still cling to a promise that is a favorite for many from Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Mary Magdalene’s story lives up to that promise, so does Mary Cushman’s, so does mine, and so does yours, though you might not see all of it yet.
Wait and watch for what joy will come to you!
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
*OPENING SENTENCES & GREETING Psalm 47:1-2,5-6, NLT
Clap your hands, all you people!
Shout joyfully to God with a joyous shout!
Because the Lord Most High is awesome,
he is the great king of the whole world.
God has gone up with a joyous shout--
the Lord with the blast of the ram’s horn.
Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Sing praises to our king! Sing praises
*CONFESSION AND PARDON 1 John 1:9, GW
God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them
and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong.
Merciful God, we confess that we dwell on the negative side of life, focused too much on what is wrong in our lives and our world. We fail to see the blessings and love with which you surround us. We get bogged down by our inadequacies and fail to rejoice in the abilities you gave us. We get frustrated by the things we cannot do for ourselves and fail to recognize the help you offer through others. We see the problems in our world but don’t pause often enough to celebrate the good news. Teach us to find the joy that you bring to us and to our world, even in spite of struggle or circumstance. Out of that joy, let us live and offer hope!
In Christ there is forgiveness and joy and hope. Thanks be to God!
OLD TESTAMENT READING Psalm 30:1-5, GW
A psalm by David sung at the dedication of the temple.
1 I will honor you highly, O Lord,
because you have pulled me out of the pit
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God,
I cried out to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought me up from the grave.
You called me back to life
from among those who had gone into the pit.
4 Make music to praise the Lord, you faithful people who belong to him.
Remember his holiness by giving thanks.
5 His anger lasts only a moment.
His favor lasts a lifetime.
Weeping may last for the night,
but there is a song of joy in the morning.
NEW TESTAMENT READING John 20:11-18, CEB
11 Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. 13 The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” 14 As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her.
1 Peter 4:12-14, NLT
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.
SERMON Joy
Joy comes in the morning. That’s the promise. But oh the nights we may endure before. Our gospel focus this morning continues the Easter theme we began last week. Easter is a source of our joy, and it indeed followed the darkest of nights for Jesus’ followers. Today we look at Mary Magdalene.
Not everyone remembers the beginning of her story, that when this Mary and Jesus first met she was possessed by seven demons. (from Luke 8:2) You can take that literally or figuratively. Either way her life was miserable, and she was likely an outcast.
Liz Curtis Higgs portrays her as an older woman, maybe forties or fifties, dealing with the traumas of life. Unlike the movie portrayals, Liz is convinced Mary was NOT a prostitute, but possibly someone who struggled with mental health issues. Her fictional character based on Mary from Magdala, named Mary Margaret Delaney, is a recluse in Lincoln Park Chicago, who lost her daughter to suicide and her husband to divorce. She is a cutter and a kleptomaniac, who lives in a brownstone, both a cat lady and a horder, a formerly religious woman who is now afraid of God, someone the entire community avoids until Pastor Joshua intentionally befriends her. The real Mary of Magdala had her own issues, ones we can only guess, but we do know that Jesus intentionally befriended and healed her, and her gratitude lasted a lifetime.
Mary Magdalene followed Jesus, listened to him, provided financial support for his ministry, and was always there in the background helping where she could. Jesus gave her back a good life, and she was determined to give her life for him. She was there with his mother, when Jesus was hung on the cross. She saw it all. She watched him die. Can you imagine the grief and shock, the horror and sorrow she endured that night? Of course, you can. You’ve experience grief too often yourselves. The weeping may indeed last through the night, through many nights.
But for Mary, joy did come in the morning, on the morning after the Sabbath when she went with others to complete the task of caring for Jesus’ body. It was the only remaining way she could still serve him. Joy didn’t come immediately with sunrise. She embarked on a sad task. She worried about that great big stone. Then she was startled to find the tomb open and shocked to find it empty. She kept asking where the body had been taken. She was still crying. But then the man she supposed was the gardener spoke her name and everything changed. She knew that voice. It was Jesus. He was indeed alive! Now her relief and joy overflowed.
We know that feeling, too. We stew and worry over something. Things go awry. Fear gets hold of us. Worry consumes us. We are overwhelmed trying to work through the challenges of life. We may even shed tears in our frustration. But then something works. Things fall into place. Help comes. Good news arrives. There is a flood of relief and maybe even tears of joy.
Mary recognized Jesus when he called her by name. God knows you by name. Isaiah 49:16 includes these words, “Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” While it is said of a community of people, it is often interpreted as also pertaining to each of us as individuals. I believe it is true for both, for God’s people as individuals and God’s people as community. The Gospel of John quotes Jesus comparing himself to a good shepherd. In John 10:4 he declares, “Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice.” Just as Mary recognized Jesus’ voice, so, he said, would all his followers. We might not take that literally, but as believers we should come to recognize when it is Jesus’ message reaching us, rather than the many other voices of the world trying to get our attention. John 10 goes on later to say, “14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd.” Mary found joy hearing Jesus’ voice and knowing he was alive, so may we find joy in hearing Jesus’ message for us in our daily lives, on our difficult days, after our dark nights of sorrow or turmoil. Jesus brings us not only comfort but even joy. Joy comes in the morning!
Max Lucado suggests we find that joy even in the simple fact that God loves us. He shares this snippet from a priest who visited his uncle in Ireland. After watching the sunset together Uncle Seamus was smiling. The priest commented that his uncle looked very happy. “I am,” he responded. “The Father of Jesus is very fond of me.” (p.123) God is fond of you. God loves you. I know folks who find it so hard to love themselves they can’t believe that God loves them. But everything I believe in the Bible says that God does indeed love you! It doesn’t say you are perfect. Far from it. It doesn’t say you have earned or deserved any special love. These are not the basis for God’s love. God loves you, because God chooses to love you. That’s what makes it so amazing, so special, such a reason for joy!
Listen to that message in the poetry of Psalm 103,
“8 The Lord is merciful and loving,
slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9 He does not keep on rebuking;
he is not angry forever.
10 He does not punish us as we deserve
or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who honor him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our sins from us.”
Now listen to Mary Cushman’s story from the Great Depression of the 1930s. Her time of weeping came with her own depression during these hard times. Her husband only made $18 a week, but some weeks he was too sick to work. She took in laundry and ironing to help make ends meet. Their five children wore clothes from the Salvation Army store. They had a tab mounting at the grocery now up to $50, and then the owner accused her son of stealing. That was her breaking point. With no hope in sight, at home with her five-year-old, she plugged up the windows and turned on the gas without a flame. As she convinced her little girl to lay down with her for a nap, the radio in the kitchen was still playing. Then came the hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!” It turned her thinking around. She got up, turned off the gas, opened the windows and doors, and spent the rest of the day giving thanks for her healthy children. They lost the house eventually, but they survived the Depression. They had a future. Those kids grew up and married. Grandchildren were born. Mary found joy again and again, and she knows how much she would have missed if she had given up too soon. (This story is on pages 124-126 of Unshakeable Hope.)
Crying may last the night or many nights, but a morning of joy will dawn, if we wait, if we trust, if we believe. When faced with those hard times we all have, I still cling to a promise that is a favorite for many from Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Mary Magdalene’s story lives up to that promise, so does Mary Cushman’s, so does mine, and so does yours, though you might not see all of it yet.
Wait and watch for what joy will come to you!