Acts 10:34-43, John20: 1-18                  

Many of you, I am sure, saw at least some of the some of the service in Canterbury Cathedral when Archbishop Sarah was installed in the episcopal chair of St Augustine. A service of magnificent impeccably choreographed ceremony with wonderful music, superb and costly robes and a cathedral packed to capacity with the great, the good and the humble. A service of pomp and ritual showing the Church at its best.

Contrast this with that first Easter Day when the tomb was found to be empty and the reality of Christ’s resurrection was first realised not by those in a packed cathedral but by a very few seemingly insignificant individuals.  Realised not by angelic choirs but by the silence that precedes the breaking of dawn.  Realised not by seeing Christ in some glittering procession installed on some heavenly throne but by a woman bowed down with grief who initially blinded by tears thought she encountered a lowly gardener.  One woman alone to whom Christ chose to reveal himself. No ceremony, no pomp, no solemn oaths but just the simple saying of one word, the simple voicing of her name ‘Mary’ And after hearing that one word spoken in the voice she knew so well Mary knew without a shadow of doubt she was truly in the presence of the risen Lord.  In the presence of the risen Lord and given the task of sharing this unassailable truth with the other disciples, Christ’s brothers and sisters. ‘Go and tell them, ‘I have seen the Lord.’ No photos or videos to prove it, no permanent record beyond the veracity of what she had seen.

For us today I think it can be hard to understand how from that first encounter and the few that followed when other followers of Jesus saw him either in a locked room or on an open road the belief in the risen Christ grew and multiplied spreading far and wide throughout God’s earthly kingdom. .A belief endorsed by Paul after his dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road so that as we heard in today’s reading from Acts: A belief passed initially orally and in defiance of al those who mocked such a claim. Hard for us who have never been threatened for our faith, our belief in the risen Christ to imagine the courage and resilience needed to preach such a gospel despite the threats of the authorities both Roman and Jewish to do all in their power to stamp it out. But of course, there is no power on earth that can do that. Jesus Christ is risen; he is risen indeed.  Alleluia.

But back to that first Easter morning and the visit under the cover of darkness that Mary made to the tomb to find to her utter dismay that the great stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty with just the discarded grave clothes as proof that the body of Jesus had lain there.  Can you imagine her bewilderment, her anguish, her sense almost of unbelief that this could be so.  Can you imagine what was going through her mind as in her panic at what she had discovered she sought the help of those other two disciples. Can you imagine the stuttered words as she tried to relate what she had seen and then the hasty return back to that still night shrouded garden.

But as those two disciples returned to their homes  and  now as dawn is breaking, we have that image of  the tear filled Mary standing alone, and silent, and then suddenly joined by the risen Christ. As he gently spoke her name we can sense the shattering of all the utter darkness of Good Friday by the overwhelming radiance of the light of Easter day. The shattering of the darkness of death by the light of eternal life.

So, as we celebrate that most momentous of all days in this church of Abinger this morning what can we perhaps learn from this account? Oh yes like that ceremony at Canterbury there is a degree of worship filled ceremony here maybe not as well choreographed and certainly without a mitre in sight. We have already sung with joy some of the wonderful praise filled Easter hymns with more to come. We will share the sacrament of communion eating the bread, drinking the wine to remind us yet again that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to die for our sakes that we might be redeemed and forgiven for our sins and wrongdoings that led Jesus to that instrument of torture.   And all this is as it should be on this glorious day but I think there is one more really important thing to learn and that is from what happened in that garden some two thousand years ago as darkness gave way to light. Learn that it is in silence and solitude that we can share that experience of Mary and know the Lord come close to us. A personal encounter rather than the shared encounter of this morning when we have joined with angels and archangels to give praise and thanks. A personal encounter when we turn briefly from all the darkness of this world to the light of God’s love for us.

Remember how many times we are told in the gospels that Jesus went away from the crowds, away from the disciples even to a quiet lonely place to pray and find God the Father close beside him. Think how he did just that in the Garden of Gethsemane before his accusers burst in to arrect him. I think we are called like Jesus, like Mary to seek that solitude, to cut out and retreat from all the distractions of modern life and hope and pray to hear the risen Christ call our name as he did Mary’s.  Call our name and show us what tasks he would like us to do as Easter people to share our faith as those first disciples did. Share our faith and in so doing pray that we too  may bring glimmers of light and of love into this deeply troubled world . And here I would like to quote these words of Ann Lewin. ‘Time out of time, ,,,,resting… drifting on Spirit’s breath.   You do not have to look for anything,… just look. You do not have to listen for specific sounds… just listen. You do not have to accomplish anything… just be. And in the looking and the listening and the being… find Me

Now we will continue with the ceremony that is  our  united worship but I pray that at some time today you can slip away for a few moments  and be still and in that stillness hear as Mary did the voice of the risen Christ and know  without a shadow of doubt that like  her and all the disciples  we are truly beloved child of God restored and forgiven. Christ is risen he is risen indeed. Alleluia!–