Coronavirus Wk 3 Easter 2020
Sermon
Today is Easter 2020 and this morning I would like to look one character in or Gospel reading
Mary Magdalene.
And I would like to see her in the light of one verse -from the New Testament – from 2 Cor 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
When Mary met Jesus she was changed.
That is the effect that Jesus has on those who will let him change them
We first come across Mary Magdalene as the woman out of whom Jesus drove seven demons (Lk 8:1-3)
And it was only at the end of the sixth century that it was first suggested that she was a prostitute
It was in Pope Gregory the Great's homily on Luke's gospel dated 14 September 591 that he said this about Mary
"She, whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark.
And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices?
... It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts."(homily XXXIII)
Anyone know what unguent is?
An unguent is a semi solid paste – a bit like ointment!
Whether or not she really was a prostitute, we don’t know.
But we do know is that when she met Jesus - her life was changed forever.
Jesus has that effect on you if you allow Him to.
She is called Mary Magdalene to distinguish her form the other three Marys mentioned in the Gospel.
She is Mary from the village of Magdala, which means in Aramaic : “a tower”
And what a tower of strength she was to the early Christian Community.
She is the first to meet the risen Lord – and it transformed her from a frightened woman to a tower of strength.
Uniquely she is a witness to Jesus death, His burial and the Empty tomb.
It is said of Mary:
“Mary's role as a witness is unusual because women at that time were not considered credible witnesses in legal proceedings
Because of this, and because of extra-biblical traditions about her subsequent missionary activity in spreading the Gospel she is known by the title, "Equal of the Apostles”.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene)
Story: When Maddy and I were in Oxfor at Wycliffe Hall, we used to go to Church in St Aldates.
About 11 years after leaving Wycliffe, I was in Oxford one Sunday and so I decided to go to the evening service at St Aldates (08-07-2012).
As I walked in. I looked at the bookrack in the entrance and saw Simon Ponsonby’s new book “Loving Mercy” – but decided not to buy it - as I would never read it.
After all, if you have ever seen my study you will know that I have many books on my bookshelf that I have not read.
So I thought why buy a new one
As I went into the Church, and who would I run into - but Simon Ponsonby himself.
“ Have you got a copy of my new book?” he said “ It’s free for clergy”
“No” I replied and he vanished off to get me a copy.
He gave it to me at the end of the service and I thanked him for the book – and I thought no more about it.
But for some reason that evening, I started to read Simon’s book – Loving Mercy.
It’s a book about how encountering Christ should transform us to care for others.
And in it, I found this fascinating story of Judson Cornwall, an American Pentecostal preacher who, after the war, was invited to speak at a renewal conference in Germany.
Let me read you what Simon wrote:
<But Cornwall had a deep seated grudge against the Germans and simply threw the invitation into the bin.
Remarkably, when his wife emptied the bin, she spotted the invitation, pressed it out and put it on his desk again.
It haunted him for days as he shuffled around it.
Finally the Spirit won and he reluctantly agreed to go.
Arriving in Germany he was not relieved of his dis-ease and the Conference centre turned out to be in the former headquarters of the SS, Hitler’s elite guard, which aroused all sorts of images and old hatreds in him.
He spent two days before the conference praying and fasting and preparing – and avoiding the Germans.
On the first night of the Conference he went down to speak and took umbrage at his translator, a somewhat stereotypical Aryan Ueberfrau – giant, buxom, blonde hair in a bun.
He spat out his sermon, so it was no surprise that it was badly delivered, badly received and died a death.
He returned to his room and decided to go back to America the next day.
Full of humiliation and emotion he cried himself to sleep.
In the night, he awoke to demons screaming in his mind; “You don’t belong here! You have no authority here! Go home!
Experienced in spiritual warfare, Cornwall recognised the attack and figured it had to do with the demonic history of the SS in the building, and immediately rebuked the demons in Jesus’ name.
Three times the demonic voices woke him; three times he rebuked them.
After the third time he got up and asked God what was happening and why his prayers weren’t sufficient and the demons kept returning.
The Lord spoke immediately:
“The demons are tormenting you because you really don’t have any authority here.
You have no authority here because you don’t love these people.
Your authority to minister is related to your love for those to whom you minister.
Now you can go on hating these people, pack up and go home tomorrow or you can let me love them through you.”
Cornwall acknowledged his deep racism and prejudice.
Too embarrassed to go home, he confessed his sin and asked God to love through him the Germans who he loathed.
He knew he needed a miracle of grace.
Immediately he was overwhelmed by the Spirit of God and filled with Christ’s love for the Germans.
Having spent two days avoiding the Germans and refusing to eat with them, he could not wait for breakfast.
He rushed downstairs to the queue for the breakfast and greeted and hugged everyone in the food line.
When he got to his translator he gave her a big kiss and hugged her.
Immediately she pulled back and barked: “You hate us”
“No, no”, he replied “That was yesterday, today I love you”
Judson Cornwall preached that morning and the power of God was on his words.
At the end of the sermon there was a huge line of people wanting to speak with him personally, something he usually avoided, but he sensed God wanted him to be attentive to the people individually.
One by one, people came and thanked him for helping them to forgive the Americans, whether because they had lost loved ones in combat against them or in the bombing raids.
Cornwall saw pain and resentment cut both ways…but the obedience to the Spirit of Christ heals historic hurts and unites us in the love of God”> (p.22-24 Loving Mercy : Simon Ponsonby)
Conclusion
It is our choice how we ourselves decide we are going to live.
We can follow the example of Mary Magdalene who allowed God to transform her from a sinner to a saint.
Mary Magdalene shows us that no one is too bad for the grace of God
You might ask – how can I be a saint
But first we must ask what is a saint?
St Paul addresses the Ephesian Church with these words:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the SAINTS who are in Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:1)
A Saint is simply someone who has sanctified by God.
That is a person whom has come to Christ to take away his or her sins
The process of sanctification has come about by Jesus dying on the Cross in our place for our sins.
Theologically speaking it was best explained by a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm in the 11th Century in what is called the Penal Substitionary Atonement theory
The Penal substitutionary atonement theory refers to the doctrine that Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners.
God imputed the guilt of our sins to Christ, and he, in our place, bore the punishment that we deserve.
(www.theopedia.com/penal-substitutionary-atonement)
Let me explain this with a modern story one that happened last night.
Your local fox decided to come and visit the chicken runs that we have.
He was out to kill all the chickens.
But our prize Orpington rooster went for the fox, and in a one sided fight, the fox killed the rooster.
But hearing all the commotion Maddy came out and the fox fled.
The rooster gave his life that the chickens could live.
In the same way Christ died so that we might live.
That is the reason we call Good Friday - good.
But simply becoming a saint doesn’t mean we will always get it right as Judson Cornwall found out.
But God will guide us in the right way, if we are willing to allow him to do so.
This Easter, may I challenge you, as saints, to be ready to allow God to change you into the person he wants you to be.
Just as He did with St Mary Magdalene, to such an extent that she became a tower in the Christian community.
Amen
