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Easter Noli me tangere
SERMON - 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 10th April 2005
Revd. Matthew Vernon
Easter 2.
In John's account of the resurrection, two characters are particularly intriguing: Mary and Thomas.
According to John's Gospel, the resurrection took place early in the morning.
In my home, early in the morning,
• and often "while it's still dark",
• you'll hear a little voice crying "Mummy, Daddy cuddle me!"
This is roughly translated "Its time to get up now".
"Cuddle",
• touch,
• physical contact
• is one of our basic needs.
It's how we express affection for someone;
• it's how we reassure each other;
• it's what our bodies are for –
• bodies which God has shared with us in Jesus;
• a body that was raised on the third day.
So it's strange that in John's account of the resurrection, Jesus says to Mary "Don't touch me"
• "don't cuddle me".
When Mary realises who the gardener really is,
• she reaches out to touch her friend and "Rabbouni"
• or teacher.
What else would she do?
She thought he was dead and gone.
Suddenly he was there in front of her.
It's a natural response to rush forward and embrace.
Natural for Mary who had loved him before.
There's a wonderful painting of this scene by the European artist Titian
• called "Noli me Tangere" –
• the Latin for "Touch me not".
Its shows Jesus and Mary in a garden just after she has recognized him.
Mary is kneeling with one hand on the ground.
The other is reaching out towards Jesus.
Jesus is gently leaning away to avoid her grasp.
The painting beautifully illustrates that Mary's old relationship with Jesus is over
• and something new is beginning.
The love Jesus showed to Mary in the years before he died had transformed her.
Now her love for Christ was to be transformed.
His physical presence would soon be gone and Mary had to learn to love him spiritually;
• as we have to love him.
The Bible translation we use here at St. John's has Jesus words to Mary as
• "Do not hold on to me".
Another translation says "Do not cling to me".
They remind us of a valuable insight about resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus shows us that "we cannot make a new start unless we are prepared to let go of what we hold most dear."
That's a grand statement,
• but we practice this from a young age.
In my home there is a 9 month old baby who likes to hold objects in his high chair and then drop them.
This is quite natural according to the baby book we check his progress against.
Usually it's a harmless spoon.
We try to avoid putting the bowl of food in arm's reach.
Babies are practicing for their future.
Like the Small Boy in the poem by Norman McCaig:
He picked up a pebble and threw it into the sea.
• And another, and another - he couldn't stop.
He wasn't trying to fill the sea.
• He wasn't trying to empty the beach.
He was just throwing away, nothing else but.
(Like a kitten playing)
He was practising for the future
When there'll be many things he'll want to throw away
• If only his fingers would unclench and let them go.
In order to find new life,
• in order to gain resurrection,
• we have to let go of the past.
You'll know this from your own experience.
Perhaps you've been bereaved by a close loved one dying.
Perhaps you've suffered a relationship breakdown.
Perhaps you've had to learn to deal with a medical condition –
• we all learn to cope with our aging bodies!
In my family, my sister has had to come to terms with being adopted
Those are dramatic examples.
The same applies for more ordinary things.
Letting go of the past is true for all of us whatever our experience;
• whether our experience is dramatic or not.
After all, its part of growing up.
Some of you know the lovely story of the woman who, when roasting her Sunday joint of beef, always cut off each end and put it sideways in the tin.
When asked why, she explained it was the way her mother had always done it.
But one day she finally got around to asking her mother.
Her answer: "Because I only had a small roasting tin and it wouldn't fit otherwise."
Not everything that our parents,
• not everything our upbringing,
• not everything our cultural heritage gives us is good for us as adults,
• as mature Christians.
God's grace allows us to let go into new life;
• to leave behind experiences that prevent us living fully.
Some things are easy to let go of.
So much so that we don't notice God's grace at work.
Other things though we know we have managed to leave behind only with external help –
• only with God's Spirit moving in us.
Some things we don't want to let go of and need God's help with.
We all need God's help to let go of false notions of God that we cling to.
It's the same grace that brought Jesus back to life on that first day of the week.
The same life-giving power and love moving in us.
And we can be confident that since God's grace took Jesus through death and into new life,
• God's love is strong enough to heal whatever it is we cling to,
• whatever we can't let go of.
The other character in John's Gospel who struggled with this is Thomas.
Thomas the disciple in today's Gospel reading who couldn't believe that Jesus had risen.
Thomas couldn't let go of the past;
• couldn't let go of Jesus' death.
To be fair, it's understandable.
It was only 3 days since the disaster of Jesus' dying on the cross.
Jesus coming back to life was the last thing he expected.
"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
It's a profound,
• if slightly gory statement.
Thomas is a patron saint for those of us who doubt.
Thomas is a patron saint for those of us who believe too much certainty sells God short.
Thomas is also a patron saint for those who carry scars from painful experiences.
Perhaps he'd had painful experiences of his own.
Somehow, he knew that Jesus would still carry the scars of the crucifixion even after being raised.
That's true to life, isn't it?
God's grace allows us to let go of the past,
• but that doesn't mean we forget what has happened.
God's grace doesn't paint over the past.
God's grace transforms our experiences.
Today we remember how Jesus met his disciples after he rose from the grave.
He meets us at Easter and says
• "Don't cling to what is past, but come with me into new life;
• let those scars be transformed in the abundance of God's love for you."
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