GUEST POST BY VALERIE BOYER
I tried my best to find a different tone with today’s writing, but I am who I am!! And sometimes, most times, I’M CHURCHY! Believe it or not, you can be both a critical thinker and churchy at the same time! I also almost didn’t write today’s piece, because there are going to be 50-11 think pieces, sermons, poems, broadcasts, and bird signals by pigeon so we don’t need my words and/or voice. And frankly, sometimes it feels dangerous to think out loud. But I’m going to write today anyway, because it’s Easter! And when I stopped by the tomb, I had to decide who I was going to be…
In John 20:1-18 account, we get a frantic Mary, who is looking for a missing body that might’ve been tampered with. Now, this is a Mary who is moving without an awareness that Jesus disclosed that he would rise again. In her conviction to figure out where they had taken her, she runs and tells the disciples what had gone down. John, Peter, and Mary Magdalene, run to the tomb. John outruns Peter, as a young man, and sees an open tomb. Peter, however, who took the slow walk, might not have gotten there first, but knew that he couldn’t stand outside. He had to go in to get answers. Lord help us to keep going, even when people get to where we’re going first, and also, thank you for the gift of having something waiting for us on the inside, when we get there.
Peter goes in, sees the clothes, and he’s good. John goes in, sees the clothes too, neatly folded, and he’s good. Mary, however, who has not gotten any answers yet, is left by the men SHE CAME TO GET, with no information. She is still frantic! But she goes in anyway, because when you love someone as deeply as she loves Jesus, even in the franticness you’ll find your way inside the tomb. When she goes in, she’s met by some angels who ask her why she’s crying. This is usually the turning point in which people hear of Mary getting “checked” for her not knowing where he is, since, you know, he’s risen and all.
I, however, am blessed by this. I told you, I really wasn’t going to post today. I feel like more often than not, I’ve found myself at the scene of a holy mystery, only to have to uncover what’s here, only to be left alone by the people who wouldn’t know this thing was even a thing, if I hadn’t exposed it, left frantically, without understanding, and alone. Then my angels show up. They show up, and tell me I’m where I’m supposed to be, where I’m supposed to be, when I’m supposed to be there. Maybe not with those particular words, are they leading. Instead they ask the necessary questions. Their divine presence points me in the direction I should go.
Mary, then leaves the tomb, and sees who she thinks is a gardener. It isn’t a gardener. She soons learns that it is not a gardener. It’s Jesus. It is Jesus who meets her in her franticness. Jesus meets her, and commissions her with the task of telling people that he is alive! He is risen! It is officially Easter, because of the Holy Mystery uncovered by Mary! Mary, who prepared him for his death as an essential worker, is the same Mary who gets to meet him in the resurrection, as an essential messenger! Mary is the one who Jesus showed up to first, mid-franticness, mid-frustration, mid-anxiousness, mid-hysteria!
Initially, claiming him as a risen saviour, makes her sound insane, and today, we’re celebrating an entire holiday because Mary did the work. In 2020, we do better, but still not our best job, highlighting the women who do the work. We steal their messages, manipulate them into doing more labor for our benefit, and simultaneously condemn them for their existence in the process. We don’t believe the first time around, when they tell us things like “he’s not there” until we see it for ourselves. We even go so far as to leave them in what feels like a physically empty tomb, while it is emotionally full. but my God, Jesus gets to be Jesus, because of the Mary in his life.
This interaction is concluded with him saying not to cling on too long, but go tell people what you’ve seen. It is almost like she has to do some level of social distancing, but it doesn’t stop her from experiencing her Easter. I’m grateful to know that even when I’m in a deadly manner, that my angels will show up, even in tombs. I’m hurt that I, and so many people I love and look up to, are being treated like Mary’s here. I’m convicted enough to remember that I am still “Easter people”, a people who don’t stay dead, or down too long. I can feel what I feel, and still celebrate Easter, because I am strange enough to believe that Easter is for me too.
That’s the redemptive quality here, right? That Jesus will show up! That even death isn’t a strong enough force to keep angels, and Jesus, from getting to us! I pray that in our frustrations, our highs and lows, our griefs, our social distancing, our feelings of not being heard and seen, that Sunday will come, even for us. Angels will come, even for us. Jesus will come, even for us.
Whether it feels like it or it doesn’t, Easter is here.
Born and raised in Galveston, TX, curated at Howard University, journeying to Detroit, and now Columbus, OH, Valerie has spent her life through the lens of preaching, praying, poetry and activism. Today is no different. Her love for her God, family, community, both locally and global fuels her passion for all that she does. Her favorite quote is “when life gives you lemonade, sprinkle black girl magic, make apple juice, and leave people wondering how it happened.”
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