She Turned, Easter Sermon from Jonathan Warren 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Hallelujah, Christ is risen, hallelujah. Oh, that's good.

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Hallelujah. Christ is risen. Yet we remain a sinful people before a holy, holy God. Christ is risen. Like the woman at the tomb and the disciples, we struggle to believe it. Christ is risen. He shows us his promises are true. Let us bring our hearts before his throne and confess our sins with confidence that we are a forgiven people, saying together, Holy God.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

We are used.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Living God.

unknown 2:04

Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

The scripture reading is from Colossians three, verses one through four. Let us listen to the word of God. So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ. When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. Christ who is revealed in your life, then you shall also be revealed with him in glory. This is the word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

John chapter 20, beginning with the first verse. Let us listen to the word of God. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And he bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary. And she turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabuni, which means teacher. And Jesus said to her, Do not hold on to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. And Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. And she told them that he had said these things to her. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Mary went to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark. It's 2,000 years later, and it's still not safe for women to go out in the dark. And Mary went all by herself into a cemetery, no less. I'd imagine it must have taken every ounce of life and every ounce of love and care for Mary to watch our beloved Lord suffer and struggle and die on a cross. There was nothing redeeming about it. And now she has nothing left. Many of us have been here. Fresh from death's doorstop. Refilled, gut-wrenching, sadness, unable to think, filled with uh blame, anger, and frustration. Mary goes to see Jesus' tomb while it was still dark. Maybe she couldn't sleep. Maybe she has nothing else to lose. And just as she thought nothing else could get worse, she sees that the tomb is disturbed. The large tombstone is gone. An emergency. What do you do? You run and call for help. So her grief-filled body is now in full-blown panic mode, and she starts running for help. And as she arrives in a flurry, everyone knows something's gone terribly wrong, and this is when Mary cries out, they've taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Without thinking, Peter and John start racing to the tomb, but but I don't want us to get diverted to the tomb just yet. Listen to what Mary said, her words. They're filled with pain, with heartache, with blame. They have taken. Who is they? Is it the Romans? Is it the Pharisees? Is it their enemies? Now, while we don't know who they are, all the disciples know exactly who she's talking about. It's hard to know how she gathered her strength, but eventually Mary finds her way back into the tomb. She's weeping. She's absolutely devastated. She can't. She won't. And her weeping, downcast body can only look inside the tomb. Where she sees two angels in white where Jesus' body had been laying. And the moment they ask, woman, why are you weeping? it stings. It hurt her deeply as she witnessed joy and love being nailed to a cross. And when she saw Jesus breathe his last breath, the light of the world went out. Why wouldn't she be weeping? And this tune keeps ringing. They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Licensed therapist and clinical social worker, Dr. Dorothy Beckvar says, anger is an essential component of grief. And sometimes grief is most easily and overly expressed through anger. We may rage at the person who has died, at ourselves, at real or imagined injustice, at God, at others who may have been involved. Author, teacher, and grief counselor, Dr. Alan Wolfe says anger is normal and necessary. It's our way of protesting, a reality we don't like. It helps us survive. And anger is far sounder than a resignation of despair. Anger and feelings of protest challenge relationships where despair severs or cuts off relationships. Anger might be frightening, but indifference is deadening. Now I'd imagine most here have sat in the very place that Mary has. In the pit and depth of grief. She's in a raw and tender place this morning. And then just as she's speaking, Mary sees a stranger in the garden and she turns. She feels a sharp pierce as he asks who she's looking for. She's about to move from anger to despair when she tells him you've carried him away. Tell me. And I will take him away. Breathing suddenly changed, and the hospital's nurse gave her some oxygen to help her relax, and mom awoke in time to see family who had driven 18 hours from New York. And soon after they arrived, I left to make a phone call. And then five minutes later, my aunt called me in. And as I entered the room, the nurse said, Jonathan, you you were with her all the time, and in the moment you left, she could finally let go and die. And when I called Siobhan, she told me there was an absolutely gorgeous sunset, but I I wouldn't I couldn't turn around. And in the world we live in, we're all bound to go there. Our lives, our world. They're fragile. And right now it's especially feeling like we're in this whirlwind. We're in a war. The government's been shut down. Stocks are teetering, airports are a mess. Millions are protesting. Things are just uh keep spinning us around and around and around, and it's hard to turn and steady ourselves uh the right way. Things are moving at such a rate that we feel a lot like Mary at the tomb. Like we're moving closer and closer to despair. At the very end of Max Okato's book, In the Grip of Grace, Ocado says, here is what we want to know. We want to know how long God's love will endure. Not just on Easter Sunday when our shoes are shined and our hair is fixed. We want to know deep within, don't we really want to know how God how does God feel about me when when I'm a jerk? Not when I'm peppy and positive and ready to tackle world hunger. Lukado says, not then. I know how he feels about me then. Even I like me then. I want to know how he feels about me when I snap at anything that moves, when my thoughts are gutter level, when my tongue is sharp enough to slice a rock. How does God feel about me then? That's what we want to know. Now just as Mary was quick to blame anyone and everyone she could, while she was weeping and the world was spinning around and around, turning her grief-filled body from anger to despair. All the spinning stops. The moment she hears one word. She turned. She instantly turned to him and couldn't believe who she saw. When she turned, her entire body language language shifts, and instead of spinning around and around, downcast, crumpled, and weeping, she turned and opened up to face Jesus, saying, Rabuuni. When Jesus called her by name, Mary turned from death and despair, and she turned to life. Mary turned from blaming they and them, and she turned to seeing things new. Mary turned from heartache and anger and she turned to love and hope. Mary turned from inner turmoil. And she opened up and turned to others, announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. For God never abandoned Mary or left her alone. God was always there, loving her even when she was a mess. That's the Easter story. That's God's promise to us. Like Mary, we can turn from the world's mess and turn to Jesus' love and hope. For God's love endures forever, and He knows us and calls each of us by name. We are never left to face the world's mess alone. About an hour after my mom died, I called my dad to tell him. And near the end, I told him that Siobhan and the others saw this beautiful sunset, and that's when m my dad chimed in. There was a beautiful sunset up here. In fact, I saw someone taking a picture, so I stopped and I decided to take a picture too. It caught me off guard. So I asked him to send me his picture. It must have been stunning in person because the picture he sent lit up the sky with bright reds and pinks. Now, mom and dad had been divorced for over 40 years. Mom instantly and quickly changed. He didn't know she was dying when he was taking the picture. And I looked at the timestamp on the photo and gasped. He took a picture of the sunset just four minutes after she died. And at the very moment I couldn't look and turn away when mom died, my dad, who was over 200 miles away, took a picture of a sunset. God was there the whole time. Even if I couldn't turn to see it then, I saw this sunset now. Max Wikato continues. God sees us all. From the backwoods of Virginia to the business district of London, vagabonds and rough ragamuffins, all. Flooded by emotion, overcome by pride, the Star Maker turns to us one by one, and Lucato says, You are my child. God says, I love you dearly. I'm aware that someday you'll turn from me and walk away. But I want you to know. I've already provided you a way back. No matter how tough things get in our lives, how tough things get in our world, whether we know it or not, God is always there with us. As we live into the lows and highs of this Easter story, we're just like Mary. But listen. Jesus calls us by name so that we can turn from death and turn to life. And may we turn from this world's mess and turn to Jesus' love and hope. And when we see the sunset, we can tell everyone, I have seen the Lord. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us affirm our faith by standing and saying a creed of the church together. This is the good news which we received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved. That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared to Peter. Then to the twelve, and to many faithful witnesses, we believe he is the Christ, Son of the living God. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He is our Lord and our God.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Amen. If you found this podcast inspirational and would like to support the First Love Ministry programs at First Presbyterian Church, please send any contributions to First Presbyterian Church at 870 West College, Jacksonville, Illinois. Our zip code is 62650. Our phone is 217-245-4189. You can contact our secretary there between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Our email is office at firstfresjax.org. That's office at F-I-R-S-C P-R-E-S-J-A-S.org. Now our in-person church services start at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Access to our online church service starts at 9.55 a.m. You can listen to these live services on our Facebook page, which is www.facebook.com slash first F-I-R-S-T-P-R-E-S-Jack. We have a choir that meets from 7 to 8 p.m. every Thursday night, and you welcome all who are willing to sing. We look forward to hearing from you either by email, mail, or phone. God bless, and may you have a peaceful and safe year.